Kate Dodson

Robinson

Online Persuasive Event Assignment

27 September 2017

Billboard: “If you rode a bicycle, you’d be home by now”

This particular persuasive event occurs on a billboard and reads “If you rode a bicycle,

you’d be home by now.” The purpose to is that they are trying to persuade the audience reader to

ride their bike instead of car or bus transportation. The billboard is claiming that it is faster to

ride a bicycle instead of riding in cars. Which could actually be true if it was rush hour in a major

city and the traffic is all stop and go.

USE OF APPEALS

         • LOGICAL (logos)- This billboard is persuading to everyone who is tired of driving in

traffic. The billboard is simple but logical. The company is using an example of why you should

be bicycle more to join their company in biking more around Miami. The fact that he stated was

that “if you rode a bicycle, you’d be home by now” is just one example that the Miami Bike

Scene would say that you should start riding bikes around. There is also no evidence that riding a

bicycle will actually allow for you to get home faster, the billboard is just there to persuade

people into thinking it will.

        • EMOTIONAL (pathos)- The motivational appeal would be that you are getting exercise

in while also saving gas to get home faster than riding in a car. This is a great way to get more

than one activity a day concurred while staying healthy and helping the environment. Everyone

wants to get home faster at night time after a long day at work so the best solution according to

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the billboard is to ride your bicycle home instead of being stuck in traffic all day long.

       • SPEAKER CREDIBILITY (ethos)- Though the Miami Bike Scene is not creditable, the

billboard makes a very persuasive point. The type of credibility used would be derived. The

Miami Bike Scene is a biking company so they would encourage as many people as possible to

start biking around Miami, because that would mean more income for their business. Though the

sign does cause attraction by the appearance of the billboard to all drivers driving by the sign.

Many of the people driving by are most likely thinking the same thing as the billboard when

driving by so there is a lot of similarity also used.

ORGANIZED IN A SPECIFIC PATTERN? - The billboard is visualized on a busy street in

order to make people to take the action to start riding their bicycles instead of driving their cars

everywhere. The comparative advantage would be that riding your bike home means that you

will get home faster and therefore an advantage. The billboard also uses the short approach in

order to reach the audience fast as they drive by in their cars.

DESCRIBE THE TARGET AUDIENCE- The targeted audience toward this billboard would be

people that drive a car that are tired of being stuck in traffic. When they could actually make it

home faster by bicycle because they would be able to drive on the sidewalk and not many other

people ride bicycles.

WAS IT EFFECTIVE? WHY OR WHY NOT? Yes, this billboard is very persuasive to those

who are tired of waiting in traffic. Especially if this billboard was posted in a safe area with a

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sidewalk for people to safely bicycle so that they would not be in the way of oncoming car

traffic.

https://pghenvironmental.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/biking.jpg

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