Doritos Super bowl ad: 'Man's Best Friend'

This advertisement shows a family whose cat goes missing, and the father sees a dog burying the cat's collar, implying that the dog killed the cat. The dog persuades the father to not tell the wife by offering a bag of Doritos, and the father quickly accepts the bribe. The source of this advertisement is Doritos chips, which are a very popular brand and produced by the hugely successful Frito-Lay Company. Doritos alone brought in 1/3 of the entire sales for the company. The context of this piece is causal because it was brought about during the Super Bowl game since Doritos is a popular snack eaten during this day. The purpose for this commercial was to persuade Americans that Doritos is so irresistible that it makes people forget about important issues (such as a household pet going missing) and makes them focus on the deliciousnesses of the chip. The audience was directed towards the American citizens watching the Superbowl game because this snack is often eaten during sports events. The rhetorical elements used in this commercial are pathos created by the humor of a dog outsmarting a human through persuasion of the Doritos chips as well as an upbeat musical background to keep the suspense throughout the commercial to make the audience wonder what will happen next. The author accomplished his purpose because he showed to the audience through this scenario that Doritos chips are so delicious that they can be replaced with any important issue.