Daylin Ramirez

October 18, 2015

Philosophy 25

One of the most noticeable fallacies in the ad above is an appeal

to authority. In the bottom left hand corner of the ad there is a photo of
a Dr., Dr. Harold Bogg to be exact. The ad claims that he is the founder
of Tawny Cocaine Port, and the good samaritan who has assisted in
curing several drunk husbands, brothers and sons. This is a fallacy
first off because we do not know what kind of doctor he is or if he is a
doctor at all. He could b basing his entire company off of a lie. This
would make him completely uncredible to state whether his product is
actually effective in helping drunkards kick their addiction. Not only is
this to benefit his product and future successful sales, but the ad also
asks for donations toward Dr. Bogg.
The next fallacy I notice is the title Cure for Drunks. Everyone
knows there is no cure for addiction besides personal choice and selfdiscipline. The title implies that there are only two options to
drunkards. Either continue to be a drunk or drink Twany Cocaine Port
and cure the problem. This fallacy is false dichotomy since the ad
presents two options although one is not clearly stated, it is implied
that ones other option is to stay a drunkard.
The following noted fallacy is Ad Populum. In the first paragraph
of the ad it is stated that Twany Cocaine Port has shed its radiance
into thousands of desolate homes. Then it claims that the drunkard
becomes cured with or without being aware of the change. This ad
claims that its product is credible by using a fallacy which is meant to
rely on the opinion of thousands of other users of the product so that
this population will continue to grow.
Next is an appeal to pity located in the same paragraph as the ad
populum. The ad stated that the homes of these drunkards are
desolate. This means that these homes are most likely gloomy and
dark in both a physical and emotion context where dad, husband,
brother or son are in constant states of depression or darkness who
then turn to alcohol for a break from life. This pursues an audience to
feel sorry for their loved ones who are in this same situation, and then
possibly want to purchase the item to help their loved ones possibly
recover. This appeal to pity attempts to tap into the emotions of the
audience where they can easily relate to the other thousands of
customers, and give into being extremely desperate for a cure.
This same paragraph also contains two other false dichotomies
where it says Even against his will or without his knowledge. The first
one is that it implies the drunkard who needs to be assisted is male or
not anyone at all while excluding possible female drunkards. The
second one is that it implies it would only be taken against his will or
without knowledge when in fact it could be possible that a drunkard
may no longer want to be a drunkard and attempt to cure himself by
taking the product.
Another fallacy is weak analogy where it says Tell them to drink
more then hand them Boggs Tawny Port. Telling someone to drink

more alcohol then telling them to drink a mixture that is suppose to

help kick an alcoholic addiction is not in a strong analogy in fact it is
beyond weak, its hypocritical, and does not logically support the ads
sole argument.
The targeted audience in this advertisement are the friends and
family of drunkards who have become desperate for a cure for their
addiction. The psychological effect that this ad leaves on the audience
is sadness, hope, faith, disparity and perhaps anger. This is because it
strikes up all the emotions they have toward their loved ones
addiction, and then forces them to use these emotion to attempt to
help, fix or even cure their loved one even if the advertisement is total
bogus. The ad subconsciously digs up a need for peace and help with
curing one who needs help themselves. It may also subconsciously
bring up some guilt if they dont do anything to help their loved one, or
attempt to do all they can as in trying to use every possible cure.
This ad is full of fallacies as are many vintage ads which make
false claims. This in part may be due to the fact that this era hadnt
had as much knowledge of the science behind addictions and solutions
to curing home environment especially when having a drunkard under
the roof. Its clear to see how an audience at the time would be so
desperate for a solution especially when alcoholism has been a giant
issue for years until present day. It may seem silly that people of this
era were so convinced that something like this mixture would be able
to cure something that is only curable with things like rehab or
therapy, even then those programs dont fully destroy the issue.
False advertisements such as this one are very dangerous to the
public because it also implies that once can continue to drink and
expect for the issue to be resolved, so that then implies it continues to
be safe for people to drink excessively and be okay eventually. This is
completely incorrect and can even become a new addiction for
someone. In fact this particular product is highly likely to become a
greater addiction or an addiction along side the alcohol because the
mixture contains cocaine which is another highly addictive drug.
Eventually someone who continues to drink Boggs Port will become
addicted to the drink and possibly other mediums of cocaine. Some
customers may even begin to assume that by drinking Boggs Port it
could possibly prevent them from becoming an alcoholic themselves
one day. This would then become another giant problem because then
they would grow a craving for Boggs Port which has cocaine in it, and
as previously stated begin to search for other mediums of cocaine.

Works Cited
Pinterest.DanielleMilsom,n.d.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/556968678886688278/Web.18Oct.
2015.