Geico Commercials: Rhetorical Question

                Commercials fill our daily lives with essentially structured arguments that attempt us to purchase or use certain products. To do this, companies use humorous ways to ensure that we as customers remember them. The Geico Car Insurance Commercials are no exception. Through use of constant rhetorical questions and warrants, they firmly establish that we shouldn’t even have to ask or question whether or not “switching to Geico could save us 15% or more on car insurance”.

                The video presents a series of several Geico commercials that have the same individual (who appears to be the first James Bond) walking up to the camera from a simple backdrop, and asking that same question: “Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?” He then proceeds to draw an analogy to this, following up this question with one involving something ridiculous or famous, such as “Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?” or “Did the Waldens take way too long to say goodnight?” The scene then switches to one proving the validity of the previous statement in an obviously exaggerated and blown up form, and then (usually with a humorous overtone or implication) the commercial restates that switching to Geico really can save you 15% or more on car insurance”.

                As mentioned earlier, these commercials created for the general public and those who need car insurance have within each a basic Toulmin structure for argument. For example, the claim is that switching to Geico saves you 15% or more on car insurance. The ground for this is that this saving of money is as true and obvious as, say, Charlie Daniels being good at the fiddle. The warrant to back these grounds and claim is that there is no doubt that Charlie Daniels plays a mean fiddle, and thus connects back to the claim and warrant.