Trash Talk Tuesday: Appeal to Fear

Trash Talk Tuesday:

Time once again for us martial arts bloggers to learn:
1) How NOT to make a case for or against someone or something
2) Why certain comments set our teeth on edge
3) How to stay focused when discussing our arts

TTTues
It’s Trash Talk Tuesday!

An ad in a comic book reads:  Sign up today for Sensei Rockum Sockum’s Home Study Karate Kourse or be the victim of bullies forever!

Fear tends to dampen our thinking process a bit.  This is why it is often used in advertising – has anyone over the last forty years ever actually been taunted in public by someone singing, “Ring around the collar”???  Hmm.    The comic book ad above makes some pretty broad assumptions.  Is the reader a victim?  The reader could be one of those people who is navigating high school just fine, thank you.   The ad implies there is no other option for dealing with bullies other than taking the Home Study Karate Kourse.  Thankfully we know that is not the case.

Note that a direct threat is not appeal to fear, but is simply a threat.  An example:  “Gimme your lunch money or I’ll give you a wedgie!”

If you’d like to learn more, you can follow along in the book The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

Author: Joelle White

I began training in Karate in June of 2014 after a 27 year hiatus.

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