“Stop the greed and let the fans see the game!!” tweeted Rob Lowe on Saturday, angry that Fox and DirecTV blocked the Seattle versus Atlanta game. A long time actor appearing in many of DirecTV's most well known advertisements, the declaration from Lowe is bound to hurt the company, and save consumers from what many knew was already true. Satellite services are unreliable and unsatisfying to many of their customers.Advertisements are one of the largest proprietors of emotional, rational, and ethical appeals. The most successful and widely known DirecTV advertisement campaign involves Rob Lowe and an alter ego of himself. The most commonly seen version depicts Rob Lowe as a DirecTV user and his alter ego, Poor Decision Making Rob Lowe. This is an attempt to convince you of purchasing the satellite services, which does a great job obviously. This is merely an attempt at manipulating viewers. You may be asking, how might a simple advertisement actually sway you?

Here is the answer:

The advertisement begins with him stating that he has DirecTV. Then he introduces his alter ego and he is clearly seen as a poor decision maker by the fact that he has “Rob” tattooed on his forehead accompanied by numerous stars. Then the scene changes to Rob walking into his house in the middle of a show and thanks to DirecTV, he can restart it. However, Poor Decision Making Rob Lowe has cable and he cannot restart his show, because he allows a drifter to borrow his car and he misses his show.

The advertisement hammers home the fact that Rob Lowe can restart his show even if he is late coming home. Then, Poor Decision Making Rob Lowe is seen eating a sandwich he found on the subway train. Rob Lowe concludes the advertisement by telling the viewers not to be like “this me,” and he also tells the viewers to get rid of cable and upgrade to DirecTV.

Symbolically, the poor decisions made in the advertisement equate to the downfalls of having cable in the eyes of the creators. This association is created through logical thinking as well as appealing emotionally to viewers fed up with the cons of cable, such as the inability to restart your program.

Of the appeals in Greek Rhetorical Theory, Ethical Appeal is used most heavily in this particular DirecTV advertisement. Ethical Appeal or ethos involves ethics and character. The way both versions of Lowe are depicted has everything to do with his character, attitude, and intelligence. DirecTV Rob Lowe is intelligent enough to subscribe to a service that allows him to never miss a show. Meanwhile, the poor decision version of Lowe is clearly defined as an unintelligent man for not only owning a cable service, but for having a bad attitude that is destructive toward his character. For example, he has tattooed his face with his name, gives his car to a shady stranger and eats a foreign sandwich off the subway.

Rational Appeal is also used to associate poor decisions with owners of cable, making it inferior to its competition. Each decision that the lesser Lowe makes is a syllogism. Poor Decision Making Rob Lowe has a tattoo on his face and he is a cable owner. Therefore, cable is a poor decision. This statement is refutable but logically speaking it is hard to argue with such syllogisms. The advertisement has successfully appealed to the viewer using rational appeal on top of the heavily used and obvious ethical appeal.

The advertisement associates what lies behind the ethical and rational appeals with the emotions of the viewer. This is done by relating each cable user’s frustrations with the lack of ability to restart their programs, and applying that to a visibly disheveled depiction of what the ever so glamorous Lowe would be like if he had cable instead of DirecTV. This is aimed at compelling current cable users to make the switch along with preventing those considering cable from purchasing it. Speaking to one’s emotions can be the most powerful form of persuasive rhetoric.

This particular advertisement is an ingenious work of Greek Rhetorical Theory, as it actively uses all three forms of appeal, making the strongest possible case for DirecTV as a product. Even realizing what some may think is trickery because it is meant to be manipulative, the advertisement makes very good points that even the most intelligent cannot ignore. For this very reason, it can be seen that all forms of Greek Rhetorical Theory are powerful tools on their own. When two or more are used in collaboration, the persuasive impact of the appeals can be seen as a powerful tool for good or a manipulative weapon.

In a second tweet on Saturday Lowe later said, “Hi, I’m Rob Lowe, And I’M “Screwed Over” Rob Lowe, with DirecTV that cuts off my ability to watch NFL games during the playoffs!”