12 examples of ethos in advertising to inspire your next campaign

To the uninitiated, advertising is full of Mad Men-esque mystery. But as a writer and creative lead, I’m here to tell you that advertising is just fancy persuasion. At its most fundamental, an ad is trying to get you to think, feel, or do something (usually, purchase a product).  Because ads are just a form of persuasion, they often take their cues from the world of rhetoric and communications—including concepts like ethos. A little bit of rhetorical theory can unlock why some ads work and othe