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Mitchell De Both
Prof. DiSarro
ENG103
14 November 2010
King Kong, the King of the Jungle Beer
“A 1996 survey of children ages nine to eleven found
that children were more familiar with Budweiser’s
television frogs than with Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, the
Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, or Smokey the Bear” (Leiber, par. 4). Alcohol is
one of the most advertised products worldwide. The advertisements can be seen
at least once while flipping through the television, through a magazine, and in
movies. As most Americans know, while watching the Super Bowl, alcohol ads
flood the sports new stations. But why do they choose the advertise at the Super
Bowl? Maybe advertisers choose the Super Bowl because of the mass amounts
of people watching, or maybe the general population watching the football game
is primarily men? Advertisers in general are emotionally connecting to their
audiences, using colors to support their claims, and creating illusions that
promote their service or product. But why does this matter? Why should we
care? We need to understand what advertisers are doing to persuade us into
spending our money. We fall for the illusionistic claims we perceive as truth
because the television says so. We must understand the messages aren’t
always truth and what the advertising companies fool us into believing.

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As we take a look at the supplied Budweiser advertisement, what do your
eyes make their first connection with, maybe the text, the blimp, or the giant
gorilla known as King Kong?
Whatever it may be, it has a message and strategic placing. When taking a
glance at the picture, King Kong is holding a beautiful woman in a majestic
setting (what I find humorous is that the creator decided not to put the planes
shooting hundreds of bullets at the massive gorilla). The gorilla is a sign of
power and strength, the primitive man. The text tidbit, "Nothing beats sitting on
top of the world with the love of your life and a cold beer… AAAhhh, it's good to

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be the king," supports the visual and clearly states what the beer companies
want the viewer to think. Drink this beer and be strong, the king, have the love of
a lifetime. The setting in the background further aids in creating the illusion the
advertisers want the intended audience to fall for. Or maybe the red can and
blimp stick out most. Red brings text and images to the foreground. The color
red is also a color of passion, sexuality, power, and courage (QSX Software, par.
3). The use of colors in advertising has psychological effects on the audience to
help pull out certain emotions. Pulling out the emotions mentioned previously
seems perfect for the type of advertisement. King Kong is a gigantic, strong,
feared fictional character, portrayed in this advertisement as a “man”. Not the
man in today’s day and age, busy with a desk job and whatnot. He is the
primitive man who is strong, ruthless, and in Budweiser’s depiction, drinks beer.
The advertisement has that message saying drink our beer, and become more
like King Kong. Sure it sounds silly, but that’s the message being implied.
When analyzing this image in context of the rhetorical triangle, King Kong
is looking pretty weak. The text can be viewed as a weak logos appeal because
the statement is claiming to be true, but there is no logical sense to it. No way
am I persuaded to believe that if I drink Budweiser beer I’ll become successful,
strong, and happy in life. It might not seem quite logical, but the idea has been
put out there. Budweiser is using its famous name to help it’s credibility. Being
able to locate the name of the “King of Beer” three times throughout the
advertisement pushes it’s credibility forward. It’s almost as if Budweiser is saying
to you, “Hey, trust me. We’re Budweiser, would we lie?” Not only do they use

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Budweiser three times but it’s also written in blue which symbolizes
trustworthiness and honesty. Maybe the emotional appeal, or pathos, captivates
some viewers. The beautiful sunset, the city skyline, the woman, they all can
convince the audience to say, "Hey that looks like a good time". The movie “King
Kong” came out in the year 2005. During that time I was a freshman in high
school and it was extremely popular amongst my friends. Now when I find an
advertisement like this, it makes me wonder. Is there a connection between
using the movie “King Kong” and it’s audience who finds it most appealing to
Budweiser Beer? And the movie “King Kong” is generally more appealing to
young adults and teenagers. Again, why does this matter? Advertisers are using
subjects popular to young adults and teenagers to sell their product. They are
targeting an age group that is most susceptible to alcohol use.
There was a considerable amount of thought put behind this Budweiser
advertisement. Such as the use of colors, why use the giant ape known as King
Kong, the brute holding onto a beautiful woman. All these concepts are used by
advertisers to sell a product, and to a specific age group. By use of the rhetorical
triangle, advertisers can fully express their messages in the most intelligent,
emotional, and credible ways. Next time an advertisement passes by, take a
look. Look for a deeper meaning, look at all the details. There’s more to the
advertisement than what is seen in a first glance.

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Works Cited
Diffen. Blue Color Vs Red Color. N.p., 23 August 2006. Web. 11 November 2010.
Leiber, L. Commercial and Character Slogan Recall by Children Aged Nine to 11
Years. Berkeley, CA: Center on Alcohol Advertising, 1996.
QSX Software. Color Wheel Pro. QSX Software, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2010.
Soren. Inspirational Quotes. N.p., 19 June 2007. Web. 22 Oct. 2010.