Rhetoric Inside Look

Rhetoric Twenty-First Century Style

   PSA: Texting and Driving
This public service announcement is an accurate example of a civil and effective text. In a short time span of thirty seconds, it succeeds in delivering a clear and distinct message that advocates against the act of texting while driving. In using the real-life story of a young woman who lost her sister as a result of texting while driving, and in giving the audience a small glimpse into the kind of irreversible toll texting and driving can take on a person’s life, the PSA makes a powerful and effective statement that evokes within viewers an immediate sense of sympathy and provokes to think twice about texting while driving. The message AT&T is working to get across pierces the audience’s hearts as it employs a strong use of pathos, tugging on our emotional impulses. This PSA is neither deceptive nor manipulative as its ultimate purpose is not to sell a product to consumers but rather to sell an idea and  assume a social responsibility as a smart-phone provider. AT&T’s end goal is to make consumers more conscious of the consequences texting and driving could potentially wield in their lives and in the lives of those around them.