Public Rhetoric in Malls

In today’s culture, rhetoric is everywhere. From the clothes you put on, to politicians you might see on the news. For this post, we will be discussing how it’s in every mall you shop in. It can be in the clothes on the mannequins, or even the sale ads in the window.

We must first define what rhetoric means. As defined by the dictionary, it is “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing.” So how does that relate to a mall? Every store you walk by is trying to sell, or persuade you, to buy something. Most people are probably aware of the stores using rhetoric in things like advertisements in the window indicating a sale. These are more obvious ways that we spot persuasion in public. This technique, however, is only one of many different options to get you into their stores and buying their product. I’m sure if you have been to any mall in the last couple of years you would have seen Aéropostale displaying massive yellow and red sale signs.

One big method that many clothing stores use is when they put together some outfits in the front window, they’re trying to show you the possibilities that buying their clothes can bring. I particularly find the mannequins in the front windows to be a fascinating technique. I say this because often times when you ask for a particular item off the mannequin, I have been told numerous times from numerous places that some items are discontinued. Yet the company still chooses to display it because it creates a sales worthy image in your head of their product.

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