Usually, fallacies are divided into two types: informal and formal fallacies. Informal fallacies are arguments in which the fault in the argument is not due to mistakes in the speakers reasoning, but the overall strategy. In contrast, formal fallacies …show more content…
The media commits informal fallacies so frequently in order to persuade the general population that their reasoning is logical and valid. One example of an informal fallacy is red herring used by President Barack Obama in campaign ad against John McCain. The advertisement begins by making a claim that McCain does not begin to understand fundamentals of the economy by announcing that he owns a number of houses. The president diverted the attention away from the imposing economical hardship by making McCain seem unfit to handle “America’s house” when his focus is on his seven others. Another example of an informal fallacy would be black or white thinking. The concept within this reasoning is that there are two parties Republican and Democrats. If you are not a Democrat, you must be a Republican and vice versa. When it comes down to election time, mainly one sees Democratic and Republican party candidates highlighted during the course of a campaign. In television ads, car commercials for example, an advertisement may claim that you must purchase this vehicle to be unhappy as long as you drive a