Item #4: Barclaycard Advertisement

COMMUNICATION CHANNEL: Television

INTENDED AUDIENCE: People who live the UK and want a credit card that's easy to use.

Let's move on to something fun.

Barclaycard is a UK-based credit card and loan provider. This commercial advertises Barclaycard's contactless technology. Of course, credit card companies have to work extra hard to convince persuade people since the recent global economic meltdown has made people fear credit cards.

As comical as it sounds, this advertisement actually uses reasoning to get its point across. Reasoning is a type of proof, which is "enough evidence connected through reasoning to lead the majority of typical receivers to take or believe the persuader's adivce" (Larson, 2010, p. 216). It is made up of evidence and reasoning (Larson, 2010). The kind of reasoning used in this advertisment is reasoning from analogy (Larson, 2010). This type of reasoning uses "figurative or real analogies as [a] logical reason for some conclusion" (Larson, 2010, p. 216).

Barclaycard is comparing using one of their cards to going down a water slide. The contactless technology is so easy and so fast that the man can continue going down the water slide without worrying about whether the card scanned or not. Anyone who knows what a hassle it is to physically swipe a card only to find out it was swiped incorrectly or has experieced the frustrating of having to show ID or sign a sign a receipt knows that even "fast and easy" credit cards can take up valuable time.

The song used is "Let Your Love Flow" by the Bellamy Brothers which was a huge hit in 1975 in the United States and Europe. No doubt people who listen to this easy-going song remember when it was popular and the song contributed a feeling of happiness and well-being. The song itself gives feelings of ease, contentment, and happiness. Like the water slide, the song is used as an analogy for the ease with which payments can be made with Barclaycard's contactless technology. The lyrics "let your love flow like a mountain stream" are used with the image of flowing water in a refreshing water slide, which creates an even stronger analogy than would have been created if either the song of the slide were used alone.

The fact that the water slide covers the entire city shows by figurative analogy that a Barclaycard can be used anywhere (except perhaps the library where a credit card would be useless anyway). The city is literally this man's playground because he is able to buy with no hassle. This analogy is emphasized by "the voice" in the end which announces that Barclaycard is "making payments simpler." By creating figurative analogies, Barclaycard succeeds in making their slogan sound like an understatment since the consumer is now convinced that payments made with Barclacard payments are not just simple but effortless.