Glue Traps

Ortho Home Defense Max claims that their 'Covered Glue-Trap is the simple, non-toxic, ready to use way to control mice and rats" (http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod10230010&itemId=cat50086, 2011). The main idea of the Ortho Home Defense Website is to persuade buyers who have mice or rats in their homes or apartments to buy their Glue-Traps. The view point of Ortho Home Defense is that their product will not only get rid of unwanted rodents, but it is also a safe and easy way to  achieve this goal. The word choices in the product description helped me figure out the view point. For example, the connotation of 'non-toxic' is that the trap could be used to kill mice and rats without harming people who live in the home. This would be important to consider, especially if the buyer has small children. In addition, because this source is an advertisement, it is critical to consider bias, because the company is clearly trying to make money. It is possible that the website only includes the positive aspects of this product and none of the negative aspects, because the company wants to profit, but there could be downsides to this trap that I am unware of based on this website alone. This slants my opinion, because the company is using words and information to create certain beliefs about the product. However, the author does present conflicting evidence, because the website provides information about other forms of traps in addition to Glue Traps. On the website, there is a tab titled "Six Easy ways to Take Charge of Your Home," where different mouse control options are outlined. This tells me that the company is aware that alternatives exist and that they are willing to educate their potential buyers.