Language Features of Advertisement

6　Language Features of Advertisement

Some products are advertised as having a remarkable and immediate effect. People are shown the situation before using the product and this is contrasted with the situation that follows its use.Taking a tablet for a headache in such advertisements can have truly remarkable results.For not only has the headache gone,but the person concerned has often had a new hair-do,acquired a new set of clothes and sometimes even moved into a more modern,better furnished house.

Advertisements often encourage people to believe that because someone has been successful in one field,he should be regarded as an authority in other fields.

The advertiser knows that there are certain people we admire because they are famous sportsmen,actors or singers,and he believes that if we discover that a certain well-known personality uses his product,we will want to use it too.This is why so many advertisements feature famous people.

Maybe we can't always believe what we're told,but surely we must accept what we're actually shown the trouble is that when we look at the photograph we don't know how the photograph was taken,or even what was actually photographed.Is that delicious-looking whipped cream really cream,or plastic froth?Are the colours in fact so glowing or has a special filter been used?It is often difficult to tell,but you can sometimes spot the photographic tricks if you look carefully enough.How to design and write effective job advertisements?

Tips and techniques

The best techniques for writing effective job advertisements are the same as for other forms of advertising.The job is your product;the readers of the job advert are your potential customers.The aim　 of the job advert is to attract interest, communicate quickly and clearly the essential（appealing and relevant)points,and to provide a clear response process and mechanism.Design should concentrate on clarity or text,layout,and on conveying a professional image.Branding should be present but not overbearing,and must not dominate the job advert itself.This article relates mainly to designing and writing job adverts to appear in printed newspapers and magazines media,although the principles apply to other media and methods.The information must be communicated effectively one way or another to the target audience.

Advertising has resorted to all kinds of techniques—audial and visual,sound and light,display and acting,photographs and drawing,etc.,but the most basic is the language.According to the target audience（mainly of two kinds:personal consumption and business),advertising language is mainly persuasive or informative.But all advertising language must have its appeal to the target people, so it can apply warm plain speech used in daily life and the various language tricks to impress and move the audience.

6.1　Sentence Features

In order to be easily comprehensible and to achieve the effect of a warm conversation,the language of advertising tends to be grammatically simple.This is shown in its preference for short sentences,and combined use of various sentence types.

As is shown in the samples,most sentences in the body of the ads are short,e.g. In a diamond advertisement—“For birthdays.For special days.Forever.A diamond is forever”,the sentences are short but impressive.

A variety of sentence types including questions,commands as well as statement-type sentences can be used to make an advertisement attractive.In some advertisement,questions are used one after another to arouse target people's interest and curiosity.The following ad is a good example:

“When it comes to camcorders，make sure you ask the right questions:

Who delivers the finest picture and sound quality?

Who gives you five times more recording time than VHS-C?

Who has all the answers?Without question，Sony Handycam.”

Among the ten sentences in the ad,there are as many as six questions.The use of commands and questions in advertising kindles a spark of interest in the reader and induces him/her to have a go at it.

6.2　Lexical Features

Advertising is characteristic of its richly suggestive and descriptive language.In order to be attractive,convincing and persuasive,you should pay attention to the word choice.

Affirmative and commendatory words and expressions are widely used,because the purpose of advertising is to impress the potential customer with the quality of a product or service.

Comparisons are many in advertising,usually to affirm the improvement made to a product or service.Vague and subtle comparisons are often used in ads.A very good example is the ad about Trident:

“Of America's best-tasting gums，Trident is sugar-free.”

There are two tricks here:l)Without saying so directly,the ad places Trident among America's best-tasting gums.2)By deliberately omitting the word only, Trident does not say that other gums are not sugar-free-a claim that it would not be able to support if taken to court.Nevertheless,the sentence is so brilliantly constructed,with the word only so heavily implied,that most people hear the word in their mind,even though it has not been said.

Actually many positive-sounding words and expressions are non-specific in meaning;there is hardly any objective standard to measure them by.For example, the word“enriched”is often found in describing bread.Maybe the manufacturer will put a couple of drops of vitamins into the batter,and then it is“enriched”!It sounds great when you hear it.It looks great when you read it.There is no standard to test how enriched it is,but,the word“enriched”gives you a feeling of satisfaction and makes you choose the bread for breakfast.

Other such repeatedly used ad-language is:helps（keep you young),cleans （like a white tornado),virtually（trouble-free),refreshes,comforts,tackles,fights, the feel of（real leather),looks like（a real oil painting),taste（every famous cigarette in the world has claimed the best taste),difference（in such statements as “Look at ours,and look at anyone else's.You can see the difference our exclusive formula makes”).

Most prominent is the use of a large number of adjectives.The customer's eyes, ears,mind and soul are often bombarded with adjectives such as easy,great, wonderful,fantastic,fresh,stylish,beautiful,handsome,elegant,exceptional, exclusive,roomy,etc.,some of which have become overused.That is probably why advertisers have now begun using direct quotations that praise the quality of their products or services instead of heaping positive adjectives on it by themselves.

The creativity of advertising can best be seen in its coinages of new terms.For example,the name of an egg company“Eggsactly”is created,so the advertisement is“We Know Eggsactly How to Sell Eggs”.A Company of oranges uses“Sunkist”as its name so as to arouse customers'association of“being fresh,healthy and juicy”.

6.3　Use of Rhetorical Devices

To achieve vividness and humor and to entice and appeal to more audience, various rhetorical devices are employed in advertising.

Repetition is striking in some ads.For example,an ad about Sunbeam's new Easy-to-Assemble gas grill plays up on the word“easy”:

“It's so easy to go from box to barbecue with Sunbeam's new Easy-to-Assemble gas grill. Factory assembled components make it easy to be cooking in just minutes.And features like convenient side burners，easy-clean cooking grids and foldaway side tables make it so easy to use. American made quality and Sunbeam's exclusive consumer warranty make it so easy to see why sunbeam is America's favorite gas grill.Easy to use，easy to clean，easy to assemble，and easy to find”.

Parallel structure is often seen in advertisement to make it readable.A MassMutual（Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.)ad provides the example:

“A promise to attend recitals，late meeting notwithstanding.

A promise not to show up when you're with your friends at the mall.

A promise to keep it all safe no matter what.”

Nothing binds us one to the other like a promise kept.Nothing divides us like a promise broken.At MassMutual we believe in keeping our promises.That way all the families and businesses that rely on us can keep theirs.

Giving metaphorical meaning to a word or a sentence can make it vivid, interesting and impressive.For example,“America's love affair with the original minivan continues.Last year we delivered 899379 babies.All colors and shapes and sizes.But we never forget that the most important is yours quality care.It may be your car，but it's still our baby”.

Allusions and puns are thought-provoking and humorous.One ad entitled“Lose face.Save face.”makes the reader curious.On further reading,it turns out to be an ad about a new post-shave conditioner from Old Spice:“It will help restore skin's protective moisture of your face that you lose every time you shave.”

A Mansfield Shoes ad begins with:

“What's a foot in the world of fashion?”

The punning on the two meanings of a foot implies that Mansfield Shoes are the fashion of the day.

A cigarette ad plays on the word“more”,saying:

“It is More you to have a smoke of‘More'.”

Notes

generating sales revenue　　产生销售收益

marketable brand　　有销路的品牌

overbearing and too intrusive　　过度泛滥、过于干扰性的

integrated advertising strategy　　综合的广告策略

cardiovascular fitness　　心血管健康

tagline　　品牌口号、标语

quick fix solution　　快捷简单的解决办法

category-specific ads　　特定类别广告

generalized template　　泛化的、推广的模板

franchise ads　　特许加盟广告

product-specific ads　　特定产品的广告

store-specific ads　　特定店铺广告

multifaceted plan　　多方面的计划

TV and radio commercials　　电视和广播上的商业广告

billboards　　户外广告牌

circular　　传单

a reliable server　　可靠的服务器

enough bandwidth　　足够的带宽

optimize the site's content with relevant keywords　　用关键词优化网站内容

search engines　　搜索引擎

notifications of sales　　销售通知

specials on discontinued products　　停产货品特价

online banner advertising　　网络横幅广告

horizontal or vertical squares or rectangular shapes水平或垂直的正方形或矩形

target customer　　目标消费者

suntan lotion　　防晒油

pay-per-click ads　　点击付费广告

Search Engine Marketing（SEM)　　搜索引擎营销

cross-blogging　　博客互动

media outlets　　媒体机构

social media marketing　　社交媒体营销

tune you out or un-follow your accounts　　将你踢出或对你的账户取消关注

print advertising materials　　印刷的广告材料

product sheets　　产品表，产品清单

coupons　　优惠券

infomercials　　信息广告，电视长篇广告

target market demographics　　目标市场人口统计

feature stories　　新闻特写，专题报道

radio spots　　广播短片

phonological contrasts　　语音对比

unsubstantiated exaggeration　　毫无根据的夸大

testimonials　　客户评价，奖状，证明书

advertorial　　广告软文

point-of-purchase（POS)　　售卖场现场广告

end-of-aisle displays　　销售点陈列

checkout register displays　　付款台陈列

positioning　　定位

kicker，eyebrow　　新闻标题中的引题、肩题（在大标题上面出现的一行小标题)

subhead　　副标题

eye-appealing graphics　　吸引人的版式设计

neologisms　　新词

rhetorical devices　　修辞手法

parallel structure　　平行结构，排比

allusions and puns　　暗示和双关