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Victoria Ramos
Professor Collins
1301 ENGL
21 November 2016
Martin Luther King vs. Charles Manson
The advertisement, 2000 American Civil Liberties Union, shows two images. One
image is Martin Luther King and the other is Charles Manson. Martin Luther King is known for
boycotting to obtain civil rights and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Charles Manson was a
notorious killer, who was known to be the leader for numerous cults. Also, the advertisement
states that The man on the left (Martin Luther King) is 75 times to be stopped by the police
while driving than the man on the right (Charles Manson). Thus meaning the purpose of this
advertisement is that African Americans and other races are more likely be stopped by law
officials such as police officers than Caucasians because of the color of their skin. This
advertisement was made by the American Civil Liberties Union, which help people whose rights
are being violated. Therefore, this advertisement grabs the audience of young adults and older
individuals. Ethos, logos and pathos in the2000 American Civil Liberties Union advertisement
suggest that Americans should be aware of the inequality that is known today.
On the advertisement, The American Civil Liberties Union used ethos by having Martin
Luther King and Charles Manson to add credibility. For example, the advertisement shows
Martin Luther King, who is known for being a major activist for peacefully protesting for
African Americans rights. He was also a preacher before then and gave an empowering speech
that would be called, I have a Dream. This speech is iconic because it was Martin Luther

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King's dream to have whites and blacks mix together and be friends in a peaceful way. However,
the other man on the advertisement, who is known as Charles Manson, is known around the
world for something horrible that he did. Biography.com states that Charles Manson killed thirty
five people and created a cult. With this cult, people followed Manson, and on the website it
states that people had a passion for an unconventional lifestyle and habitual use of
hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD, therefore influencing the killings. With that Charles Manson
was put in prison and is still in prison to this day. The advertisement illustrates that America is
still prejudice when it comes to the color of someones skin. Martin Luther King was
assassinated because of his peaceful actions against civil rights, while Charles Manson was only
punished by being put in prison for killing several innocent people. Having both of these people
in the advertisement makes the audience feel bad because Martin Luther King, who was an
African American was, only wanting civil rights but was assassinated while Charles Manson,
who was Caucasian, was only sentenced to prison for killing numerous people without
justification. Using these two people allows the advertisement to catch the audience's attention
because Martin Luther King was a peaceful activist and Charles Manson was a horrible
murderer. With that, the ad uses ethos in order to give people credibility by using two famous
people.
In the advertisement made by American Civil Liberties Union also use logos, which
allows the audience to have facts about the certain topic. One fact that the American Civil
Liberties Union gives the audience is 80% of people in Florida stopped were Black and
Hispanic, 5% white. The advertisement gives facts that white people are less likely to be
stopped than others. Also, American Civil Liberties Union.com, shares, Over the past 90 years,
the ACLU has participated in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization

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(ACLU.org). Therefore, ACLU has helped numerous court cases that involve individual rights
and anyone attempting to harm them. Even now people support this organization because they
support defending people's rights who have been violated based on the color of their skin.
Having logos in this advertisement gives facts and statistics because this will allow the audience
to come to conclusion that the advertisement is true. Even the American Civil Liberties Union
would be considered a logo because it is a factual organization. Therefore we have support from
logos for the advertisement.
Pathos plays a big part in this advertisement because it allows the audience to have
certain feelings toward the advertisement. The advertisement shows the audience racism and
white supremacy. PRI.org discusses a book called Citizen: An American Lyric written by Claudia
Rankine, which is known for giving painful detail the psychic damage that everyday slights
inflict on African-Americans. She gives the details in order for people to know and to read
things about racism that is in America. The book uses emotional stories in order to allow the
readers to be concerned and worry about this topic (Matt Frassia). Going back to the ad, this
allows the audience to have concern and to have a realization that racism is still in America
today. People feel that the color of their skin determines how they are treated. For instance, some
people feel that the color of their skin gives them inequality or an unfair judgment. The
advertisement makes the audience have guilt because they know that their skin color, will
determine their rights, whether they deny it or not. With that, pathos plays a big part in this
advertisement because it allows the audience to perceive how they feel about this situation
despite their skin color.
Having the ethos, logos and pathos in the advertisement created by American Civil
Liberties Union, gave it credibility and allowed to audience to trust this ad. Without having them

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the ad would not be trustworthy and would make the audience have poor judgment on the
advertisement. There is supporting evidence such as the statistics and facts that was placed on the
ad. Martin Luther King and Charles Manson were compared in order to make the advertisement
successful by showing America the prejudice that several people face today.

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Work Cited
ACLU. Provocative New ACLU Advertising Series Uses American Icons in Message on Racial
Profiling. American Civil Liberties Union, American, 2 June 200ADAD,
www.aclu.org/news/provocative-new-aclu-advertising-series-uses-american-iconsmessage-racial-profiling.Accessed 21 November 2016
Charles Manson. Bio.com, A&E Networks Television, 14 Nov. 2014,
www.biography.com/people/charles-manson-9397912. Accessed 21 November
2016
Matt Frassica How Does Racism Actually Feel? Claudia Rankine's 'Citizen' Gives an
Unblinking Look. Public Radio International, 19 Feb. 2015,
www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-19/how-does-racism-actually-feel-claudia-rankinescitizen-tells-us.accessed 21 November 2016