A record breaking one hundred and eleven million people watched Super Bowl 50 making it the third ranked show in viewership of all time. With this many people watching the same channel, the time to create an effective commercial has never been more important. With the list of big name companies fighting over each precious second of air time, all trying to fill in those thirty second spots with the best content they can provide, T-Mobile was ahead of the game. They implemented celebrity endorsement with the help of Steve Harvey to create a commercial that would not only connect with their audience but gain them new customers in the process. In this paper I will explain how T-Mobile uses Aristotle's three logical appeals, ethos, pathos, and logos, throughout their commercial in order to increase the effectiveness of their persuasive advertisement. 

Creating an advertisement that people will find entertaining is one thing, but doing so in a way that people will also find credible and reliable creates a whole new issue. However, companies have found a way to bypass this issue through a variety of methods and for T-Mobile specifically, celebrity endorsement is the name of the game. The implementation of Steve Harvey, a popular United States game show host, from the get go allows the viewer to have a familiar face to follow along with as they watch. The use of Mr. Harvey adds credibility, or ethos, to the information he presents because people already trust him as an individual, thus increasing the amount of people that will actually follow along with what he says. The concept that more people will pay attention because the credibility of the speaker transitions into credibility for the commercial, allows T-Mobile to effectively increase their persuasive ability all by just associating Steve Harvey with their brand name. 

Establishing credibility is essential in creating an effective advertisement because it is important for people to trust the information you provide. However, to create an advertisement that has a lasting impact on people's lives, one that will create an emotional response that will have them thinking about the ad days after they have seen it, establishing a strong sense of pathos is necessary. T-Mobile's commercial uses Steve Harvey to establish their emotional ties into the public by continuously referencing Mr. Harvey's mishap at the Miss Universe Pageant several months back. Steve infamously announced the wrong winner, causing a great deal of animosity among the Pageant community. It was a mistake that left strong negative emotions in many people's hearts. However instead of avoiding confronting the issue, T-Mobile uses it as their way in. Right from the start, Mr. Harvey explains how "he needs to apologize, again" and expresses how the information he is providing is accurate because "it says right here, on the card" (Gajewski). Their ability of creating similarities between the pageant and T-Mobiles phone services allowed them to tap into the great pit of emotion that was left after the pageant, and shift from this great sense of anger and heartbreak, into one of humor. Allowing for a transition of the emotion creates a strong sense of pathos throughout the commercial, which relates to a stronger sense of persuasion for the viewer because they were able to relate to the advertisement on an emotional level.

 After connecting to an audience, creating an emotional tie and reliability to an advertisement only works effectively if logic is present as well. In T-Mobile's commercial they focus heavily on using Steve Harvey's presence to establish ethos and pathos, thus drawing in the viewers to pay attention. Once their attention has been drawn, they use a method of referencing pathos to establish their logos. In example Mr. Harvey referenced how the information he provided had to be accurate because it was "right there on the card" (Gajewski). This referenced his infamous mistake at the pageant and allowed for a connection between a strong sense of emotion and the T-Mobile information he was about to explain. Near the end of the commercial Mr. Harvey explained how T-Mobile now has more towers than Verizon, and that "Verizon got it wrong this time". His method of shifting the negative emotion from his own past actions towards Verizon allowed for the viewer to have the logic of "T-Mobile has more towers, they must have better reception, I should switch to T-Mobile". This thought process, and the effective use of logos, allowed for T-Mobile's commercial to not only connect to its audience, but also to make logical sense for any consumer looking to switch to a new service provider. 

The importance of the timing for this commercial cannot be stressed enough. With over one hundred million people watching from home, creating an effective commercial can be a make or break for a company's annual sales report. T-Mobile hit the nail on the head by creating an advertisement that was persuasively effective through their use of celebrity endorsement and their ability to turn an infamous social incident into a hilariously informational commercial. A commercial that focused on connecting to the emotional side of its audience and providing them with a credible speaker to follow along with, allowed for the logical information to flow seamlessly, allowing for an increase in quality and persuasiveness. In the end, the effective use of a "play on situation" allowed for T-Mobile to create an effective advertisement by implementing ethos, pathos, and logos throughout their commercial.

