Abita Advertisement: Pathos, Ethos, and Logos

Analysis of a local beer commercial based on Pathos, Ethos, and Logos.

Abita Advertisement:

Pathos, Ethos, and Logos...

           

            “Louisiana, we’ve been tried and tested, with our big hearts in these tough times, we will make it through.” This is the opening dialogue as friendly images of Bourbon Street, the Baton Rouge cityscape, and the Superdome flash across the screen for a thirty second Abita Brewing Company advertisement. After the assertive opening line an inspirational song’s lyrics start to employ ideas of “Rise Up”, “Celebrate the good things in this town”, and “We are Louisiana true”; giving the potential customer the sense of being part of a unique community that has been challenged but will ultimately prevail. After showing several frames of consumers enjoying many different varieties of Abita beer, and enjoying themselves in the Louisiana nightlife that we have all come to love, the commercial leaves you hanging with an assuring line, “We are Louisiana true”. By establishing a common ground between emotion, character, and logical reason, the Abita Brewing Company inspires the idea of hometown pride, community achievement, and enjoying yourself while supporting the state we live in.

            The Abita Brewing Company started as a small brew pub in the town of Abita Springs, Louisiana. As unique as the state it is based in, Abita Brewing only uses natural spring water that is produced from the local artesian spring. For the last twenty-five years Abita Brewing has been not only supplying south Louisiana with a local pride, but also giving back to the community and the environment. Following the devastation of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the Abita Brewing Company created the Abita Restoration Pale Ale, which was to donate one dollar from every bottle of Restoration Ale sold to the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. It raised $550,000 to help clean the aftermath of these catastrophic hurricanes, as well as donated $115,000 to the town of Abita Springs to expand the historic Abita Springs Tourist Park (Giving Back). They have also taken many steps to becoming one of the most environmental-friendly brewing companies in the world; such as using 70% less energy for production,  50% less paper for packaging, a fuel efficient delivery fleet, and all used grain and hops arek donated to feed local cattle (Green Brewing).               

                As this specific advertisement opens it first targets the locals of Louisiana, triggering emotional response with familiar images of cities, buildings, and landmarks. The uplifting song that narrates the commercial plays on the emotions of sympathy, hope, and pride; assuring that, together, we can make it through. I couldn’t help but notice that they decide to leave exactly what we can make it through open-ended to trigger the viewer’s imagination. For instance, whereas this advertisement was most likely used to promote the Restoration Ale and feed off the sympathy of the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, it could easily now be used to give compassion and inspire hope in the cases of the recession and the BP oil spill. This advertisement also slightly plays off of affection with frames of young consumers flirting and breaking the physical contact barrier; as well as a quick shot of a girl wearing a tank top with an appropriate Abita logo.

                The Abita Brewing Company establishes credibility and defines character by identifying as a fellow citizen of Louisiana; which is highlighted with pictures of the streets and the monuments of New Orleans. Constantly throughout the advertisement the audience is addressed as “We” in order to automatically invoke a common ground, and the statement “We are Louisiana true” is meant to reassure you of the company’s good nature. Although it is not included in this thirty second commercial, Abita also contributes to its’ friendly-neighbor character by donating to local Disaster funds, such as the Restoration Ale contribution, and using eco-friendly brewing policies. While I believe this specific advertisement was built mainly on the reaction of pathos, I also feel quite a few aspects were meant to reflect character. 

                It is hard to base a beer commercial on logical reason simply because beer is not a necessity and it becomes quite difficult to advocate alcohol as something you must buy. It is much easier, instead, to institute pride in a local company, and even better, a local community. But even though Abita is advertising beer, they still make their best effort to promote a logical choice. With their green policies and donations, as well as being a local company, Abita strives to imply that buying local Abita beer is better for you, your community, and your state. While this commercial may not appeal to non-Louisiana residents as much as it does to the locals, it does a great job of stirring an emotional response, promoting good character, and classifying itself as a logical choice.

Bryant James

Baton Rouge

2/6/11