“Luckies taste better, and for good reasons. First, Lucky Strike means fine tobacco, and then this fine, good-tasting tobacco is toasted to taste even better—cleaner, fresher, smoother.” (Lucky Strike, 1955)
When you listen to this commercial, it makes sense at first, but does Lucky Strike actually taste better because it is toasted? Does being toasted automatically make it taste better, fresher, cleaner, and smoother? I would say so, but I smoke Lucky Strikes, so I might be a little biased. Either way, these are mostly opinions and preferences rather than actual evidence that Lucky Strikes taste better. The advertisement tells you that the tobacco is better, then uses those same claims to prove that it is better.
The reason I consider this begging the question is because the advertisement makes a point and then uses that same point to prove its other claims without really explaining how or why. They say that Luckies taste better “for good reasons,” the reason being that they use fine tobacco that is toasted. However, they never actually prove that toasting the tobacco is what makes it taste better. Instead, the commercial assumes that “toasted” means better, cleaner, fresher, and smoother without giving evidence for why that is true. This makes the conclusion sound like evidence for itself, which is why I consider it an example of begging the question. It directly plays to peoples logos because it makes sense that that if toasted is better and lucky stikes are better because they use good tabacco even though it doesn’t fully make sense. They could have said their tobacco is the same as the rest but it doesn’t have the same ring to it.
You may not be a smoker, but this example can help you understand how logical fallacies show up in everyday marketing. Advertisements can make you feel like you’re making the right choice even when they haven’t given you much actual evidence. If you stop and think about an advertisement through the lens of rhetoric, you might notice when a company is using a logical fallacy to persuade you rather than giving you a strong argument.
Understanding the begging the question logical fallacy can help you avoid falling for arguments like this and spending all your money until you become homeless. Of course, saying that one purchase will eventually make you homeless sounds a little extreme. With that, you should check out the slippery slope logical fallacy next!