Pathos ad examples: live ads, plus ethos and logos side by side
Pathos ad examples from ASPCA and other ads running on Meta today, with ethos and logos ads beside them. What each appeal does, which one leads at each funnel stage, and how to test them against each other.
Marián Cabadaj
9 min read
Most ads that try to be emotional end up vague. A sad photo, a soft line about "family" or "peace of mind", and nothing the viewer can act on. Most ads that try to be factual end up as a spec sheet nobody finishes.
The ads that work pick an appeal on purpose. Pathos moves the viewer, ethos makes the brand believable, and logos gives the reason to act now. This post shows each one in ads that run on Meta today, most of them from the ASPCA, taken from Meta's public Ad Library in October 2026. We show them as patterns. The Ad Library does not show results, and we do not know how each ad performed. The same examples also work as logos and ethos ad examples.
What are pathos, ethos and logos in advertising?
Pathos, ethos and logos are the three ways a message persuades, named by Aristotle in the Rhetoric more than 2,300 years ago. Pathos works on the feelings of the audience, ethos on the credibility of the speaker, and logos on the proof in the message itself. In an ad, the brand is the speaker.
Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself. Source: Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book I, Part 2, translated by W. Rhys Roberts (MIT Internet Classics Archive)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Aristotle's Rhetoric (2022) adds a point that matters for ads: for Aristotle, credibility comes from what the speech itself shows, not from the speaker's reputation before it starts. An unknown brand can earn ethos inside one ad.
| Appeal | What it works on | The question it answers for the viewer | A line from the ads below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathos | Feeling | Why should I care? | "A second chance" (ASPCA) |
| Ethos | Credibility | Why should I believe you? | "Expert guidance every step of the way" (ASPCA) |
| Logos | Proof | Why is this the right choice? | "Vet checked and adoption ready" (ASPCA) |
Why does one ad usually need more than one appeal?
A viewer asks all three questions, just not at the same moment. The picture and the headline land first, so most ads open on one appeal and close on another. The ASPCA ads below show it: the photo of the dog does the pathos, and the body copy brings the logos.
Our articles are still written by HUMANS! Get human written articles in your Google feed.
Add as preferred sourceWhich pathos ad examples are worth copying?
The pathos ads worth copying make the viewer feel one specific thing about one specific moment.
A second chance (ASPCA). One dog, looking straight into the camera, and three words. The line names the feeling (hope) and the photo gives it a face. The orange bar below says what to do next: meet the dogs.
Big hearts need homes (ASPCA). The same idea in a tall vertical format for cats: "These loving cats are cared for, ready for love and waiting to meet their future families at the ASPCA Adoption Center." The cat looks at the viewer, and the copy calls the viewer a future family before they have done anything.
3 a.m. (a diaper ad). A diaper ad in the same Ad Library pull opens on "When it's 3 a.m. and you're reaching into the diaper caddy half-asleep..." over a plain photo of a diaper change. The ad describes the parent's worst hour, and every new parent has had it. That is pathos for a DTC product: find the moment the problem hurts most and name it in the parent's own words.
Where does pathos go too far?
When the feeling is borrowed. In the same Ad Library search, several advertisers that are not the ASPCA ran the same photo of two puppies behind cage bars with the line "Learn more info about ASPCA Pet Adoption in this guide", linking to a third-party site. None of the cards we saved showed an ASPCA logo. The sad photo does the work, and the click goes somewhere the viewer did not expect. Guilt can get a click once, and a viewer who feels tricked does not come back. Keep the emotion true to what the product does.
What do ethos ads look like?
An ethos ad shows why the brand has the right to make its promise. It does that with people, credentials or a trusted partner inside the ad.
Expert guidance (ASPCA). A smiling woman next to a husky, and the line "Expert guidance every step of the way." The copy behind it says adopters get "expert support". The person in the photo gives the word "expert" a face.
We partner with shelters (ASPCA). Two women load an orange pet crate into a van with the ASPCA logo and the words "Rescue Ride" on its side, under "We partner with shelters." The ad earns credibility by showing the work as it happens.
Customer reviews and creators are the other big source of ethos for a DTC brand, and we covered them in social proof ads.
Can an ad fake ethos?
It can try, and in the US the rules say no. The FTC's endorsement guides state that when an ad presents an endorser as an expert, "the endorser's qualifications must in fact give the endorser the expertise that the endorser is represented as possessing" (FTC Guides Concerning Endorsements, 16 CFR 255.3). What this means for a DTC brand: if the ad presents someone as a dentist, that person must be one. Use a real expert, or show your own team doing the work.
What do logos ad examples look like?
A logos ad gives the viewer a fact they can check: a number, a spec, a list of what is included. The best ones put the one fact that ends the doubt into the headline.
Vet checked and adoption ready (ASPCA). The headline is a claim, and the body copy backs it up with a list: adopters "receive expert support, an adoption kit and a pet who has been spayed/neutered, microchipped and provided age-appropriate vaccinations." Each item answers a worry a first-time adopter has about cost and health.
Adoption kit to get you started (ASPCA). A card from the same ad puts one item from that list into the headline. The headline answers a practical question, what comes with the dog, before the viewer asks it. For a DTC brand the same move is the one number or spec your buyers check first, such as grams of protein, battery hours or a return window, written into the headline.
What makes a logos claim safe to run?
Proof you have before the ad goes live. The FTC's policy on advertising substantiation says advertisers must have "a reasonable basis for advertising claims before they are disseminated", and an ad that says "tests prove" must have at least that level of proof (FTC Policy Statement Regarding Advertising Substantiation, 1984). What this means for a DTC brand: write the number exactly as your lab sheet or product page states it. For more copy that leads with a fact, see our good ad copy check.
How does a DTC brand pick the appeal for each funnel stage?
Pick the appeal by what the viewer already knows. Eugene Schwartz sorted buyers into five stages of awareness, from "does not know they have a problem" to "knows your product and only needs a deal". Our guide to the 5 levels of awareness explains each stage. Here is one way to map the appeals to the stages. Treat it as a starting point to test:
| Awareness stage | Lead appeal | Supporting appeal | A line in that style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unaware | Pathos | none yet | "When it's 3 a.m. and you're reaching into the diaper caddy half-asleep" |
| Problem aware | Pathos | Logos | Name the pain, then one fact that shows a fix exists |
| Solution aware | Ethos | Logos | "Expert guidance every step of the way" |
| Product aware | Logos | Ethos | "Vet checked and adoption ready" |
| Most aware | Logos | Pathos | The offer, plus one reason to act today |
Cold audiences have no reason to read a spec yet, so pathos opens the door. Warm audiences already feel the problem and compare options, so ethos and logos close the sale. A problem-solution ad is the classic bridge: pathos in the problem frame, logos in the solution frame.
Should one brand run all three appeals at once?
Yes, in different ads. The ASPCA does exactly this, with all of these ads live on the same day in October 2026: "A second chance" for feeling, "Expert guidance" for credibility, "Vet checked" for proof, all in one visual style. One look keeps the brand recognizable while the appeal changes.
How do you test pathos against logos?
Keep the same product, audience and budget, and change only the appeal. If the photo, the offer and the appeal all change at once, you cannot tell which one moved the result.
- Write one ad per appeal. Same image style, same offer. Change the headline and the first line of copy: a feeling, a credential, a number.
- Give each enough data. Meta's guidance is that ad sets should reach "a minimum of 50 events over a 7-day period" to get through the learning phase (Meta for Developers, launch an ad campaign, 2026). What this means for a DTC brand: if your budget buys 10 purchases a week, judge on a cheaper event such as add to cart first, or wait longer before you call a winner.
- Judge on cost per purchase. Clicks and purchases can rank the same ads in a different order. Compare the cost per acquisition of each variant below.
Your numbers
Purchases, signups or booked calls. Keep it the same action you are optimising the campaign for.
The share of the order left after EVERY variable cost: goods, shipping, payment fees. Not gross margin, which leaves shipping in and quietly raises the CPA the page tells you that you can afford.
Your cost per acquisition
CPA
—
Break-even CPA
—
Profit per conversion
—
The formulas
CPA = ad spend / conversions
Break-even CPA = order value x contribution margin
CPA Calculator: the full tool, with the benchmarks and the FAQ
- Keep the winner and test it against the next appeal. A pathos winner today can lose to a logos ad once the audience knows the product.
How Selzee makes pathos, ethos and logos ads
Selzee finds the ads that win in your market right now and recreates them for your brand, with your products, logo, fonts and colors. Some of those ads lead with a feeling, some with a credential and some with a number.
Selzee made the PDPAOLA ad below. It leads with a feeling: "diamonds and gold that express my taste, not another passing trend."
Each ad comes with the angle and the insight it is built on, so you know which appeal it uses before you test it. You approve the ones you want and publish them in one click. See how it works on the AI ad generation page, and for more headline patterns, read our copywriting examples.
Pathos ad examples: FAQ
What is a pathos ad example?
An ASPCA ad that shows one dog looking into the camera with the words "A second chance" is a pathos ad. It makes the viewer feel hope for that dog before it asks for anything. A diaper ad that opens on "When it's 3 a.m." is another one. Selzee recreates ads like these for your brand.
What is the difference between pathos, ethos and logos in ads?
Pathos persuades through feeling, ethos through the credibility of the brand, and logos through facts and proof. An ad can use all three, but it usually leads with one. To test them against each other, Selzee makes ads for each appeal.
What is an example of logos in advertising?
The ASPCA line that an adopted pet comes spayed or neutered, microchipped and vaccinated is logos: a list of facts the adopter can check. A snack ad that leads with grams of protein per serving uses the same appeal. Selzee makes fact-led ads like these for your products.
What is an example of ethos in an ad?
The ASPCA ad that shows a woman with a husky under "Expert guidance every step of the way" is ethos: a real person stands behind the promise. So is the ASPCA ad that shows its own rescue van under "We partner with shelters". Selzee recreates winning ads for your brand.
Which appeal works best in ads?
No single appeal wins everywhere. A common starting plan is pathos for a cold audience and logos for a warm one. Only a test on your own audience tells you which wins. Judge each version on cost per purchase. For the next version to test, Selzee makes new ads every day.
The short version
Pathos makes the viewer care, ethos makes them believe you, logos gives them the reason to act. Lead with a feeling for cold audiences and with proof for warm ones, keep the feeling true to the product, and back every claim with a fact you can show. Then test one appeal against another on cost per purchase.
If you want new ads like these every day, see how Selzee works on your own brand.