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Paper 2 - Toulmin Model
Download Word Document: Office 97-03 Office 2007
Note: This paper is currently in a first draft state, it will be updated soon.


Using the Toulmin Model on Advertisements
Intel Core 2 Extreme Advertisement in WIRED magazine, Oct. 2007

The advertisement I picked for our second assignment on English 301 was a set of Intel advertisements in the October 2007 issue of WIRED magazine. Specifically, a removable mini magazine called “Geekipedia,” which is a play on words of the famous Wikipedia, and claims to be a dictionary on all things geek. Intel was the primary sponsor of the entire 60 page supplement, which includes 25 full page advertisements with Intel’s name and logo stamped on them (including covers). While about 10 of these advertisements are for computer manufactures that work with Intel parts, their logo is still prominently displayed. Out of all these, the advertisement that struck me the most was a specific add on the inside back cover for the Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor.

It is important to note that the processor in question is designed specifically for high end computing or for computer gaming, as opposed to standard desktop use, hence the “Extreme” part of the name. The primary statement of this ad is “Multiply the Pwning.” which struck me as pretty shocking. The word multiply fits well with all their other ads, as “Multiply the (blank)” is the primary campaign for the Core 2 processor platform. “Pwning” however is a word not commonly used it ads, and for that matter, not commonly used by regular people. While many dispute where the word actually comes from, a commonly accepted origination of the word is that it “may have arisen and spread as a typo of the word ‘own,’ arising from the proximity of the ‘p’ and ‘o’ keys on a standard English keyboard” (Wikipedia). The reason this is commonly accepted is that in the days before voice over internet protocol communications, typing was the only way to communicate on the internet. While playing fast paced video games, a user does not always have time to respond in a grammatically correct fashion, hence the typo, and the word is now commonplace in the internet gaming community.

This does give the ad a certain level of ethos, but only to the gaming community. The word pwn to the average reader just looks like a typo. It can be said that the use of this common slang is subtracting from the ethos of the ad, as most readers would find it awkward, but when you look deeper into the advertisement you will notice a few things. First and foremost, this is not just an advertisement for Intel’s Core 2 Extreme processor, but also an ad for Electronic Art’s first person shooter game “Battlefield 2142.” The picture, which is most of the space used by the ad, is a set of direct from game captures of models used in BF2142. The game is notable for being on the high end of graphics currently available, which means to play one would need a high powered computer with a high powered processor. That’s exactly what the Core 2 Extreme chip is. So when a reader links the fact that a game they like to play or would like to play would experience better performance with Intel’s gaming processor, “Multiply the Pwning” gives a large amount of ethos to a niche market. The target market in this ad would also understand all portions of the claim fully, making it a well rounded advertisement for both products.

Intel also gains a higher level of ethos through what in game models are specifically chosen to represent BF2142 in this ad, which is a subclaim of the ad itself. All of the depicted people are either shooting or positioned to shoot high powered futuristic weaponry. It is also important to note that even in the year 2142, they are all men. This is an appeal to what is deemed to be the average gamer market, more specifically the average first person shooter market. This market is currently and has always been a male dominated section of the gaming industry, only an estimated 38% of gamers are women (GamePro). There is also a small level of pathos in this advertisement, with an appeal to the male gamer and his desire to serve his country, which many military based first person shooters appeal to. The men in the ad are all positioned in the GI Joe style action shots that have been a familiar part of advertisement for many years. The level of credibility gained through the use of these military men may be less for those preferring other types of games or people that don’t feel violence in games or in any aspect of life is a good thing. Intel and Electronic Arts are not trying to capture that market with this advertisement however, so they do an incredibly decent job at attracting the young male shooter market that has a craze for spending money on higher power computer parts.

Support in this ad is driven by the subtext towards the bottom, which is cleverly placed next to the Intel Core 2 Extreme logo. The subtext reads “Intel Core 2 Extreme Desktop Processor. Extreme Gaming. No Compromise. It’s your chance to multiply everything you love about gaming. Learn more about the Intel Core 2 Extreme desktop processor at www.intel.com/go/gaming.” This statement does more to put additional credibility behind the ad to the market they are targeting. The statement declaring that it’s the gamers chance to multiply everything they love about gaming makes an emotional appeal to the audience. What they are saying is that not only will this processor help your game perform better, it will literally make everything the user enjoys about playing these games multiply. The statement is rather bold, but it works. As a gamer I can say that poor performance because of lacking hardware is one of the most annoying and frustrating parts of staying up to date with the personal computer gaming market, and reading this ad has truly made me consider switching to a high end Intel processor for better performance. It is also interesting to note that the web address in the advertisement is bold, and on its own line. It is not just an afterthought for the ad, they want you to visit the site and check out more.

If you visit the Core 2 Extreme website, the reader will notice that in Intel’s own product brief, they state that you will achieve “benchmarks that pound the competition” (Intel Gaming). Benchmarking is a term for computer performance junkies that applies a number to the overall performance of a custom built machine. The higher this number is, the better your computer is (on paper). Machines built specifically for gaming are often solely rated on these benchmarks, and in this case Intel is making another claim that they want perceived as fact; their product is better than any other. The placement of the Intel Core 2 Extreme logo right next to lines that appeal to pathos put the two together hand in hand while thinking back to this advertisement at a later date.

Intel does make a few warrants in this in this ad, which are worth noting. The primary warrant is that they assume the person reading this page is familiar with their other product lines, also that the reader is familiar with Battlefield 2142, and what type of game it is, as well as the community that surrounds it. These assumptions are fairly decent on the part of Intel though, as WIRED is a technical magazine. They deal with everything technology based, and a large part of what drives revenue for technology companies is the gaming community.

Overall, this advertisement would look rather odd to a person that was not involved in the computer gaming community, or even someone that was only casually involved. It uses strange slang known as “leet speak” that even a casual user may be unfamiliar with. It uses action shots of military personnel shooting futuristic weapons. It also advertises a product from a software development company, whereas Intel only makes hardware. Even with all these aspects that could be deemed faults, Intel absolutely nails the advertisement to the market they are targeting. They are going after the high end gaming market that seeks performance and enjoyment from video games, and nothing more. They specifically target this market through the advertisement of a specific processor line, the Core 2 Extreme, rather than the entire Core 2 line. They also specifically target this market through the game they chose to pair with this hardware, a futuristic first person shooter designed for online play. With the appeals to both ethos and pathos they use in the ad to target this market, the advertisement is amazingly effective for that specific market, even though at first glance the entire page comes off as rather odd. While many components have potential to be discredited, when you note who they are specifically targeting, all of them work, and for that matter work very, very well.


Works Cited:

"Pwn." Wikipedia. 20 Oct. 2007. 22 Oct. 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn.
Marbles. "E3 2007 Gamer Statistics." GamePro. 10 July 2007. Electronics Entertainment Expo. 20 Oct. 2007 http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=121248.
"Gaming Benchmarks - Intel Core 2 Extreme." Intel. 22 Oct. 2007 http://www.intel.com/personal/gaming/benchmarks.htm.