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Juanita Uribe
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Babcock
Love Has No Labels
Love is a noun that is defined as an intense feeling of affection. Nowhere in its definition
are there limits on who is able to love who. Throughout history, politicians and others in charge
have spent so much time trying to dictate who can love who, that they have steered away from
the actual definition of the word and made it into a political issue. Up until mid-1967, interracial
marriage was illegal throughout most of the United States (Head). The politicians felt as if it was
their right to tell people they could not be together due to their race. Almost half a century later,
same-sex marriage was finally ruled legal by the Supreme Court (Bell). The Love Has No Labels
ad campaign reflects the idea that everyone is capable of loving everyone, love has no
boundaries, and most importantly that love is love by raising awareness to the bias that society
has on love. It does all of this by using rhetorical strategies such as historical, political, and social
context as well as pathos while setting the tone that this ad successfully portrays.
The context of this ad goes historically back to the previous examples. It is sad that up
until only recently, all love was made legal. This ad really could be put into historical, social,
political, and ideological perspective because putting labels on love is something that has been
going on forever. Discrimination of people is something that goes back to Americas early
history with African Americans and other immigrant races. We look back on those times now,
and criticize our ancestors for treating others so poorly merely based on the color of their skin, or
the accent they had. Nowadays, pretty much all of us can agree that we try to not discriminate

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against people, but it has been found that 98% of us do discriminate (Head). Although
unintentional, it still happens. Socially, putting labels on love is still seen a lot today. One of my
teachers in middle school was Caucasian, and married to an African American man. She would
tell us stories about the looks they would get from people in the streets, some even making
snarky remarks. My moms best friend is homosexual, and his partner and he have a business
together, and there are people who refuse to let them work when they find out that they are a
couple. The disrespect and close-mindedness that people pertain nowadays really shows when
faced with these social topics. Every day, children are committing suicide because they get
bullied to the edge in school for being gay, or simply for being different. Not only that, but the
topic of love having labels vs. no labels is also a political issue because the government feels as
though it has the right to dictate who people love. Just the mere fact that gay marriage was illegal
up until this year goes to show that it is a political issue, why was love ever illegal? (Gay) Why
do politicians feel as though they are entitled to say who is okay to love? Many of the answers to
such questions can be traced back to peoples ideologies and the way they were raised. A lot of
people refuse to accept gay marriage due to the fact that they were raised Christian; although, the
Bible does in fact say to love everyone. Even though it is not directly, this ad campaign does a
really great job of incorporating all the contextual aspects because the issue that it displays is
such a pertinent one in todays society.
The most important rhetorical appeal used throughout the video ad campaign is pathos.
The video starts off with a beautiful sunset, while playing Same Love by Macklemore in the
background. Right there, the audience is drawn in, and almost made a little bit more innocent.
Then, the camera moves to a family of three carrying balloons, and then heart shaped balloons
that say I love you. It is then shown that the day is Valentines Day. The fact that it is

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Valentines Day really appeals to the emotions of whoever is watching or witnessing this ad,
because everyones heart seems to grow a little bigger and love a little deeper on this special day
of each year. Then, we are introduced to the skeletons. The first two are kissing, and it is
impossible to tell the gender. Two heads peak out form the side, it is two woman. The camera
moves throughout the audience of people watching. There are people cheering, people clapping,
and some are giving bad looks. A message pops up on the screen, love has no gender. This
message is powerful and appeals to emotion because its true. Everyone was happy when the two
skeletons kissed, but some peoples reactions changed when the couple revealed themselves.
Why? The love was no different behind or in front of the screen. Love has no gender. Later on in
the video, there are two skeletons dancing. Everyone can tell that the two are having so much
fun, so the entire audience is cheering for them. Then, two little girls reveal themselves. One
healthy, one with Down syndrome. The message on the screen reads, Love has no disabilities.
This message appeals to emotions because its great to see that people are able to look past what
is on the outside, and just love others for how beautiful they are on the inside. As the video
continues, they show more and more different types of couples, and the cheering gets louder and
louder. By the end, the entire audience is happily cheering all of the love going on. Not all of it is
intimate, but it is all love. That is the message that this ad campaign is trying to spread.
The mood of this entire ad is very joyful. The music reflects acceptance, the audience
reacts in a positive manner, making the entire ad very uplifting and hopeful. The campaign is
trying to get people to rethink bias, as reflected by the message at the end; and I really believe
that they managed to move some people. This campaign is very deliberative in its message. It
displays the website of Love Has No Labels, and the website provides a lot of insightful
information on how to spot bias, and how to stop it. The narration throughout this ad isnt verbal,

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but the message is clearly displayed through actions. The definition of love is not necessarily
under question, rather it is being furthermore explained and clarified. In its entirety, the ad is
designed to accomplish the end of bias when it comes to love (Love). This ad does a great job
of advocating for love and the idea that love has no labels by using rhetorical attributes such as
context, pathos, and tone to relay to the audience the message it successfully puts in place.

Works Cited
Bell, Debra. "As the Supreme Court Weighs Gay Marriage, a Look at Its Last Major Ruling." US News.
US News, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
"50 States with Legal Gay Marriage - Gay Marriage - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. ProCon,
n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
"Gay Marriage Declared Legal across the US in Historic Supreme Court Ruling." The Guardian. The
Guardian, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

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Head, Tom. "How Interracial Marriage Laws Have Changed Since the 1600s." About.com News &
Issues. About News, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
"Love Has No Labels." Love Has No Labels. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.