Little addiction

Humanity seems to revolve around this substance. What is it? Coffee. Why? What is it in coffee that makes so many people go crazy when they are on it... or off of it for too long? I personally found this Bumper Sticker off of Facebook hilarious because it's so true about a majority of my friends! A white, porcelain coffee cup on a saucer has spilled over onto the table. The coffee, loaded with creamer, is a shiny gold color running off the end of the picture, while coagulating, much like blood would. At the bottom of the picture are the witty words:

NOOOO!

NOT THE COFFEE!

I NEED THAT TO LIVE!

What I want to know is: why do I find this ad funny? What is it about this Bumper Sticker that appeals to me? I believe that Logos, and Pathos are major factors as to why this picture appeals to me. Examples and Cause-and-Effect seem to be the main strategies in attaining people to look at the picture.

Logos, a play on one’s logic is pretty obvious in this bumper sticker. The logic behind this witty picture is that I’m going to die now that I don’t have my coffee. This strikes MY logic because it makes me think that too many people are dependant upon the stimulant. While others might not think what I do, it is obvious that the creator of this sticker is clearly addicted to coffee. It makes me think that if there are more people like that in our country, then we are all, for lack of better term, screwed!

If you are a coffee drinker, you will know that coffee isn’t usually a gold color. Instead, it’s black. Unless, you put cream of some sort into it to change its coloring. Even then, coffee is a more tan or beige color, as opposed to the gold. This makes me think that the spilling of coffee is like the spilling of money you can’t get back unless you are willing to lick the table for it.

The coagulation of coffee, like blood, is probably no coincidence. Blood is essential to survival. If you don’t have enough blood, you’ll die. I find that this sticker illustrates that effect through the clogginess of the coffee. Coffee is becoming an everyday necessity, like blood. There has even been a new saying, “I have too much blood in my coffee system.” This saying, by one of my friends, strikes me as hilarious. She is about as big of coffee drinker as Kara, if not more so! Although, my other friends' grandma's doesn’t spike their brownies.

I view this as a major analogy to many aspects of life. The first being blood, as stated above. It could also stand for air or water. If you have neither, you are doomed to die a slow agonizing death. The coloring of the coffee could also represent money. People can’t really live without money. They may be able to survive in life, but they can’t afford to LIVE! To me, it also means that if you keep buying coffee, you are spilling your money out in front of you.

One Cause-and-Effect comes to mind when I examine this picture. This is: I am going to die now. I don’t have my coffee to sustain me, so now I will die. That almost makes me sad. I have so much more to live for! This sticker states that to not have coffee is to die. Well, not having oxygen, blood, or water is to die, also. You don’t see too may people complaining about that though, do you? Well, not to mention they are too weak to talk…might be a problem.

A final factor in this Bumper Sticker is its appeal called Pathos. The play of emotions. Reading this sticker, one can glimpse the agony, frustration and anger. When one loses something they need, they will be in agony, of course. The frustration is about the coffee, which is apparently a necessity in the life of the creator. And, certainly, anger. I mean, who wouldn’t be angry when they spilled a cup of delicious, golden, coagulating coffee? I would be so mad. I don’t know what I would do!