Persuasive advertising is almost always, successful advertising. This is a qualitative analysis of two of the Weiden+Kennedy advertising agency’s highly persuasive product commercials; Nike’s 1988 ‘Just do it’ ® sports shoe commercial, and Procter & Gamble’s 2010 ‘The man your man could smell like’ Old Spice body wash commercial. Videos of each commercial were analyzed with the aim of identifying the most persuasive strategies used in successful commercials, in hopes that advertisers can use them to increase sales. This research used rhetorical criticism and Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyze para-linguistic and linguistic features (including phonetic marketing techniques), semiotic (non-verbal) devices, including props, and socio-cultural and power constructs, and concluded that they all impacted persuasiveness by comically challenging oppressive cultural norms and persuading viewers to associate each brand with positive and ideal qualities. The research shows target audiences react positively and are more likely to want to purchase products when commercials have characters and imagery they find desirable or lifestyles they may aspire to – a phenomenon known as ‘aspirational marketing’.