Seaver's Rhetorical Techniques Used In Advertising

Robin Williams once said, “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world”. So, why limit those words and give people ownership of them, shouldn’t everyone have free access to words? Ira C. Herbert, from the Coca-Cola Company didn’t thinks so. Herbert, in his letter to Richard Seaver, Executive vice president of Grove press, demanded that Seaver should discontinue the use of the phrase, “It’s the Real Thing” in their advertisement because Coca-Cola has made use of it in their advertising in the past. Seaver replied adopting a very sarcastic and mockery tone. Even though they both used various rhetorical devices Seaver has a more compelling argument.

Herbert began his letter to Seaver by addressing him in a professional

Herbert’s Rhetorical Strategies included logic and historical evidence in order to prove his point. His use of words and phrases like “you will agree…we feel it's necessary… use another line…. we appreciate your cooperation...your assurance”, creating a demanding and confident tone. He believes that Groove press will automatically discontinue the use of the phrase because Coca-Cola said so. Seaver’s rhetorical strategies involved sarcasm and mockery to imply that Grove Press will continue using the phase and that, Herbert bringing it up in the first place is obnoxious. He doesn’t view it as a serious problem and implied that coca cola and the printing press are nothing alike and they have had a “far more direct and deadly threat” before with another book. Even thought, Seaver’s letter was full of sarcasm and insults he has a more persuasive argument. Ira C. Herbert and Richard Seaver used different rhetorical devices and strategies to argue the same subject. Herbert uses historical facts to strengthen his argument while Seaver relied on Sarcasm and mockery. They both have a good argument, but in this case Seaver’s argument was more