"How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" Advertisements

"How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" 

Blog #4 

Advertising plays a huge role in our society. It is a powerful tool as it can draw an audience in towards desiring a certain product or wanting to go a particular place. Advertisements are everywhere! It may be surprising that advertising is actually very common within the movie industry. The movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 days” has various advertisements within it that convey ethos, logos, and pathos appeals that serve as marketing campaigns for the product and film.

Constantly throughout the movie the actors and actresses were seen drinking Cocoa Cola products. Coke is an extremely popular brand known worldwide. Choosing to use such a popular product, immediately portrays a logos appeal as “it’s more realistic to use real products rather than a generic package”(Smith 2). Since Cocoa Cola is such a big company, having their products in the movie is strategic to help lower the cost of the movie by advertising for the product several times throughout the film. Also, “brand-name products and logos realistically reflect the landscape of everyday American life”(Smith 2). Seeing well known actors drink the same products we tend to drink on an everyday basis, makes the movie seem more realistic and real since we can relate. Multiple people are consuming the coke products in a variety of scenes. There is a pathos appeal in associating coke with multiple occasions and types of people. Kate Hudson is “Andy” in the film and we see this beautiful, fun, and successful woman drinking a coke at a basketball game, while hanging with her friends, and while exploring New York City with her “boyfriend.” This connotes a connection between coke and its’ accessibility to drink it any situation. Also, if Kate Hudson drinks coke a lot, why shouldn’t we? The pathos argument goes further when we see male characters also drinking coke products whether it is at a movie theater or just out and about on a daily basis. This persona of coke as a drink that can be consumed in a variety of occasions serves as a multi layered argument as it also serves as a ethos appeal. By making the coke a drink that anyone can drink anywhere, the product is then given this reputation to the audience.

            Another advertisement that is repeatedly portrayed in the movie, is through the company Revlon. Several Revlon products are seen and used in very natural placements that “really flatter the product”(Smith 3). Revlon has a reputation of being a product marketed for beauty. There is an ethos appeal with Revlon being advertised in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 days,” as the reputation is further expanded in the movie. Kate Hudson is a young attractive female who works for a fashion magazine. In the movie you see her owning some of these products such as lipstick and nail polish. It is advertised again when in one scene you see a Revlon shopping bag and see it on one of the magazines at a fashion company. This further serves as a pathos appeal as well. Girls are going to associate the products with a beautiful famous actress and want to use them too. Using Revlon products in a romantic comedy film seems to be a very appropriate choice. Girls seem to be the main audience for the romantic comedy, thus making it a logical choice to advertise a company whose main focus is beauty products in the movie. 

   Overall, the advertisements in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 days” appear to convey ethos, pathos, and logos arguments pretty well. The products are both reinforced several times throughout the movie and are shed in a positive light. By making the products appear appealing, the movie helps to entice the audience to use or purchase these products. I would give the movie 3 slurpees for advertising, because they do a great job in making the products appear overwhelming, but  advertise so many different products throughout the movie that they are very easy to overlook.