A Rhetorical Analysis Of High Cost Of Low Prices

Rhetorical Analysis of High Cost of Low Prices Choose quality over quantity: this is a saying most people have heard in their lives and feel it is true. But is it always followed? Markets in wholesale and retail businesses have been booming in the recent years of America, but some have questioned the negative affects it has on small businesses. One supermarket, Walmart, has shown to be in a direct bone of contention with local markets. In High Cost of Low Prices, the 2005 film aims to accentuate the issue of Walmart imprinting themselves into small towns that devalue the quality of close-knit communities: the video specifically appeals to Walmart consumers to convey the negative persona of the company and unravel its deceiving values through

Logos is demonstrated in the beginning because throughout the film, his superficial words divulge a more sinister tone in the portrayal of the video. As stated, “And that it makes it more important than ever that we focus on doing the right thing, and doing things right-everytime.” (Greenwald, Robert, director. High Cost of Low Prices.) The main goal is to state out the blatant corruption of Walmart captured from the persona of the CEO himself. Practically, it makes sense to present the positive at the beginning, then gradually providing evidence to ultimately backfire Lee Scott’s claim. This provides the audience more assurance about their outlook on the complication. The influence of Walmart’s cheap prices of generalized products to the public makes up the negative character of Walmart itself. As said by Dr. John Bruening, owner of Geauga Vision, he explicitly states “And all it’s done is give China better distribution centers, whereas before they’d have to find contacts, who to sell to, and develop their own markets” (Greenwald, Robert, director. High Cost of Low Prices.) This elicits a paradox of promising cheap prices that would originally be an innocent view of helping customers by providing affordable products. Thus appealing to regular Walmart customers to make them realize the hypocrisy of their

For example, logos is appealed by expert testimony when a council voted 6-0 the reject Walmart from being built in their property. (Greenwald, Robert, director. High Cost of Low Prices.) This provides relevant evidence to how the ethics of Walmart falls under the law. It shows that the store is at fault for its actions when affecting small companies. In addition to his logos appeals, ethos is shown in the interviews of liquidated small-town owners who have a negative outlook on the company due to its interference. Like such, Don Hunter had his building-Ace Hardware shut down because of Walmart driving out his customers. (Greenwald, Robert, director. High Cost of Low Prices.) These people like Don are shown to be credible sources because there is evidence of direct impact on their life from Walmart. Following the main strategies, pathos is incorporated to evoke an emotional response from the watcher when small businesses tell their story of how they started out. Jeremy Hunter, son of local retail owner, “I know how hard it was for my dad, my grandfather, to build this building on this lot…” Jeremy uses emotionally charged words that fabricate his image in a sympathetic way. Using words like “hard” and stating his family line shows how agonizing it is for a generational business to be desecrated. In creating an