Rhetorical Analysis Of Mr. Seaver's Coca-Cola Advertising Campaign

The corresponding letters between an executive of the Coca-Cola Company, Ira C. Herbert and a representative of Grove Press, Richard Seaver express different viewpoints on the use of Coca-Cola’s slogan “It’s the Real Thing”, in an advertisement promoting Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher. Both Herbert and Seaver try to outsmart each other through their use of strategies of rhetorical techniques. Herbert initiates the first letter, which demands that Seaver, a representative of Grove Press, immediately end the use of the catchphrase “It’s the Real Thing”. He begins and ends the letter with a seemingly polite tone and uses the greeting like, “Dear Mr. Seaver”, and concluding with “Sincerely, Ira C. Herbert”. However Herbert’s “sincerity” becomes

Seaver and Mr. Herbert both proposed convincing arguments about the subject. Their approaches are found to be quite different. Both address the problem with people using other people's or something like other people's ideas to sell their product. Although not always intentional, it does at times occur. Mr. Herbert's approach was kind, courteous and considerate throughout. He informed Mr. Seaver's of Coca-Cola's claim on the slogan and asked that they dismiss it from their ad campaign. Mr. Herbert went into the history of the slogan. Mr. Herbert seemed “genuinely” concerned that the two products carrying the same slogan might get confused. Mr. Seaver saw this in a very different view. His reply was playful, clever, and slightly rude. In the first paragraph, he pokes fun at Mr. Herbert's concern for the confusion the two products would cause by carrying the same slogan. In the second paragraph, he says that he believes that it will help Coke sales and that his company has no problem with that. Next, he goes into how the same situation has happened to them in the past and that they fully understand. Lastly, Mr. Seaver's describes his loyalty to the Coke company and the backing of their slogan. In turn, he asks for their loyalty as well. Mr. Seaver's explained where the slogan originated from and that it was not to spite them at all but from a review of the