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another, additional rneaning? Collect some examples of brandimages (e.g. Marlboro cigarettes). What arc their meanings? Howare these conveyed?

4. What use are the concepts syntagm (or metonymic polc) andparadigm (metaphoric pole) to the analysis of ads? (See Barthes,1968, ]akobson, 1971 and Fiske, 1982). Discuss the Colman'smustard ad (platc 15) in terrns of its paradigmatic dimension.Break down the syntagmatic chain into its relevant constitueritunits (i.e. woman, fur rug, fire, ctc.) and then group them intoparadigmatic classes (colours/t oncs, lighting, body language,decor, etc.). How do these paradigmatic structures facilitate theconnotative meanings of an ad?

5. What codes and sub-codes arc at work in the famous series of adsfor Benson and Hedges cigarettes or Guinness? Cut th em out ofmagazines, and paste thcrn on a shcet of cardboard in order tohelp you in your analysis.

6. What binary oppositions like nature/culture can you observe atwork in television commereials? Arc there other fundamentalkinds of binary oppositions which underly many commercials?

7 THE LANGUAGEOF ADVERTISING

1 have discussed the changes that have taken place in the appearanceof ads over the past thirty years and the contemporary emphasis onthe visual aspects and image-making of promotion and publicity. Itwould be wrong to suggest, howcvcr, that advertising language isunimportantiIn fact the languagc of ads is somctimes rnore importantthan the visual aspect.

Advertising language is of course loaded language. Its primary aimis to attract our attention and dispose us favourably towards theproduct or service on offer. Advertisers use language qu ite distinc-tively : there are certainly advantages in making bizarre and contro-versial state ments in unusual ways as weil as communicating withpeople using simple, straightforward language. Copy-wrirersare weilknown for playing with words and manipulating or distorting theireveryday meanings, they break the rules of language for effect, usewords aut of context and even make up new ones. Plain and directlanguage and modes of address can, however, still be used to attractattention and add emphasis to a picture. The use of the imperativemode is of cour se very common in advertising: 'Buy this', 'Try sometoday', 'Don't forget ... ', 'Treat yourself', as are plays on wordsor puns: 'Short, Black and Sides', 'Black hander', 'Black on the map',et c., have appeared in a recent campaign for] ohn Player cigarettes.Of course some ads are completely devoid of language or speecb ,relying on the visual image of the product to speak for itself.

Catch ing our atterition and imagination and aiding memory are

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perhaps the primary functions of advertising language: unusualorstylish words and short, crisp sentences are easy to repeat andremember. And our mcmories arc also served by brand narnes, slogansand catch-phr ases, rhy thrn and rhyme, alliteration , snatches of songor verse and of course endléss reperition. In .addition to conveyingmeanings and feelings through the judicious and experimental use ofvocabulary and syntax, language can function not just as a sign systembut also as a sign itself. For instance, some ads rely more on the styleof language th an its actual content. In ads for, say, a foreign productlike French cheese, wine or cigarettes, the speech or writing mightbe in the Freneh language. We are not really cxpe ctcd to understandthe literal meaning of the words used nor to dccipher the details of thesales message but rnere ly to rccognize that it is Freneh - a sign initself that signifies 'Frenchness'. Similarly, colloquiallanguage can beused to indicare cveryday life, and childish language to connotechildishness. Diffcrenr typographieal and calligraphic techniqucs canalso be used as signifiers so that language can signify the prcductdirectly by uniting language and product. 1 will examine some ofrhese aspects of advertising language in the following pages.

the narnes of these lipsticks bring certain ideas to m ind . sle ek peach,hanky pinky, quiet flame, warm coral. When products !ike carpets,paints or make-up come in a number of shades, colours or patterns,the advertisers choose attractive names for thern which are designedto do m orc than just separate and distinguish one from another.

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Words have feelings

When we choose a word we do more than name an object, person orsituati on , we also convey fec1ings about what we arc describing.What you feel or your attitude towards what you describe is animportant part of meaning.Words can affect the beliefs and attitudesof other people. If you call a person one of the following:

obesefatchubbywell-built

Brand namesBrand names communicare denotatively and connotativcly. When itcomes to nam ing the produet in the first place, there is considerableseope to invest it with particular meanings and associations. Themanufacturer has to give a product a distinctive name in a massmarket. The name should do more than just label or idcntify theproduct; it should also bring flattering associations to mind, associ-ations which will help scll it. The names given to cosmetics and otherbe auty products frequently recalI images of beauty, cleanlincss,sophisrication and natur alness: Moondrops, Natural Wonder ,Rainflower, Sunsilk, Skin Dew, Sometimes the names of productsconvey scientific authoriry Etcrna 27, Clinique, Endocil, Equalia.Mcn's toiletries (not 'beauty products', you notice) aIso have evocativenames. Brut , Cossak, Denim, Ar amis , Dcvin , And it doesn't takemuch imagination to work ou t why cigarette br ands are called bysuch narnes as Piccadilly, Embassy Sovereign, Consulate , StateExpress, Lambert and Butler , nor why there are cars called J aguar,Must ang, Triumph, Princess.

A popular idcntifying technique is the deliberatc misspclling ofwords in brandnaming to givc a product uniqucness while at the samctime allowing it to r etain some recognizable elemonts. Jn the namesRice Krispies, Ryvita and Brylcreern, the elements 'Krisp', 'Ry' and'crecm' are still meaningfui although they are not spelled correctly.

you are obviously giving your opinion, and it might be the case thatthe person would prefer to be called the last of these four adjcctives.The advertising copy-writer is well aware that words can work likethis, and indeed the fact that they can adds a richness to our com-munication .. The copy-writer will use words to project the producthe or she is bringing to people's attention in the most attractive way.

Words not only describe things, then, they communieate feelings,associations and attitudes-they bring ideas.r0 our minds. For instance,

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The to ne of voiceIt is not only words that attract atterition to an advertiser's produet.UsualIy wc are IIIore inclined to listen to a speaker if the voice soundsple asant QL friendly. Television and radio have a eonsiderable

--á-d~antage here because the advertiser can use actual voices to ereatcthe right impression. Some advertisernents try to stimulate interestin their products by using a brightand breezy or efficient soundingvoice, others use a warm and cosy voice or a sedu ctive and intimateone. Some voices are insistant, pushing and aggressive. Even press

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and magazine ads attcmpt ta suggest a tone of voice by the style oflanguage used:

Earl Grey [Tea]Reminiscent of the warm natural

sccnts of a far-away summer eveningwith a tantalizing taste and delicately

scented in a secret way describedby a Chinese mandarin many years ago.

Much to the satisfaction of its manyadmirers Twinings share the secret ,

At its most rcfreshing sctvedstraight with only a sliver of lemon.

To keep your grip, you need more than thelatest in tyre technology -- we're tal king

about the Cavalier's suspension.It is designed to com pl eme nt the most

recent thinking in the ty re world.And it produces a ride that Starsky

and l-Iutch wouldn't be proud of.No slipping and sliding.No rocking and rolling.

No shaking all over.Indepcndenr , computer-tuned

suspension with coi! springs at the front,live axle with coil springs at therear,

plus anti-roll bars at both ends - thosearc the reasons.

Not that you need anything asunexciting as a reason to drive a Cavalier.

In the first example a sensuous, quite high-elass ton c of voice issuggested by the u se of su ch words as 'tantalizing ' and 'delicately ',and it also sounds as though the message is coming from a knowledge-able person. In the second example (from a car ad) the tone is moreconversational, jocular and breezy. A tane of brisk efficiency issuggested by this copy:

Its sleek, sporty styling shows a carefuI atterition to aerodynam ics:Low-slanting hood. Sharp high-tipped rear end. Air-elarn front

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spoiler. And a wedge shape that slices air cleanly - alI of whichad ds up to better fuel economy.

Notice the short clipped sentences, sometimes with no verb, and alsothc 'shapc ' words like slanting, high, wedge. In the following exampleof copy from an American magazine , the imagery and tane areintensely patriotic: it almost reads more like a national anthem thanan advertisement:

..

America the Bcautiful .From the prairies. To the cities. To the oceans

bright with foam, America shows its true colors.Colors with astrong constitution. Pr oud colors.

Young colors.Colors destincd for greatness. Sand soft, plum deep

and mauvy.Some of thesc new colors are: North-West Rose,

Prairie Mauve, City Lights, Gold Coast Red.For your eyes, your lips, your cheeks, your nails.

Ultima II.

The 'tone of voice' of an advertisement as weil as the words usedand the rhythm of the copy will sornetimes try to recreate theexperience of having and enjoying the product:

'M' is for moments you'll never forgetFor days marvcllous with flowers and laughter

For nights magicai with moons and old promises'M' Fragrance by Henry C. Miner.

lt's Magic.

Here the mood is pitched tawards fantasy and dreaming. In the fol-lowing copy for a type of fire, the language is cosy, intima tc anddomestic (and, incidcntally, sexist) :

Having a quiet night at home for once - and very nice too.You'!l browse through magazines, he 'll try to read his paper,and you'lI both enjoy the sheer comfort of your new fire.

The language for fashions is of ten tactile and caressing and usesadjectives of touch, shape and physical comfort. The intention ista invest the product with meaning by tone, rhythm and association.

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The role of advertising language

Advertising language is generally informal and colloquial. Scnteneesare usually simply constructed and short. Impcrative clause s arefrequerit. The prospective eustomer is continually exhorrcd. 'Buy X','Diseover Y', 'Find out about ... ', 'Try it today', 'You'll fecl betterfor it', 'Don't ask a man to drink and drive', 'Don't be vague. Ask forHaig'.As an cxample of direct and coIloquial speech consider this copy:

Lcts face it, isn't it worth considcring? Of cour se it is and therc'sno time like the prescnt - so get that pen right away and fill inthe coupon in this wcek 's TV Times. Or call in at your nearestbraneh and talk things over with the braneh manager.

This mode of address would be unthinkable and even rude in privateEnglish. (Some people would arguc that it is als o 'rude ' in advertisinglanguage and that the advertiscr is not only invading a person's privaeybut als o assuming that he or shc is of pretty medioere intelligenee.)Nevertheless it does illustrate some typical fcatur es of advertisinglanguage. The tone is jocular, cvcn disingenuous, the grammar isabbrevinted and disjoinred.

In TV commereials therc is an cven greater tendenev towards theabbreviatcd or disjunctive mode of discoursc. Time is short (somecommereials are only sevcn or fifteen seconds long), and the spokenword of ten plays a rclatively minor ro le be cause of the combinedpower and impact of visual and auditory material. There are evcncommereials wi th no speech at ali or just an end-line of slogan:'X, the name you can trust' or 'Big on convernenec. SmalIer in size.New alI around.' The foII owing ad for an insurance company illustratesthe disjunetive mode:

If you 're a married rnan.What if you died young?It could happen.And then who'd pay the bills?Would your wife have to go back to work?Who'd collect the kids from school?

-::,

Of course not alI advertising consists of direct exhortation or directaddress where the advertiser seems to be communicating directlywith the audience. Of ten an advertisernent will have a presenter whodoes ~<moriOIögue:) on behalf of the advertiser or the re might be a----_ •..~'.

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'di~í~g'~e;''iwhere two sccondary participants (acrors) talk to each'üthrrl11c most common type of advertising dialoguc is the domesticplaylet, wherc the dramati; personae are ordinary rncn, w~ana-'c1iiTClfen - mothers, fathers, neighbours and shopkeepers - and the'plot' is an unremarkable happening in everyday life, the themebeing the excellent qualities of the product. This situation gives theviewer the position of cavcsdropper , it has of ten been argued thatpeople cnjoy watching other people, prcfcrably ordinary people,going about their day-ro-day business. __ .", .. _ _ .-.,..

Ariother common form of advertising is the diaJogue interviewwith an 'ordinary' custorner "--.- -. - -_/

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Q Mrs Face t , do you evcr get a hcadache?A Yes, Ido.Q And do you take a pain reliever?A Yes, 1 do.Q ls it possibly this, the number 3 best seller?A No.Q Or this, the number 2?A No, not that one.Q Or this, the number 1 bcst seller?A Ah yes, Anadin, that's the onc I take.Q Can you tell me why?ANothing works better than Anadin for me.

Try Anadin for hcadaehcs. For tense nervous hcadaches. Anadinis the number 1 best seller.

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In terviews which act as testimonials for products can he veryeffective, particularIy when the interviewer is an experienced broad-easter or ce leb ri ty and is able to eli cit what look like spontaneousremarks from the 'rn an-in-the-street'. But, some intervicws caninvolve fictional participants or even be jokes or parodies of 'real'i~~~<:_w_ stl'I.:.:: Ariother fami~iar type ~f commercial is th~ono_-_.logue testimonial by a celebrity, showing hirn or her III sUltaDTy"expen'sííieü; luxurious surroundings. A caption mighÜQ~l.1ti4,-thee~]~Lbri~" for exarnple 'David Niven at home'.

Sornetimes advertisers use the ,Á11terior möilmogue techniquewhich conveys the inner thoughts of th"7per:soil'Se'en til 'the ad usingthe product. The viewer is invitcd to identify herself or himself witha secondary participant and see the product through her or his

145

eyes. This technique is more suggestive rhan qy~illY.persuasiv~,-_Thespeech style is usually impressionistlC-aoiia-líke- a stream~nl~ínormedthoughts rarher than a connected line of argument. It may be used inadvertising which uses appeals associated wi th dreaming and fantasy,where rational judgemerit is suspended in favour of indulgent instincts.

'. Advertising also borrows the styles and idioms of other types ofdiscourse , such as scientific or legal language. In other words, an admight use particular linguistie features which are more appropriatein a different context. Jn private conversation we m ight borrowsome one else's language for sareastic reásons. In literature , languageis borrowed for artistic purposes , in cornedy, language-borrowing is aform of parady . There are many advertiserncnrs which use featuresstrictly appropriate to anorher role. Both TV commereials andmagazinc display ads sornetirnes use the format of an official form,a medical recor d card or a medical interview. Here is part of a full-page ad from a teenage magazinc.

Period Problem No. 5Name: AngieAge: 15Problem: Angie believes her Mum knows best, but her info's

not up to date.

At the bottom of the page, after a sc ries of photographs, the samecopy is repeated but this time printed on a picce of paper, whichlooks as though it has been torn from a notc book. Next to the copyis a passport-style photograpb of a smiling young girl and 'stampcd 'over tbc top of copy and photo is tbe word 'solved ' in official-Iookinglettering. The rherorical effect of this type of advertisement Iies inits seeming objectivity and terseness and also in the way that itmingles formality with emotive images. The language of sciencewould, of eourse, not be appropriate in advertising because fewpeople would understand it. But copy-writers like to use seientific-sound ing terms be cause they impress the audience. The word scienceitself and related terrns are no !ess popular and are probably lessbaffling: 'laboratory tests sbow ... ', 'scientifically clean', 'sciencetclls us ... '.

Role-borrowing of ten disguises the sales message and persuadesthe public into tbinking tbat tbe message is a disinterested and not a'loaded' pieee of writing. Some cornrnercials, for instance, have alithe trappings of a TV documentary using neutral-sounding but

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carnest voice-over comrnentary, and 'objective' film techniqueswhicb one migbt expcct to find in 'factual' news or current-affairsprogrammes. In magazines it is not difficult to make an ad look likea feature article , becausc some publications have tended to adopt thevisual and linguistic techniques of ads for all kinds of material.Ariother kind of disguiscd sales message can be found in those adswhich present a piece of general knowledge. 'In 1849 Charles Dickenswrote David Copp erfie ld , and it remains a classic .. .' leads to asclling proposition which is linked only tenuously to the body copy:'Today the art of fine writing lives on in ... pens'. In the advertise-ment for Birds Eye orange juice (plate 16), the language and styleappropriate to the wine waiter in an cxpensive restaurant has be en'borrowed' or parodicd for comic effect. This also allows the highly-valued qualities of wine to be transposed to orange juice.

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Language and the law

Before discussing some rnore examples of advertising language andrhetoric 1 sbould briefly raise the question oflegality. The associationsthat words have can mislead people into thinking that they are buyingsomething other than what the product acrually is or contains. Forinstance, orange squash is sometimes called orange crush which mightmake people think that the drink had more real orangcs in it. TheTrade Descriptions Act (I 968) makes it an offence to offer goods orservices under descriptions that are not accurate. Descriptions canrelate to a producr's size or .quality, to its method of manufacture(e.g. 'home-made' or 'farm-product'), to what it is made of, to whatit will do, to its country of origin, etc. If a label on a tin says 'stewedsteak and onions', 'produce of countries of the EEC', we can reason-ably check on thc farmer - the latter we have to take on faith. TheConsumcr Association has analysed the me at contents of varioustin ned products under terrns laid down by the Canned Meat ProductsRegulations, and has issued a rough guide to tinne d meats whichincludes the following points.

The more words in the name, the lower the meat content is likelyto be.

Chopped usually means a higher meat content th an sliced orpressed.

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Birdeaux Prcmicr C:rll l()S( >.

Plate 16 Parody

The sooner végetables appear in the name, the less meat therewill be.

Gravy usually means more sauce than rneat.

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As aresuI t of cornplaints, advertisers arc now not allowed tomake the kind of excessive clairns that werc madc, for example, int hc Smirnoff vodka ad: '1 was Mr Holmcs of Household Linen untilI discovcrcd Smirnoff' . It was thought that su ch an ovcrt connectionbe twe cn alcohol and sexual/soeial succcss should not be made in an.rdvcrtiscmcnt .

Nowa days you arc lcss likcly to sce or hear such qucstionabledcscriptions as 'rn iraculous ' or 'magic' for products, be cause of theIcgal sanctions.

Key words

If you listen to any commercial or glance at advertisernenrs inmagazincs, you will be subjoered to a liberal sprinkling of adverbs "and adjcctivcs. Thcsc arc the key parts of spec ch for advcrtisers.They arc the trigger words bccausc they can stimulate envy, dreamsand dcsircs by evoking loo ks, wuch, tastc, srncll and sounds withoutactually misreprescnting aproduct. Words li ke 'big', 'srnall ' and 'long'are relatively easy to imaginc in connection with a pr oduct , but'ck-gant ' , 'supcrb '. 'cnchanting', 'discrcct ' , 'shccr ', 'intriguing','captivaring ', arc vaguc, cannot easily be chccked upon and are of tena martcr of opinion rarher than of fact. A rush of adjecrives of tensubstitutes for clear and rcasonablc description in advertising:

Morc than a peppcry-potcnt fragrance -- Ararnis is a cornpleteaction-oriented master plan of more than forty grooming esseutials- from shampoos to shaving needs, bath soap to muscle soaks.Aramis is the on ly collection of mcns grooming specifics thatrcally works with authority, spcaks with eloquenec and comm uni-cates success.

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The most common adjectivcs used in advertising are good/berter/best,free, fresh, delicious, full, sure, ele an, wondcrful, special, fine, big,great, real, easy, bright, extra, rich and golden. But 'new'Ts pr obablythe favourite. It is used in connection wi th alrnost every type ofproduct or service, from insurance to fish fingers, and appii es to anynumber of their features. size, shape , colour, formula and so on.

You might als o have noticed unfamiliar adverbs and adjectives inadvertising copy. These have usually bcen coined for the occasionand do not have any value in standard English. For instance, adverrise-rnents of ten contain words like 'tomatoful', 'reenfresh ', 'ternp-

149

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tational', 'flavoursorne', 'cookabiliry', 'peelabiliry ', 'out-door bire-ables' , 'the orangemostest drink in the world', 'Ricicles are twiciclesas nicicles'. Phrases are some timcs made by joining adjective withnoun or adjective with adjective as in the following example from anAmerican magazine:

Inside this jar you'll find a radiantly-glowing skin, naturally-blusbedcheeks, wondrous eyes and color-kissed lips. Sudden ly your skinhas aradiant sun-hissed glow.

Here are some fur thcr cxamples of these adjectival compounds:'Sray-on, stay-put colour', 'elegant drop-waisr swirls', 'qu ick drying','new-face h ygicnc', 'figure-flattering", 't he so-rnany-wa ys cheese','the go-anywhere blouse ', 'youngshape', 'the freezer-pleazers'. Thesewords seem to suggest that the product has a special feature, whichit alone possesses. They arc creatcd to give uniqueness, vigour andimpact to the advertising message. A special kind of made-up wordcan be seen in copy where the product's name is incorporated withother words. 'Goudanight' (cheese), 'Schweppervescence ', 'Ponti-nental ' (holidays), 'Lux-seft", 'Knorr-fresh ', 'Afiordablc' (holidays inNorway) and 'Give your feet a Schollida.y'.

Another favourite device of copy-writers is to spcll words wronglyin---;;~der to arcract atterition. Perhaps the most farnous of thesemisspellings is the 'Bcanz Meanz Heinz' slogan and variations on itlike 'Supperz ', 'Cornish Pastiez ', 'Vol au Bcanz ', 'Welsh Rarebeanz'.The slogan 'Drinka Pinta Milka Day' also shows a kind ofmisspclling,where indcfinite article and conjunction fuse wirh the noun and verb.

Advcrtisers of ten use verbs and nouns unusually, in cmotive rarherthan accurate ways. To a certain extenr, of couse, the emotional useof words is also favoured by poets, but if we were to make a distinctionbetween a poet's use of language and an advertiser 's, we couldargue that the poet wants to ereatc an impression, pin-point or sumup a feeling in the interests of an emotional 'truth ' rather than topaint a falsely glowing picture. Here are some examples of eddly-usednouns and verbs found in a few American and English magazines.

Thirty colours. Some so spectacular they send messages. (paint)The first bra to understand the facts of life.Creamy soft brilliance to bloom tenderly on your !ips. (lipstick)After-shave cologne with the sharp, crisp tang of action as wcll as

the smooth undertones of elegant charm.

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... a raincoat that keeps its cool when the weather's not.We use essence of almond to coax extra body into the hair and

control fly-away.It speaks freedom and friendliness.Drink a mastcrpic ce.Pink goes ping in our brave new spring collection. Pin k-to-icc lace

frolics up from the hem ...In twenty-tour sensational shades that wake up a morning and

turn on a night. (make-up)The shampoo that holds in health, holds out dirt.Go footing in our new soft soft tights ... at a low, low price.For skin that's lit from within. Outer beauty begins with innerglow.Enter Visible Differcnce ... it performs.

Notice in the last example, and others, a typical tendericy to treatintangible eritiries as if they were living creatures. 'pink goes ping','shades that wa ke up a morning'. Seerit 'communicates', saucepanshave a delicate 'touch ' with food, bras 'understand', shampoo doesn'tsimply clean, it 'holds dirt out'. It is as if we had to be persuaded tobuy things on the basis that products are more th an things - almostlike pets,

Although the above examples of eddly-used words of figurativelanguage are out of con text, we can see that most of them aremeaningléss. Sornetirnes meaning is sacrificed in order to introdnec arhythmic ..beat to advertising copy. Rhy thrn is very important toadve rtiscrs , it allows people to remember things more easily, and canconvey and induce all sortsof emotions. A great num ber of advertise-ments read or sound like verse even though they ma}' not rhyme.Clear examples of rhythm can be found in television jingles whicharc often crudely cheerful and stirring. Meaninglessness is an importanttechnique in advertising as are loose promises that don 't tic down theadver tiser to anything specific. Even advertisers recognize thistendcncy in their work , they call meaningless copy 'resounding non-staternents'. 'Triumph has a bra for the way you are'.

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Figurative language

Advertising language is sometimes quite standard and unobtrusive,but more oftcn it attracts attention to itself by being highly colourfuland imaginative , and it sornetirnes involves stretching or breaking

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the rules or conventions of 'normal' language. We loeked at exarnplcsof the unorthodox use of language in advertising above when wediscussed role-borrowing, coined or made-up words and misspellings.In addition, advertising copy sométimcs breaks grammatical rulesand uses words incorrcctly (sernantic mistakes) as for exarnple in the ..slogans 'Iiquid engineering' (oil), 'liqu id Tchaikovsky' (vodka), or inthe sentence 'our dishwasher is pronouneed Mielc' . This unorthodoxuse of language is sorne times called .figurative language. There arcother ways of exploiting language to create particular effects andeniargc it as a means of expression. Douhle meanings and puns arcof ten used in advertiscrnents and so are rhyrnc, alliteration and othertypcs of repetition designed to attract arterition and arouse crn otions.

Figurativc language is rhctorical language in that it tries to createeffects by breaking or cxploiting language rules. Wc usc languagefigurativelv ever)' day , communication would be very dull if wcdidn 'to Some figurative or rhetorical c xprcssioris have passed intodaily use and as a result arc less surprising and memorable. Wc aliaccept that expressions like 'rnusical tastc ', TIl eat my words', or'chewing over an idea', arc not to be taken too literally, wc inrerpretthem in a figurative sensc, They are cxamples ot metapbor , whcre aword acceptable in one context (c.g. 'eat ' in the context of food) istransferred to artother context Eating 'words is an absurd propositionunless we intcrprer the phrase in a figurative, non-litoral way. Inter-preted figuratively , this metaphor suggests the right kind of associ-ation: eating - swallowing - taking in - taking back - retracting.In other words wc see a symbolic identiry or connection betweenthe literal and figurative meaning of a word. In the following slogan,the ccpy-writer has used the word 'siz zle ' inappropriatcly: 'Tastcthat sizzIc - Hear it say ... '. Taste has be cn joined to sizzle, whichis an abstract noun and not an edible object. 'Eat a bowl of sunshine'- a slogan for a breakfast ce real - is an exarnple of a metaphor. Infact Kelloggs, the breakfast cereal mak ers, have built their wholeeampaign around the image of cornflakes = sunsh ine. The cornflakesbrand image is a meraphor by which the product is identified with(desirable) sunshine. Copy-writers like metaphors because they allowthe right kind of emotive associations to be linked to a product. Apicture or image of a product can be built up through the 'irrational'use of language. In the slogan for Malboro Cigarettes, 'Come to wherethe f1avour is ... MarIboro Country ', cigarettes arc associated with aplace, and an idealonc at that. You can't literaily visit a flavour in

152

the sa me way that you can visit Kansas or Wyoming, and by thesarne token you can't go to Mariboro Country be cause it is a fictionand dcesn't exist on the map. In the Consulate cigarette ads we cansec ariother kind of figurative meaning at work, this time a sim ile.In 'Cool as a mountain stream ... cool fresh Consulate', the propertiesof the stream are directly compared t-O the cigarettes and incide ntallygiven as the reason for buying them. Figurativc language like thiswhich, at least initially, catches the eye-is vcry useful for slogans andheadlines.

The exarnples on p.150 illustrate figurative meanings. In the first wecan see a case of personification :colours arc invested with the humanFaculty of cornmunication : likewise in the second a bra is given humanabilities, An example of the rhetoricai figure synechdocbecan befound in the slogan 'Bring a touch of Paris into your life'. Here avery specific meaning. Paris, stands for general concepts - fashion,sophistication, good taste. 'Clarks bid to get Britain back on its feet'is another e xarnple where Britain stands for the British people. Theslogans 'Go to work on an egg' and 'Wash' the big city out of yourhair' fit ima the category of met onymy . 'egg' and 'big city' could besaid to stand for the more general 'a good nourishing meal of eggs' or'breakfast ', and 'the dirt of the big city'. 'Egg' substitutes for a wholething (breakfast) of which eggs form a part, and a part of big cities,their 'dirt ', is substituted for the whole 'big city'.

Copy-writers also explore the ambiguous properties of language.Arnbiguity can cither be used for humoraus reasons or to pr ovokeinterest in the ad. A staterneur could be said to be. ambiguous ifdiffcrent meanings can be expressed by using the sarne wordor ifdifferent meanings are expressed by words that arc alike in spellingand pronunication. A fam aus example of the latter, which linguistscall bomonymy sis the 'Players Please' slogan. It can be read as either'Please give me some Players' or 'Players are pleasing'. Puns or playson brand names are particularly popular. In the advertisernent forMore Cigarettes (platc 17), the name of the product is linked to aquality or idea. 'More' the product is made synonymous with 'rnore 'the measure of quantity. The arnbiguity in the word does not allowus to separate the product from the 'fact' that these cigarettes arclonger, slimmer, milder . (American brands of cigarettes seem to goin for punnable brand names. There are brands called Real, Target,Vantage and City Lights.) The slogan 'Spoil yourself and not yourfigure' for weight·watehers' iee-cream is a common type of play on

153

AnnouncingMore.

A new style of cigárette.

ltslonger,

Itsslimmer,~I ----

lts surprisingly mild,

r..lllfeiSlhc fl"::.tfllt..:rci~arellcthah 12Úmm 101110.

How I(,n~ is J2()mm?Togiveyouan iUc;I,thcavcmgekins.si~ccj~;lrc!\eis cnly Samm.

.\Jorcisslimmer.Thc\Clyflrsltime YOu hold Will vouu aurnccí.uc theway this 110.:\1' cigarctte f\ls ill YOUIh,ml!.

.\Iore's lOrlg.slim ~1'1;Ine burnsslowcr:ln(ldrJwsc,l.\Y.

r-tavour''.\.1U{el:l.\1..:smlhl,'lIrpri~illgIYlllilll.

Ho.:!c.tU~C u's IIl;JUc (film spcqJliy SCkl:[CII,mihl I."lgare\tetnoucco.

MOTc-long,)lilll.lnd brown .Dcűnirely a new st)'!.:or clgarcuc .Oncd:I\' this wt\!k,iil~tC;lfJ of

bU,Y!llg)'OUT1I5\1JlhrUl1dSOol Clg;JrC1t..:.~.trywI\1C· "thingncw, p

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"O< ",:",: MIl)OLE TA IC' • :.:;."',;,..,'.':".',,,'::,;~.,EVERY I'i\CKET ('i\f{RJES A GOVERNMll\T HEALTH W,\R!\JNG

Plate 17 More cigarettes - a pun

ambiguity in advertising. It involves interpreting 'spoil ' in 'spoilyourself' as an idiom or well-known phrase and as a word in its ownright. 'Population down 30 per cent' is a headline of an ad forKeIlogg's 30 per cent Bran Flakes. It irivolves our interpreting it as a154

xr.uistical staternent about poputation which catch es our eye becauseil is plainly not true and anyway is aut of con text next to a picture,)f the packer. Wc thcn have to look furthcr into the staternerit andxcc that 'down' here means 'eat' or 'swallow', as in the expression'down the hatch'.

An important class of rhctorical effects depends not so much onbreaking rules or exploiting semantic arnbiguity as on repetition oflinguistic patterns. Parallelism is the repetition of formai patternsand alliteration is the repetition of initial consonants or consonantIcatures. In the 'Beanz Meanz Heinz' slogan we have an cxarnplc ofhot h parallelism and allitcration. A sort of parallel scheme is at wor kin the More advertisement:

It's longerIt's slimmerIt's surprisingly mild.

And then: is a cheese advertiscmcnt which says 'Grate it, grill it,spear it, sruff it, ba ke it, break it, toast it, roast it, post it' (a coupon).If this were a television commercial, the clauscs would pro bab ly beaceompunicd by a simultancous musical rhyrhrnic beat and a parallelvisual rhyrhrn. In the following exarnples, no word is actualIyrepeated but thcre is a parallelism in structure:

Fine workmanshipBcautiful designReal compactnessWonderful value.

More Chic. Less Check.

Allíteration is also very common: it is not hard to find examples:

The Superfree sensationIt's got to be Gordons (gin)Pinky and Porky (pork pic)Guinness is good for you,

The 'absence' of language - calligraphy

Language is of course a primary reference system in communication.Language functioning as a sign can be used in the same way as pictorialsigns: it can be there to be deciphered or absent to be filled in by the

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specrator/reader. As [ mentioned at the beginning of this chaprer, insome ads language is used to signify the product dirccrly throughcalligraphy. This is an extension of showing the produet (or sign ofthe product) directly without any words (as in the se ries of ads forBenson and Hedges cigarettcs). The product of an ad can be madc tobe irs language, e.g. when the word KITKAT is made up of picturesof the bar of chocolatc wafcr biscuit. This is not a new idea. 1described in chapter 1 how advertisers in the ninerecnth centurytried to beat the newspapcrs' column width rule by building up thenarnes of their products with !etters in order to comply with the sizeof the newspaper column and also to attract attcntion. Ads whichlISC ealligraphy suggcst that the language is abscnt and that the productspeaks for itself , that it can signify without being namcd. It is a wayfor language to dcal with absence of language; li ke other hermcneuticsysterns, the calligram tries to un ite the sign and its refcrenr and givcthe impression of transparent meaning.

Finally , Michel Foucault, the historian/philoscpher. has offeredthis useful account of calligraphy:

The calligram makes usc of this double properry of letters tofunction as linear e!ements which can be arranged in space and assigns which must be read aceording to a single chain of phonicsubstanec. As sign, the !etter perrnits us to establish words , asline it permits us to cstablish lcttcrs. Hcnce the calligram play-fully sceks to erase the oldest oppositions of our alphabeticalcivilisation. to show and to name; to figure and to speak; torcprodu cc and arricuiate , to look and to read. Pursuing twice overthe thing of which it speaks, it sets an ideal trap; its doubleaccess guarantces a capture of which mere discourse or puredrawing is not capable. It underrnines the invincible absence overwhich words nevcr quite prevail by írnposing 011 thern ... thevisihle form of their refercncc .... The signs surnrnon from else-where the very thing of which they speak. ... A double trap, aninevitable sriarc .... (in Williamson, 1978, p. 91).

Suggestions for further work

1. Choose a range of products, like [aguar (cars), Brut (aftershave),Piccadilly (cigarettes) and think of other names for thern whichbring opposite associations to mind than the ones intended bythe advertiser ,

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II

II2. Look at some commereials on TV and radio and try to pin down

the tone of voice be ing used. What is the most wide ly used toneyou have come aeross? What are the eonnotations of these tonesof voice? What tone of voice would be right for the way this ad iswritten?

3. Why do some ads use puns, alliteration, foreign or foreign-soundingwords? Pick ou t some cxarnplcs from magazines and TV and saywhat their effect is likely to be.

4. What is the effect of using the intcrior monologue technique inads? List some ads which use this technique and the range ofproducts which are likely to be associared with this tcchnique.

5. What would you say were the main differences between a poetsuse of figurative language and an advertising copy-writer's> Findfive different advcrtisernents in which a verb has beeri used for itsemotional tonc rather than for straightforward dcscriptive accu-racy. Why do you think thcse were choscn?

6. Find an example of a persuasive word that is currently fashionableamong advertisers. try to find ads for differcnt products. Findsome examples of portmantcau or hyphened words. What con-clusions about the nature of the product can you draw from theuse of portrnantcau words? Are these kirids of words morc associ-atcd with one kind of product than anothcr and with one mediummorc than another?

7. Firid some examples of 'rcsounding non-statcments' in ads.8. What likcly effects would a strong verse rhythrn have in an ad?9. Examinc the language of ads ill different media: a teenage maga-

zine, the Economist , and a TV commercial. List the similaritiesand differences in th c u se of language, i.c. the words and grammarused and misused, the rhythm or beat of the language, the situ-ations or images cvoked.

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