1. Logical Fallacies

2. What is a Fallacy?
 According to Webster’s Dictionary, a
fallacy is an error in reasoning or a
flawed argument.
 It’s an argument that does not
conform to the rules of logic, but
appears to be sound.

3. Prevalence of Fallacies in Advertising
 Fallacies are all around you…
 Advertisements in magazines, on T.V.,
on billboards all contain fallacies!
 Can you think of a place where
there are NO advertisements?
 Probably not! That’s because
advertising is impossible to escape and
ad-free zones rarely exist.

4. Impact of Fallacies
 What might be the impact of being
told that we are not pretty,
handsome, rich, clean, or good
enough?
 What does the casual acceptance of
surrounding ourselves with fallacies
say about us?

5. Types of Fallacies: Ad Hominem
 Ad Hominem (meaning “against the
person”) attacks the person and not the
issue
 The major difficulty with labeling a piece
of reasoning as an ad hominem fallacy is
deciding whether the personal attack is
relevant.

6. Example: Ad Hominem

7. Types of Fallacies: Traditional
Wisdom
 Traditional Wisdom uses the logic
that the way things used to be is
better than they are now, ignoring
any problems of the past.
 If you say or imply that a practice
must be okay today simply because
it has been the apparently wise
practice in the past, you commit the
fallacy of traditional wisdom.

8. Types of Fallacies: Bandwagon
 Bandwagon creates the impression
that everybody is doing it and so
should you.
 If you suggest that someone’s claim
is correct simply because it’s what
most everyone is coming to believe,
then you’re committing the
bandwagon fallacy.

9. Example: Bandwagon

10. Types of Fallacies: False Dilemma
 False dilemma limits the possible
choices to avoid consideration of
another choice.
 A person who unfairly presents too
few choices and then implies that a
choice must be made among this
short menu of choices commits the
false dilemma fallacy.

11. Example: False Dilemma
There are some things money can’t buy.
For everything else, there’s MasterCard.

12. Types of Fallacies: Scare Tactic
 Scare tactics create fear in people
as evidence to support a claim.
 While fear may be a reasonable
reaction to certain facts, your
argument should not rely on fear in
order to be persuasive.
 Are all appeals to pathos fallacious?

13. Scare Tactics (Fear Appeal)
 The streets of our country are in turmoil.
The universities are filled with students
rebelling and rioting. Communists are
seeking to destroy our country. Russia is
threatening us with her might, and the
Republic is in danger. Yes—danger from
within and without. We need law and order!
Without it our nation cannot survive.
--Adolf Hitler, 1932

14. Types of Fallacies: False Cause
 False Cause wrongly assumes a cause and
effect relationship.
 Improperly concluding that one thing is a
cause of another
 Example: My psychic adviser says to expect
bad things when Mars is aligned with Jupiter.
Tomorrow Mars will be aligned with Jupiter.
So, if a dog were to bite me tomorrow, it
would be because of the alignment of Mars
with Jupiter.

15. False Cause Example
 Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
 “After this, therefore because of this”
 It started raining outside when the
band began to play. Therefore, the
band caused it to rain!

16. Types of Fallacies: Red Herring
 Red herring presents an irrelevant topic
to divert attention away from the original
issue.
 A Red Herring is actually a smelly fish
that would distract even a bloodhound, so
in the case of advertisements…it causes
the viewer to become so distracted that
they forget about the true issue at hand.

17. Types of Fallacies: Hasty
Generalization
 Hasty generalization (or jumping to
conclusions) draws a conclusion
about a population based on a small
sample.
 Example: I’ve met two people in
Nicaragua so far, and they were both
nice to me. So, all people I will meet in
Nicaragua will be nice to me.

18. Types of Fallacies: Slippery Slope
 Suppose someone claims that a first
step (in a chain of causes and effects,
or a chain of reasoning) will probably
lead to a second step that in turn will
probably lead to another step and so
on until a final step ends in trouble. If
the likelihood of the trouble occurring
is exaggerated, the slippery slope
fallacy is committed.

19. Slippery Slope Example
 Mom: Those look like bags under your eyes. Are you
getting enough sleep?
 Jeff: I had a test and stayed up late studying.
 Mom: You didn’t take any drugs, did you?
 Jeff: Just caffeine in my coffee, like I always do.
 Mom: Jeff! You know what happens when people
take drugs! Pretty soon the caffeine won’t be strong
enough. Then you will take something stronger,
maybe someone’s diet pill. Then, something even
stronger. Eventually, you will be doing cocaine.
Then you will be a crack addict! So, don’t drink that
coffee.

20. Types of Fallacies: False Authority
 While some testimonials and
appeals to ethos are credible, the
validity of the argument depends on
the source
 Example: A professional athlete may be
able to recommend a good athletic
shoe. However, I wouldn’t
automatically trust their
recommendation for President.

21. Others…
 Non Sequitur
 The conclusion doesn’t follow from the
evidence
 Circular Reasoning
 Your claim is actually your evidence!
 You can trust me because I would
never lie to you!
 Name Calling
 Glittering Generalities

22. Video: Examples
 The Fallacy Project
 Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

23. Applying What You Learned:
 You will now be working in small groups
to identify the types of fallacies used in
several different advertisements.
 As a group, you will need to come to an
agreement as to which type of fallacy is
being used in each advertisement.
 You will write your answers on the
“Finding the Fallacies that Surround You”
Hand-out

24. Example 1:

25. Example 2:

26. Example 3:

27. Example 4:

28. Example 5:

29. Example 6:

30. Works Cited
 Information taken from:
 http://www.readwritethink.org
 The Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy: Fallacies

31. Poster Assignment

32. Poster Assignment
 Create a poster that a person in
Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or the
Philippines might have used to
protest American involvement in
their country in the early 1900s.
 Color, Phrases, Visually Appealing
 One logical fallacy and other
rhetorical strategies

33. Create Your Own Propaganda!
 Using persuasive techniques we’ve
studied in class, create a political,
social, or merchandise
advertisement.
 On the back of your poster, write:
 The audience you are targeting
 The techniques you used to persuade
that audience
 What you are trying to persuade them
to do (buy product X, vote for
candidate Y, avoid behavior Z, etc.)