False Analogy

One logical fallacy is a false analogy; which is an analogy drawn between things that are more different from each other then they are similar. This is a popular method, creating an analogy of two things, mostly because it’s more memorable, and the audience is likely to remember the example later. The way to recognize this fallacy is to pay attention to times when analogies are used in situations, probably more often than not, in persuasive settings. A lot of the time, the speaker will probably want to use emotional comparisons, since their audience will be more likely to be drawn into the situation, and more than likely will answer the speakers call to action. That’s when it gets really hard to tell the difference between a real comparison and just a logical fallacy; when people’s emotions or when they get emotionally wrapped around a situation, it gets a lot harder to separate the difference between the false analogy. I think a good example would be like that commercial clip we watched in class of the new Nissan car, and how if we bought it and drove it, a polar bear would come and hug us in gratitude for saving its home. In reality, this probably isn’t the most likely of situations, since the polar bear wouldn’t walk all the way to the city, just to thank us for buying that particular car. But because the commercial introduced us to the polar bear, and we watched its sad eyes as it’s world was slowly being destroyed, we formed a connection with that polar bear all the way out in the arctic. And because we formed that emotional connection, we would want to help that polar bear in any way that we could. When we stop to think about the analogy that the author of that commercial was trying to draw however, it’s hard to separate our emotions for wanting to help that poor polar bear, and from the reality that us buying a certain brand and type of a car probably will not result in a polar bear hug. But it’s hard to get that mental picture out of your head of that polar bear suffering out there, while it’s home is slowly being destroyed. That tugs on your heart strings, and you want to help that poor polar bear in any way if you can, even if it’s just a small difference. That’s probably what the author of that commercial’s intent was, to draw a memorable comparison because it’s more likely that people will want to do something, and they’ll answer that call to action, which is exactly what that car company wants.