Bud light has been known throughout the past few Superbowls for their huge share of the advertising and generally star-studded, top tier commercials.  This year, they released a commercial called "The Bud Light Party".  Using the star power of well respected comedians Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen, the commercial links the upcoming presidential race with beer.  The commercial does a great job of promoting the product using the credibility behind the actors, the emotional connection to our country's freedom, and the slightly backwards logic that goes behind following a political party based off of beer. 

The commercial relies heavily on ethos and pathos to promote its argument, and achieves a high degree of ethos in multiple ways.  The first way the commercial uses ethos is in the cast.  Seth Rogen, Amy Schumer, and Paul Rudd are not just random names being thrown around.  Rogen and Schumer are arguably the most popular comedians in pop culture right now, and Paul Rudd is an icon of the middle-millennial generation that this commercial targets.  Opening with Rogen and Schumer creates an intrigue to watch more because people expect them to be funny.  Intertwining Paul Rudd out of the blue adds a comic nature in the way he is added while also speaking to the pathos of much of the generation.  

The ethos in the commercial comes from one other major source, which is the brand itself.  Bud Light is America's beer.  According to the Huffington Post, Bud Light was the number one selling beer in America, selling over double the next ranked Coors Light.  Bud Light is a heavyweight in the beer world, and the name holds weight.  Annheiser-Busch was, for the 28th year running, the only beer advertiser during the Superbowl.  CNN reports that in the past 10 years alone, Annheiser-Busch has spent $278.3 million on advertising during the Superbowl, which is 40% of what the next four companies have spent altogether in that time period.  People know that Annheiser-Busch invest a lot of money in these commercials and that they are more than confident in the fact that their brand sells.

Arguably even more than ethos does the commercial use pathos very well.  The commercial speaks to the American public in multiple ways.  Bud Light is ingrained in American drinking culture, and by creating an imaginary "they", the commercial creates a common enemy introduced to strengthen beer as a common unifier.  Seth Rogen then quotes "Independence Day", using a quote that stirs American values.  The inspired man in the bar really speaks to what Bud Light wants people to feel when they are watching this commercial, especially since most of the viewers are probably holding a Bud Light as the commercial plays.  

The commercial is funny, but stirs a reaction in the hearts of many beer drinkers in America.  The commercial sells because it is selling the American dream, being played out by American stars in a commercial for America's beer during the most watched game of American football, and that's the only beer they'll see for the entirety of the game.  The pathos behind the ad plays on the unique sense of "America" that can only be garnered from a commercial like this.  The emotional connection to the beer, and to the values carried in the commercial for said beer, is the biggest selling point from the commercial.

Logically speaking, people won't buy a beer based off of a funny, inspiring commercial.  This commercial is engineered more to encourage current buyers to buy more.  People will buy beer because it is cheap, or because they like the taste, and most of the time they fall somewhere in the middle of the two and find a balance they like.  Bud Light, for most, is just that.  Bud Light is a relatively inexpensive beer that doesn't taste like stale sourdough in a can.  Most of the people buying this beer buy it because it is their favorite "cheap beer", and most of the people buying cheap beer are middle class blue collar Americans.  The commercial does a very good job using the election to speak to this class.

The upcoming election is obviously a major topic in America today, especially among the middle class.  Numbers on the amount of Americans in the middle class range from 25%-66% of the population.  For the sake of argument, say the American middle class is 50% of the population.  The American system is supposedly set up to give middle class Americans a voice, and much of recent politics has been targeted toward making the middle class better.  There is no better way for Bud Light to speak to their crowd than with the election.  Using some crude humor and political wit, the commercial makes a joke of an election that many already see as such.  By some backwards reasoning, it makes a beer party seem more desirable than any of the political parties offered in politics today.

The commercial makes use of kairos to tie everything behind it together.  The Superbowl is the best time for an advertisement because it is the most watched event on TV and Superbowl commercials are watched almost as much as the game itself.  The commercial was also timed perfectly relative to the election.  Annheiser-Busch was able to use present day topics of high interest to bring even more interest to their commercial, which they had already done plenty of by monopolizing beer advertising during the Superbowl.

The commercial as a whole does a great job of using rhetoric to achieve its ultimate goal of promoting the product being sold.  Each of the three tenets of rhetoric are appealed to masterfully and the target audience is appealed to in each facet.  The commercial also would not have been the same without kairos taking effect.  The timing of the commercial itself was optimal and the content in the commercial was well planned to play off of a major present day topic. 

