John Deere, the Tractor

The Covid-19 pandemic was a major era that drastically changed the world and how it functioned. To prevent unnecessary casualties, many businesses closed up shop and many people got laid off or fired. All aspects of life were disrupted, children were not allowed to go to school, being ripped away from their friends. Many people had experienced social isolation and mental health issues, the world felt like it was in shambles, quite frankly it was.

During the peak of this crisis, John Deere an American tractor company aired a commercial titled “We Run Together”. The commercial points out that even though the world is falling apart, farmers are still here. They are busy at work to make sure that the world is still running, they are the stability amidst the crisis. Obviously, John Deere is not a farmer’s union trying to rile up support for their base, but a business with the sole end of making money. To make money they must appeal to their customers. Who are there customers? Farmers. They appeal to farmers by addressing their needs. Farmers are often underappreciated, John Deere knows this. During the pandemic when only essential workers were working, like as farmers, they took the opportunity to make them feel appreciated, helping the brand's credibility and loyalty amongst farmers.  The commercial also appeals to farmer’s values, it emphasizes the value of hard work, family, and the love of the outdoors, further helping the brand.

The Commerical

With slow and ominous music, the commercial opens saying “right now it feels like the world is standing still” as an unused tire swing is shown dangling the wind. Right away this grabs the attention from the audience, who are suffering the covid era. unlike other commercials it isn’t trying to list fact and figures about their latest product, directly trying to sell their product to you, but instead calls out a major world event that is directly applicable to everyone’s life in a substantial way. They are saying indirectly "we know what you are going through", "We are here for you". It portrays an empty tire swinging, to stir up the emotions of all those who are lonesome, who miss the good days of playing at the park with friends, creating a strong emotional appeal and a sense of credibility, probably increasing brand loyalty.

It then pictures a young man walking in a soul-less field with an ominous tune to the John Deere tractor. As he climbs up into the tractor the tune changes to be upbeat, the commercial says “but if you look to the land, it is a whole different story” giving a sense of hope amidst the chaos of the covid era. It makes the John Deere brand have a sense of comfort, greatly appealing to pathos. Because everyone isn't a farmer and can't afford hundred-thousand-dollar farm equipment, they then wisely appeal the average joe by showing an image of a suburban dad mowing a lawn with a John Deere lawn mower. "John Deere isn't just for the farm tycoon, but for you too."

The commercial than goes through many short clips to emphasize the company's value for the principles that farmers care about. It goes on to show people hard at work, with a series of people using John Deere Equipment to sow, mow and harvest.  This creates ethos and pathos. It alludes that John Deere cares for the laborers in the heat of the pandemic when many people didn't realize that they are still in the field busting out the gloves and working hard. It also implies that John Deere is reliable enough for any job. The commercial then goes on to evoke pathos by emphasizing the importance of family. They show a series of video of families working together. It is trying to make a sense of unity when friends and family are torn apart. The commercial makes John Deere to be a source of comfort, in desperate times, and appeals to farmers values creating ethos and pathos.

The commercial ends with John Deere saying thanks to "all those connected to the land" and that they are here for them, finally ending with the words "we all run together". This statement is used by John Deere invoke a sense of unity and togetherness, to appeal to pathos.

Rhetorical Analysis

In the commercial titled "We run together", John Deere uses pathos and ethos to appeal to their customers. Their appeal to pathos is really effective, because of the fact that at the airing of the commercial they take in consideration the worldwide pandemic that was going on. They knew what was on their customer's minds and knew that logic wouldn't appeal to them, to appeal to logic during this time would not be a good call on the company because during the pandemic people could not focus on little things such as horsepower, but to appeal to pathos saying that they were there for their customer they knew that this would work. John Deere did a really good job to shape a terrible world crisis into a benefit to their business, by showing they care. They appealed to what their customer really cared about, hard work, family and unity, when the world was in shambles .