It Figers

Six sheep, four with their heads up, stand amid scraggly green grass. Three of the sheep look alertly to the left, one stares straight out of the photo, and only the rears of the right two can be seen. Behind them, an old scraped white-washed fence pens them in. Splayed fully in the background is an American flag. Only a tree to the left of it keeps the flag from being the entire background. It is slightly wrinkled, perhaps from a breeze, but it is mostly pulled taut. The bottom front right corner sports the red, white and blue Tommy Hilfiger logo with a phrase below it saying "follow the flock."

Essentially, I think this ad was originally trying to use the classification rhetorical strategy. Tommy Hilfiger is using the flag to broaden their allure to the American audience and not simply an age category. The sheep also add an appeal to animal lovers to those who are suckers for a cute looking animal with an old time flare (by including the fence). This strategy uses both the pathos and ethos appeal. The audience is supposed to feel some type of patriotic feeling, with the historical country background of the fence and sheep. The ads also looks to emote feeling by just having the sheep, for those animal lovers. Another dimension to this ad is Hilfiger aims to boost their character by not showing clothes but their patriotism. In essence they are saying their an American company for the American people.

The little words added to their logo, however, change the message entirely, creating a parody. "Follow the flock" is a phrase meant to back Tommy Hilfiger, implying that the stupid sheep in the ad are the American people (or those that buy their clothes). Instead of a pro American ad, Hilfiger is characterized as a manipulative company herding their patrons wherever they choose to lead them. Americans are thus gullible consumers and will follow an one who will lead, just like the brainless sheep.