SCIENCE IN PUBLIC

          PETA is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization. They are the largest animal rights organization in the world with over 5 million members. Specifically, this means that over 5 million people have paid to be a member or donated to PETA to show their support for the cause. PETA's stated mission is to lobby and prevent the harming animals in any form, including in the food industry, clothing trade, laboratories, and entertainment industries.

          PETA uses ethos in this advertisement by putting their logos in the corner. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. This advertisement works to establish a good reputation with the viewer by putting their PETA logo in the corner while conveying a relatively simple but important message - "go vegan." The audience of this advertisement can take this ethos appeal in one of two ways. Either they have previous conclusions regarding PETA that they will not likely be swayed from regardless of the advertisment. Or they have not yet made their mind up about the organization and its message, in which case this message is a good one because its message is simple and important to the group. 

          PETA allows the viewers previous opinions of the organization to establish trust in the advertisement as the advertisement relies heavily on the viewer having some existing knowledge of PETA. In doing so they make the appeal to logos the primary purpose of the advertisement.

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For more information on PETA, click here