Critical Thinking Assignment: Analyzing Credibility

Source 1: CNN – Larry Kind and Rudi Giuliani Interview
Source 2: Volkswagen David Hasselhoff TV Spot

Answer the following in regard to each of the two examples in a 100- to 200-word response:

Who paid for each example to be created?
CNN obviously paid for the interview with Rudi Giuliani; or I suppose that you could boil it down to the commercials that air on CNN, ultimately pay for the interview. Volkswagen pays for the commercial with David Hasselhoff.

Can you detect a slant—that is, a secondary opinion conveyed by the examples’ creators?
I could detect a slant in the CNN clip; it seemed to me that Larry King was trying to bait Giuliani to be political in the interview. Controversy sells and it seemed that King was trying to get Giuliani to contradict and not support President Bush. I did not detect a slant in the Volkswagen commercial – I thought it was very witty and humorous.

What does each example reflect about society at large? Is it credible? Explain your answers.
The CNN clip reflects society’s dilemma of one major element and one minor element; the major element would be the war in Iraq and the minor element is what needs to be done at the sight of the World Trade Center. Both of these issues are credible due to the fact that these are dilemmas that society is struggling with; the clip did not offer any solutions to these two issues which would have jeopardized its credibility. The VW clip reflects society’s focus on the entertainment world – this commercial might not have been humorous to someone who does not know who David Hasselhoff is. However, since America in particular seems to be heavily focused on celebrities and Hasselhoff’s previous and current “limelight endeavors” the commercial is humorous – it compares a German-American to a German made car.

Answer the following in regard to the news clip in a 50- to 100-word response:

Are you skeptical of the sources’ credibility? Why or why not?
So far as the CNN clip, I think that with today’s news media, you always have to be skeptical as to what you hear as many of the outlets are very biased as to one party or the other. However, this particular Larry King interview was simply and interview of Giuliani’s experiences from 9/11.

Do you detect any bias? Why or why not?
I did not detect a bias with the CNN interview – it was just an interview and did not broadcast any particular message.

Answer the following in regard to the video ad on one of the links above in a 100- to 200- word response:

Does the ad make a claim?
The ad does not come straight out and make a claim; in fact it does not even say anything about a specific product but just about the company.

What fear or desire does the ad play into?
The desire that the ad plays into is two-fold; it plays into the humor aspect and plays into the “star power” factor. This particular VW ad shows Hasselhoff; other ads show other celebrities including Heidi Klum. By showing people that are easily recognized and are household names, individuals assume that “if David Hasselhoff likes it then it must be good for me!” Humor is another marketing technique because it lightens the mood and makes the company or entity seem human and genuine.

Does it target an existing fear or desire or does it try to create a new fear or desire?
Another one of the desires that this invokes is popularity; this is certainly not a new desire. This compares how popular David Hasselhoff is in other countries to how popular Volkswagen is in other countries. This also plays on the “if it’s good enough for him, it must be good for me!”

Does it try to invoke feeling, use admirable people to persuade, or describe a common situation?
This ad does invoke feelings and uses admirable people to persuade the audience to purchase a Volkswagen. Some of the feelings that the ad invokes are humor, the desire to be popular, and the cliché phrase “keeping up with the Jones’s.” The ad also uses a number of admirable people to persuade the audience as well.

Would you make a purchase based on the information presented?
I would not make a purchase based on the information presented if nothing more due to the large investment a vehicle is. Also, I think with how good marketing has gotten in today’s world, almost all commercials have to be looked at skeptically and research has to be done on the specific product. I will admit that the ad made me look around their website at the product they are releasing, the GTI mkV and look at all the specifications for it.