Billy Mays – Mighty Putty Rhetoric
(Editorial note: I know this should be from a “preferably written” source, but I felt this option was too tempting to turn down. The script was certainly written anyway, as in a song.)
Modern advertising is full of rhetoric, and Billy Mays is an icon of modern advertising. His familiar loud voice and his brown beard are a familiar sight. In the script for the Mighty Putty commercials, Mays uses rhetoric in more interesting ways to appeal to logic and emotion. The script is methodical but with careful wording and speaking skills add strong emotional power.
Mays gives a lot of evidence about the benefits of his product, Mighty Putty. He says that Mighty Putter is not a glue, but a powerful epoxy, which can be applied to almost any surface and form an “eternal bond.” Although at first glance this is a logical sentence, it has many emotional elements. The average viewer doesn’t know what an epoxy is compared to a glue, but it is stated as a sure fact so the viewer doesn’t want to question. He uses the hyperbole of an “eternal bond” because it is more appealing to the human ear than giving a range of numbers. In his claim that Magic Putty can “fix and seal practically anything quickly and make it last,” he uses rhyme to keep this main point in the minds of his audience. He later contrasts it with normal glues which he calls “a mixing mess” with Mighty Putty, which “you apply and let dry!”. The visuals are, of course, aided by the video in the commercial, but there’s certainly a negative connotation to the alliterative “mixing mess.” He then says that the product “has the muscle to support up to three hundred and fifty pounds.” His personification of the product strengthens the viewer’s mind as he tells an objective specification. Using repetition and effective diction, he adds that he “has the strength to pull this fully loaded eighty thousand pound truck trailer. That’s the power of mighty putty!” He methodically lists, among other things, where it is useful, such as; tile to wood, metal to glass, cracks in ceilings, walls and floors. After all, he says, “Any job big or small, Power Putty fixes them all!”
Billy May’s script does more than educate viewers about the product. He wants them to buy it and uses many techniques to that end. Keep upping the product ante, at first doubling and then tripling the given amount, for the same “low price.” By actually stating that the price is low, he attempts to remove doubt from the minds of the listeners. He ends by telling his viewers the urgency of the purchase, encouraging them to act on emotional instinct before they miss their urgent opportunity.
Mays’ presentation style is an excellent source for analyzing modern marketing rhetoric because it is clear and doesn’t try to hide his various sales pitches. While it’s true that her persuasiveness doesn’t come from the written word alone, she uses the script with his considerable speaking talent to sell her employers’ products quite successfully.
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