American Express Card Analysis

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The 1985 American Express card commercial starring the famous author Stephen King is particularly effective in its cleverness to full audiences. The ad relies strongly on the fallacy of appeal to authority and the scare tactic of the unknown. Urgency and fear have been created ingeniously in its tone and imagery. Although the ad does strongly use this fallacy and an underlined emotion of fear to persuade its audience, the result is enormously effective.
First, the ad starts with lightning flashing as fog sifts through a haunted themed mansion. A poorly lit man emerges from the gloom with a flaming candle in one hand. An organ plays on its own, the man asks, "Do you know me?" (American Express). A scurrying hunchback passes behind him as he continues, "It's frightening how many novels of suspense, I have written, but still when I'm not recognized it just kills me" (American Express). He walks down a creepy hallway with sinister disembodied human arms behind him, “so instead of saying I wrote 'Carrie,' I carry the American Express card” (American Express). French doors burst open as he looks to the left, "Without it, it makes life a little
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King states powerfully, “so instead of saying I wrote 'Carrie,' I carry the American Express card” (American Express). Many agencies use this method of advertisement with great success. American Express started this ad series, which had famous people who were better known by their names than faces in 1976. According to Andrea Chambers, who wrote an article in People’s Magazine before the commercial was released, “only six million people owned Amex cards,” before and “Now there are some 18 million,” as of the year 1984. American Express contributes it to their ads, "We are getting more ambitious with our spots," concedes Glen Gilbert, director of advertising for Amex

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