As someone who purchases crickets on a regular basis to feed to my three leopard geckos, this claim concerned me. Could the crickets I buy and feed to my babies be sick? Could they cause my reptiles to become ill? What do I really know about where the food that creates the backbone of my reptiles’ diet comes from? In an advertisement filled with subtle visual and textual rhetorical strategies, Timberline successfully convinces readers that virus-infected crickets are no longer an issue to worry about when purchasing from them.
Timberline’s argument pulls the reader in with a photograph: A giant, scaly reptile (specifically, a bearded dragon) scooping up an unsuspecting cricket, its tongue glistening with saliva. Reptile lover or not, the image will surely catch the attention of everybody. For those not so fond of reptiles, they’ll probably think “Oh, neat picture,” or shake his or her head in utter disgust. On the other hand, owners of reptiles are reminded by the photo of how voracious reptiles are for crickets.
A possible subtle argument lies in the photo that if your reptiles eat the same type of cricket that the bearded dragon is eating, you too will have an animal as beautiful and healthy as it is. While the image is attention catching by taking up half of the standard 8? inch by 11 inch magazine page, the bulk of rhetorical strategies used by Timberline lie in the text below the image. Timberline takes advantage of varying font sizes and weights to inform readers of what the advertisement will address.
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In bold black sans-serif letters, “The Real Issue…Choose Virus Free” (Timberline) stretches across the entire page. Bold and black are obvious tactics designers use to grab attention, but the more subtle use of a sans-serif font may, without the reader even realizing it, associate Timberline with something that is “efficient and contemporary” (Lunsford 457).
The rest of the advertisement is written in a standard size and weight sans-serif font, but throughout the article certain key questions addressed to the reader are weighted.
Thus, the audience is prompted to take a moment and think critically about what has just been asked of it. This tactic is effective in strengthening Timberline’s argument because it stops the reader and provides them with time to digest claims that Timberline believes to be critical in convincing readers to buy their crickets. To establish credibility and present itself as an authority in the exotic animal food industry, Timberline uses scientific facts and states its values regarding farm cleanliness standards.
First Timberline provides a brief history of the Acheta domestica cricket, defending that the cricket isn’t to blame for the wide-spread virus, but that irresponsible cricket suppliers that distribute the sick crickets are. Timberline concluded that other species of crickets adapted by breeders to replace the domestic cricket have “very little or no scientific data including nutritional values,” thus bringing into question why other breeders would supply crickets with questionable nutritional value. Timberline knows that to reptile owners, nutrition is a huge deal.
Without proper diet, reptiles get sick. And when reptiles get sick, they get sick fast and recover slowly. The thought of causing one’s reptile to become ill distresses dedicated reptile owners. To solve the issue of virus-infected crickets, Timberline introduces the concept of its “clean farm” policy. Before entering Timberline’s property, all delivery trucks and visitors are required to take disinfectant footbaths to remove viruses or bacteria they may be transporting. As well, all trucks and packages are sanitized before entering production facilities (“Clean Farm”).
These practices, however, are not universal among cricket farms. One of Timberline’s competitors, Ghann’s Cricket Farm, switched to another species of cricket, avoiding the need for such cleanliness policies. In effect, Ghann harvested crickets with no known nutritional value for over a year with the absolute intention of selling them as feeders. Meanwhile, information regarding what species of cricket The Bug Company uses (another competitor of Timberline) is nowhere on their web site or any advertisements!
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The omission of information that is readily provided by other companies leads one to believe that The Bug Company is possibly hiding something concerning the condition of their crickets. By enacting “clean farm” standards, Timberline shows that it cares about the health of the crickets it breeds for animal consumption by preserving the health of the Acheta domestica. Furthering Timberline’s credibility, the company prompts readers to visit its web site or contact it by phone for more information on what exactly their “clean farm” policy entails.
This strategy shows that Timberline is not afraid of people investigating its practices because it is confident in what it does. By having web presence, a company furthers its authority because it is no longer “nameless” per se. On its web page, Timberline reveals how it keeps its farm clean by growing all of its live foods on-site and by not buying bugs from other companies to resell. Thus, Timberline refers to itself as a “closed farm. To show that it has the resources to carry out such extensive procedures to keep its farm free of viruses, the advertisement includes an aerial photograph of Timberline’s 250,000 square foot facility. In the photo, sparkling-white warehouse buildings are surrounded on all sides by bright green grass; while I can’t speak for other reptile owners, I’d much rather get my crickets from a place like this. Simply the healthiness of the surrounding grass and cleanliness of the buildings show Timberline’s obvious commitment to clean practices. It must be noted that at one point Timberline appears to contradict itself slightly.
When introducing “clean farm” standards, the advertisement said the company has been practicing the standards “for years. ” Shortly after, the advertisement states that Timberline has “always done it the right way. ” Logical reasoning can lead the reader to conclude that “for years” and “always” are not equivalent. While Timberline’s advertisement contains one obvious weakness concerning exactly how long it has been practicing “clean farm” standards, the company’s overall use of rhetorical strategies is successfully convincing to pet owners.
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When exactly Timberline began practicing clean farm standards isn’t as important as the fact that at this moment the company practice such standards, ensuring the health of the food reptiles rely on to survive. In conclusion, the combination of rhetorical strategies used by Timberline complement one another to create an attractive and informative argument about the positive effects of its “clean farm” standards. A smiling bearded dragon devouring a virus-free cricket starts their argument off strong, providing reptile hobbyists a visual they can relate to.
