Speech Proposal

I chose to do my analysis on Joe Boccardi’s Ristorante, a local Italian restaurant in my hometown. I have eaten many times at Joe Boccardis’, so I am very familiar with the business itself. All around St. Louis and its surrounding suburbs you will find advertisements for Joe’s, whether it be in newspapers, magazines, billboards, or on television. I am interested in understanding further how the advertisements can make a local company like Joe Boccardi’s seem so big.

I have chosen to analyze a print article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch (a local newspaper). It shows a claim that Joe’s commonly makes and displays their main advertisement strategy of using St. Louis monuments to back up their claim. The common claim that is used says “St. Louis’ Favorite Pizza”, which in this case is backed up by a picture of the St. Louis Arch in the background. The monuments really do a good job of solidifying the claim they make, which makes the advertisement very successful.

As portrayed in this advertisement and many others that Joe Boccardi’s produces, the main rhetorical strategy is pathos. By including the various St. Louis monuments, they are inducing the pride that many residents have for their city, tying their products with that pride. They will also commonly include pictures of their pizza, pasta, or other items to induce hunger into those that are reading the advertisement, making them more inclined to stop in and visit the restaurant.