Media Arguments

BP is in a lot of hot water with the people on the coast and they need to be very careful about the kind of arguments they make. Here are five different types of arguments that I picked out of the commercial and whether or not I think they're effective.

Arguments about the Future
From the very first of the commercial Iris Cross explains that even though the oil has stopped gushing into the ocean, their work is just beginning. Later in the commercial she says that BP will cover lost income until people affected can get back to work. Then at the end she says BP will keep looking for oil, cleaning it up when they find it and restoring the Gulf Coast.  These are all arguments about the future and for me they work. For some reason I believe what BP has to say and I don't at all feel like they're just going to ditch out on the people they affected.

Arguments to Inform
In the middle of the commercial, Iris rattles off a bunch of statistics and numbers that are intended to inform you that BP is actually doing something and to show what has already been done. I believe that this argument also works for them. They're pretty impressive numbers. One of her statistics is even in the billions of dollars and even though I have no clue how far that will really go, it makes me feel good to know they're doing something.

Arguments to Convince
If you stop and think about it the entire commercial is an argument to convince you that BP is actually an ethical company. They want to convince you that they're watching out for the little guys and ready to do whatever it takes. They do this with everything from the music to the shots of frustrated business owners to the words she says, and once again, I think it works.

Arguments to Make a Decision
Expounding off an argument to convince, what BP is really helping you to do is make a decision. The decision they want you to make is to not sue them. They want you to feel like they will take care of you and while there's plenty of reason to be upset, you can trust them to make it right.

Rogerian Arguments
A Rogerian argument is one that attempts to create some common ground. I'm sure that the people in the Gulf that are affected by this see BP as this large corporate giant that is just there to make money. To create common ground with those people Iris cross tries to sound like a pretty average person. She tells us that she grew up in New Orleans and that her family still lives there. She does this so the people down there will think, "Oh, BP is really just like us, we shouldn't sue them." I'm not sure if this argument works as well as it could. I feel like the part where she tells you she's from New Orleans doesn't fit into the commercial or flow very well. Because it doesn't flow it makes me feel like they're trying just a little too hard to win me over. Nevertheless I think it helped them more than it hurt them.

With a few more argument-packed commercials like these BP might end up better off than they are now. Who knows, maybe people down there will even stop at their gas stations again.