There is very little to no appeal to logos in the Woodstock poster due to the nature of what the poster was made to do--to inform, and not to make a logical argument. Basically, the most logical play there was related to the poster was that if you were interested in the burgeoning genres of music being played, were a part of the Counterculture, or wanted to have a good time, the Woodstock festival was the place to go.
This lack of logos is purposefully done and is (ironically) logical, as no one would bother to read a concert poster that included research, analysis, and statistics to further the creators' points on attending the concert. That would have just confused the intended audience and would have turned people off, as no one (hippies and culture rebels especially) would want to read an English paper posing as a poster attempting to persuade the masses to attend a concert through the use of logical analysis and deconstructing the logical fallacies of not attending. The creators therefore made a smart decision to not use logic and use ethos and pathos instead, which are much more effective for an event that mostly uses emotions, spirituality, and feelings about culture to define itself anyway.
I agree that intentional omission of logos is actually logical. When trying to grab people's attention with advertisement, it is not good to ramble on about facts and statistics. You will likely lose their interest.
ReplyDeleteLike you mentioned Woodstock uses the technique of a lack of logos to its' benefit. By including more of an appeal to pathos and ethos the people involved with the organization of the event are able to reach the forward thinking audience. This poster ultimately gives the intended audience a sense of power because they can interpret it in any way they want.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that perhaps the listing of the prices is an appeal to logos? The audience may see the different prices and logically draw the conclusion that the tickets are priced fairly, which may serve to influence them to want to attend the festival.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first blog post I have read where someone has pointed out a lack of a rhetorical element, so this was very interesting to read. I think all the points you made were very true, and I also find it interesting that the creators of the poster used a lack of a rhetorical device to actually help their argument.
ReplyDeleteAs a few of our classmates commented above, this was the first post I have read that acknowleged an actual lack of logical appeal. I appreciate how instead of trying to twist the poster into an appeal to logos, you instead chose to focus on how this lack of appeal was intentional and how it still has an effect.
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