Trying to be a true man in a man's world is a challenge. The apex of masculinity is often depicted as a man with a body builder physique and surrounded by women. However, some attempt to defy the convention by showing their own unique skills as being another form of masculinity. An advertisement by the company AXE, which sells men's hygiene products, recently appeared in the Super Bowl and appeals to that idea. The advertisement uses pathos appeals to promote emotional association, but how much logos is in the rhetoric?

The commercial starts off by asking the question "Who needs a six pack when you got the nose, or a nose when you got the suit ... " to suggest that unique traits men may poses are better than simply being physically attractive. The commercial lists many different traits a man might have and the merits of each before ending by saying "Who needs some other thing, when you got your thing, now work on it!" attempting to boost morale among its general audience by being as broad as possible. It's a classic advertisement trick of appealing to the lowest common denominator by being as inclusive as possible. 

The overall message of the ad seems to be that a man's uniqueness makes him better than a man who is muscular and represents the stereotype of what all men are expected to look like, but end with the suggestion that you should work on it with AXE products. The AXE brand of styling products is often associated with masculinity and the generic image of a "handsome man" and for it to widen its audience and encourage men for having a multitude of skills that make them diverse and unique sends a positive message. At the end, it is suggested that these skills can be further improved with the use of AXE products.

While the tactic of empowerment to help sell the product is effective, one must ask of this is truly as well-meaning as it seems, or simply diversity for diversity's sake. The idea of each individual man's personal assets being attractive certainly has a strong pathos appeal, yet the net is spread so wide that it fails to hit a specific audience. This type of advertisement caters to the widely held belief that "everyone is special" and therefore deserves praise for it. This attempt to attract the attention of all types of men works counteractively to put all of the individuals with unique skills or features into a broad, homogenized group and takes away their individuality. Not only does it lump people into the same category, but also devalues the specialness of individual, making the suit or the nose the same things as a six pack, something to work for and perfect to get attention rather than the previously unique feature that it was.

There is also a presence of ethos from the ad, as AXE products associate the use of their product with popular men making themselves seem more desirable. Having built a reputation of being the product favored by strong, masculine men, reaching out to a larger audience in this way makes AXE seem more favorable by saying "you don't have to be this guy to get the ladies, you can be you." This sort of pathos also works against the message of the commercial. A skeptical viewer might say "Why would AXE, a company that almost always uses handsome men to help sell their products, suddenly try and convince men that not being physically well off still gives them a chance?" This ad attempts to defy the conventions of traditional masculinity and thereby make AXE products seem like less of a niche brand.

There isn't much in the way of logos in the commercial. The ad puts the focus on the message rather than explaining the product. The idea itself is somewhat counteracted as the message attempts to go against gender politics but ends up reinforcing them by opening with the idea that the most desirable trait of a man that most men strive to have is a well-developed body. The question "who needs this, when you have this" is repeated multiple times to give weight to the message of individuality but makes that same individuality the new "six pack" that must be groomed to be desirable. This lack of substance is offset by the use of emotional appeal and humor to make the ad seem more relatable.

With all the evidence, how does this commercial entice its audience? There is a lack of logos appeal as there is little focus on the product itself and the message can be interpreted as going against its own message. The most appeal comes from the use of pathos and ethos. The ad utilizes a popular message that a large number of people would be likely to agree with to help sell the product. It is rhetorically persuasive because it promotes a general feel-good vibe with its cheerful message about the positive qualities men might possess, while also subtly suggesting that it can be improved with the use of their product. However, the message can be interpreted as simply being diverse to appeal to as many people as possible and therefore lacking in sincerity, given the companies past sales strategies of using ads that contain handsome men to give other the idea "this could be you." With that in mind, the overall effectiveness of the ad and the message it attempts to send are lost.

