Beatles for Sale

The advertisement above was published in 1964 in a health magazine known as Family Doctor. It is an effective ad that combines the persuasive appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos, and takes into consideration its audience. It cleverly uses the Beatles as the faces of its movement. It attempts to promote the healthy act of eating apples after a meal. This advertisement relies heavily on the persuasive appeal of ethos. This is due to the immense popularity that the Beatles retained in that time period. Their fame, however, was not unique to the sixties; it remains to this day. The ad targets adolescents as its primary audience because they made up the main fan base of the band. Of course, it assumes that people of various age groups would be able to identify the people pictured. For example, a middle aged woman browsing through magazines in the waiting room of her doctor’s office may have stumbled upon this particular advertisement, recognized the four handsome young faces of the men who have overrun her crazed teen daughter’s life, and knowingly used it as a ploy to get said daughter to add apples to her diet. There are a couple attempts at the appeal of logos in the image above. The first is found in the last line: “It’s nature’s toothbrush”, which is a logical reason to eat an apple after a meal, as the ad calls upon the viewer to do. This statement can easily be supported by additional research or a quick phone call to one’s dentist. The second evident sign of logical reasoning is in the teeth of the three smiling boys. They appear to be healthy and clean. Upon closer inspection of the advertisement, one may note pathos put into play. The faces of the Beatles each depict a similar emotion, that of happiness and contentment. This would appeal to the majority of people, as it appeals to their mutual values of health and happiness. The advertisement is effective in the limits of its time, as it uses many persuasive appeals and takes into consideration its wide audience.