FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USAGE IN
ADVERTISING
Pennarola, chapter VI, Leech 181-185
Rhetoric in advertising
Rhetorical figures


artful deviation from the norm. It occurs when an
expression deviates from expectation.
The two elements or domains are linked and the
nature of such link determines the type of rhetorical
figure.
By linking the two elements (or domains), the
characteristics of one are transferred to the other.
Advantages of rhetoric in advertising

Attracts attention; geting noticed





Complex rhetoric: involves comprehension, cognitive processing
and interpretation
Provides pleasure, self-contentment: pleasant feelings
Provides longer retention
(McQuarrie & Mick 2003) Visual and verbal rhetorical
tropes may sometimes create meaning incongruity =>
consumers use more cognitive effort to interpret the
advertisement.
If the effort is rewarded with relevant meanings, consumers
will appreciate the advertisement more.
Advantages of rhetoric in advertising
Advantages of rhetoric in advertising
Advantages of rhetoric in advertising
Ad as persuasive language


Persuasive language uses rhetorical tropes or figures
to reach its purposes of persuading people to buy or
use the advertised product/object/service
“A rhetorical figure occurs when an expression
deviates from expectation, the expression is not
rejected as nonsensical or faulty, the deviation occurs
at the level of form rather than content, and the
deviation conforms to a template that is invariant
across a variety of content and contexts.”
(McQuarrie / Mick 1996)
TROPES
There are four kinds of tropes mainly used in adverts:
 Metaphor
(&simile)
 Metonymy (& synecdoche)
 Synaesthesia
 Irony (& nonsense)
METAPHOR (1)

Two seemingly unrelated subjects are put in relationship (for ex.,
YOU ARE A ROSE).
-- when something is something else: the ladder of success (i.e,
success is a ladder).
"Carthage was a beehive of buzzing workers." Or, "This is your
brain on drugs."



The first object is described as being a second object.
In this way, the first object can be economically described
because implicit and explicit attributes from the second object
can be used to fill in the description of the first.
METAPHOR (2)

A metaphor consists of THREE parts:
the tenor, that is the subject to which attributes are ascribed;
 the vehicle, that is the subject from which the attributes are
derived;
 the ground, that is the part(s) of semantic field from which
the attributes are selected to create the relationship
between the tenor and the vehicle
(Halliday 1985)

METAPHOR (3)

Example :
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances;
William Shakespeare,
As you like it 2/7
THE WORLD (TENOR)
THE STAGE (VEHICLE)
THE GROUND (SEMANTIC FIELD/ATTRIBUTES)
METAPHOR (7)
VISUAL METAPHOR
VERBAL METAPHOR
(Cook 1992: 108-109)
http://c.uglym.com/cms/show_article/333003.html
SIMILE


A simile is a figure of speech in which the subject is
compared to another subject.
Similes are marked by use of the words like or as (for
example, “He was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in
a room full of rocking chairs”).
SIMILE (2) - EXAMPLE
Visual simile: Life can be so simple (like having a cup of coffee and a cigarette)
SIMILE (2) - EXAMPLE
Visual simile: Comparing two things or ideas, usually by saying “like” or “as.” In this case,
Fiber-Castell is suggesting that the colors of its pencils are as natural as the color of a
purple eggplant.
METONYMY




Metonymy is an association created between meanings
which are contiguous rather than similar.
A rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by
referring to things around it.
-- using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a
more general idea: CROWN for royalty; the PEN is
mightier than the SWORD.
We use metonymy in everyday speech when we refer to
the entire movie-making industry as a mere suburb of L.A.,
"Hollywood”.
Metonymy (2)
In metonymy, associations are contiguous because we
indicate:
1.
2.
3.
4.
effect for cause ('Don't get hot under the collar!' for 'Don't get angry!');
object for user ('the stage' for the theatre and 'the press' for journalists);
substance for form ('plastic' for 'credit card', 'lead' for 'bullet');
place for:



5.
event: ('Chernobyl changed attitudes to nuclear power');
person ('No. 10' for the British prime minister);
institution ('Whitehall isn't saying anything');
institution for people ('The government is not backing down').
METONYMY - Example
An ad for pensions in a
women's magazine asked
the reader to arrange four
images in order of
importance:
each image was metonymic,
standing for related
activities (such as shopping
bags for material goods).
Metonymy
Metonymy
Metonymy
Metonymy
This Mercedes-Benz ad
is of both a frontal and
side view of a man’s
face merged. The text
reads “Look to the side
without looking to the
side”, which fits the
merging of the faces.
The image is a
metaphor for the text,
and a metonymy for the
technology that is being
advertised.
Metonymy
Neckties shaped like sushi is a great
advertising example.
Tokyo is in Japan, where sushi is well
known. The relationship between
image and text is solid. The image
and text compliment each other
completely. Metaphor and
metonymy play a role in this
advertisement because of the
connection between the image
and text.
The ties shaped like sushi are a
metaphor for Tokyo , sushi is a
metonymy for Tokyo.
SYNECDOCHE
Synecdoche is like metonymy but more ‘specific’.
 Part to Represent Whole
For example:
 The word “bread” can be used to represent food in
general or money (e.g. he is the breadwinner; music is my
bread and butter).
 The word “sails” is often used to refer to a whole ship.
 The phrase "hired hands" can be used to refer to workmen.
 The word "wheels" refers to a vehicle.

SYNECDOCHE
Using the whole to refer to a part is also a common practice
in speech today. For example:
 At the Olympics, you will hear that the United States won a
gold medal in an event. That actually means a team from
the United States, not the country as a whole.
 If “the world” is not treating you well, that would not be
the entire world but just a part of it that you've
encountered.
SYNECDOCHE (2)
Synecdoche is used when (Lanham
1969: 97):



A part of something is used for
the whole (“hands” to refer to
workers);
The whole is used for a part
(“the police” for a handful of
officers);
The species is used for the
genus (“bread” for food,
“kleenex” for facial tissue)
SYNECDOCHE (3)
Visual Synecdoche:
Referring to a whole by its
part or a part by its whole.
In this case, Heinz uses
the pieces of a tomato to
imply what the tomato,
with all its other
components, will be
come: ketchup.
The slogan instead
introduces a simile
SYNECDOCHE (3)
In photographic and filmic media a close-up is a
simple synecdoche - a part representing the whole.
Indeed, the formal frame of any visual image functions
as a synecdoche in that it suggests that what is being
offered is a 'slice-of-life', and that the world outside the
frame is carrying on in the same manner as the world
depicted within it.
Synecdoche invites or expects the viewer to 'fill in the
gaps' and advertisements frequently employ this
trope.
Any attempt to represent reality can be seen as
involving synecdoche, since it can only involve
selection (and yet such selections serve to guide us in
envisaging larger frameworks).
SYNECDOCHE (3)
The Nissan ad shown here was
part of a campaign targetting a
new model of car primarily at
women drivers (the Micra). The
ad is synecdochic in several
ways:
• it is a close-up and we can
mentally expand the frame;
• it is a 'cover-up' and the
magazine's readers can use
their imaginations;
• it is also a frozen moment and
we can infer the preceding
events.
IRONY


In IRONY, the signifier of the ironic sign seems to
signify one thing but it actually signifies something
very different.
Where it means the opposite of what it says (as it
usually does) it is based on binary opposition.
IRONY

Irony reflects the opposite of:
 the
 'I
 the
thoughts or feelings of the speaker or writer
love it' = I hate it
truth about external reality
 'There's
a crowd here' = it's deserted
IRONY

Substitution can be based on dissimilarity
understatement)or disjunction (as in exaggeration)
dissimilarity
disjunction
(as
in
IRONY (2)
This ad from the same Nissan
campaign illustrated earlier
makes effective use of irony.
We notice two people: in soft
focus we see a man absorbed
in eating his food at a table; in
sharp focus close-up we see a
woman facing him, hiding
behind her back an open can.
As we read the label we
realize that she has fed him
dog-food (because he didn't
ask before borrowing her car).
SYNAESTHESIA


It is a peculiar form of metaphor
In linguistics, it is the production from a senseimpression of one kind of an associated mental
image of a sense-impression of another kind
SYNAESTHESIA (2)

Synaethesia is amply used by copywriters because it
represents the hedonistic invitation to enjoy all the senses


Lips that scream with colour (Rimmel)
For colour at its softest (l’Oreal)
Synaesthesia
Other tropes

Hyperbole (= exaggeration; sometimes = irony)

An interior fit for an emperor (Peugeot)

To the moon and back four times a day (United Airlines)

Discover colours so pure it blushes with you. Introducing
Blushing Micronised Cheek Colour (Estée Lauder)
Other tropes
Antonomasia
 Any single entity appearing in the advert text
becomes the representative of its category

The Make-Up of Make-Up Artists (Max Factor)

Nespresso. What else? (Nescafè)

Carte Noir. French for Coffee

Audemars Piguet. The master watchmaker
Other tropes
Tautology
 Self referential quality of advertising discourse
 It can be merely visual: the whole advert text consists of the
photo of the product simply accompanied by the brand name
as if the product did not require any introduction

It’s a Volvo. It’s a Volvo (we printed it twice in case you didn’t believe the
first time) (Volvo)

NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW, AND
NEW
New Bodyform Invisible – with 12 improvements
Other tropes
Anaphora
 It is the repetition of one or more words within a
sentence.
 It creates an effect of expectation, emphasis and
symmetry
 it’s
where moths dance. it’s where laughter comes easily.
it’s where time meander. it’s where i’m always religthing
the candles. it’s where our friends come to Sunday lunch.
it’s where other don’t leave until Monday morning. It’s
where we live. it’s our habitat (Habitat)
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)


The Co-operative Principle
"Make your contribution such as is required, at the
stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or
direction of the exchange in which you are
engaged" (Grice 1976).
(1). A: What time is it?
B: It’s five o’clock
(2). A: It’s my birthday today.
B: Many happy returns. How old are you?
A: I’m five.
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)
Conversational Maxims:

Quantity
Don’t say more than necessary
 Make your contribution as informative as required


Quality
Do not say what you believe to be false
 Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence


Relevance


the contribution must be relevant, appropriate to the need.
(So, in a question, the relevant contribute will be the
answer)
Manner
be clear
 avoid ambiguity

Conversational principles



One speaker may:
Violate the maxims.
Flout one or more maxims
Conversational principles


One speaker may:
Violate the maxims.
 the speaker says something which is not true, and
knows that the hearer will not understand that the
utterance is not true. The speaker deliberately
tries to mislead the hearer.
 A:
and you are… mmm… a doctor?
 B: It is true that the addresser of the present utterance
is, at the time of speech, the legitimate holder of an
advanced degree in medicine and of a valid licence to
practice medicine in the jurisdiction in which this sentence
is being spoken.
Conversational principles


One speaker may:
Flout one or more maxims
an additional unstated meaning of an utterance has to be
assumed in order to understand an utterance
 this creates the implicature





A: I am out of petrol
B: There is a garage around the corner
A: Well, how do I look?
B: Your shoes are nice.
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

It might seem that advertising would be a poor
example of “co-operation”, as that word is usually
understood: the advertiser is trying to tell you
something
 you
don’t want to know
 at a time when you aren’t interested
 to make you do something that you wouldn’t otherwise
do.

Yet the interpretation of ads depends on “cooperation” as Grice defines it.
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Quantity

Don’t say more
than necessary
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Quantity

Make your
contribution as
informative as
required
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Quality

Do not say what you belied to be
false
http://www.lavazza.com/corporate/en/avantgarde/creativelab/products/espesso.html
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Quality

Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence
http://www.adsneeze.com/health/ads-aquafresh-whitening-toothpaste
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Relevance

the contribution must be relevant, appropriate to the need. So, in a
question, the relevant contribute will be the answer
http://www.adsneeze.com/health/ads-aquafresh-whitening-toothpaste
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Manner

Be Clear
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/january/diesel-says-be-stupid
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1976)

Manner

Avoid ambiguity
http://www.brainstorming.ba/?p=99
http://streetstylista-guy.blogspot.com/2010/09/think-less-stupid-more.html
http://melodysnook.wordpress.com/2009/05/
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1975)
advertising = no “co-operation”
YET
 the
interpretation of ads depends
operation”.


on
“co-
We always assume that, however obscure the ad, it
is directed at us, and it can be understood in terms
of:
 the
purpose of the advertiser
 the direction of the communicative exchange
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1975)


Copywriters flout at least one maxim.
Why? Because advertisers have to compete for
attention. They have to counter our resistance to direct
selling.
Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1975)

In Britain, at least, violations are typically indirect.
(1)They leave the actual sales pitch to us, as something we (cleverly)
find by noticing the flouted maxim and arriving at the right
implicatures.
(2)We test our interpretation back against what we take to be their
purpose: we reject interpretations that don’t tell us something
favourable about the brand.
Perusasion & Rhetorical tropes


When persuasion is the overriding goal, as in
advert language, the manner in which a statement is
(visually or verbally) expressed is more important
than its content
With rhetorical figures, copywriters look for the
most effective form of expression in swaying the
audience
Rhetorical tropes


Rhetorical tropes are DEVIATION from the expected
norm
When we speak, communication sets up
expectations which function as conventions or
constraints (Grice’s maxims)
Rhetorical tropes


Listeners/viewers are aware of them: indeed words
and images are used to convey one of the main
meanings given in dictionaries
Rhetorical tropes flout these conventions
Rhetorical tropes



Listeners/viewers exactly know what to do when a speaker
flouts a convention: they create an implicature
This means that listeners/viewers search for a context that will
render the flouting intelligible
If context permits an inference, then the consumer will achieve
an understanding of the advertiser’s (visual or verbal)
statement
Rhetorical tropes



Consumers therefore have conventions available to deals with
floutings of convention
When a search for context successfully restores understanding,
the consumer assumes a figurative use and responds accordingly
Because there is a deviation, consumers are invited to translate
the text with one additional meaning
Rhetorical tropes


Consumers are under no compulsion to start reading
a headline or watching a pict, or finish reading it or
continue on to read the rest of the ad.
Therefore, an important function of rhetorical figures
is to motivate the potential consumer.
References
Barthes, Roland. 1977. Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana.
Callow, Michael A. / Schiffman, Leon. 2002. Implicit Meaning in Visual Print Advertisements: A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Contextual Communication
Effect. International Journal of Advertising, 21: 259-277.
Cook, Guy. 1992. The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge.
Edens, Kellah M. / McCormick, Chistine B. 2000. How Do Adolescents Process Advertisements? The Influence of Ad Characteristics, Processing Objective, and
Gender. Contemporary Educational Psychology 25: 450-463.
Grice 1976
Goddard, Angela.1998. The Language of Advertising. London: Routledge.
Halliday. M.A.K. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Edward Arnold, London.
Kövecses, Zoltan. 2005. Metaphor in Culture. Universality and Variation. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, George / Johnson, Michalel. 1980. Metaphor we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lanham, Richard A. 1969. A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms. Berkeley: University of California Press .
Leech, Geoffrey. 1966. English in Advertising, London: Longman.
McQuarrie, Edward / Mick, David G. 2003. Visual and Verbal Rhetorical Figures under Directed Processing versus Incidental Exposure to Advertising.
Journal of Consumer Research: 579-587.
McQuarrie, Edward / Mick, David G. 1996. Figures of Rhetoric in Advertising Language. Available at http://lsb.scu.edu/~emcquarrie/rhetjcr.htm. Retrieved
on Nov. 18, 2010.
Myers, Greg. 1994. Words in Ads. London: Arnold.
Myers, Greg. 1998. Ad Worlds. London: Arnold.
McQuarrie, Edward F / Mick, David G. 1992. On Resonance: A Critical Pluralistic Inquiry into Advertising Rhetoric. Journal of Consumer Research 19: 180-97.
Pennarola, Cristina. 2009. Nonsense. Deviascion in advertising. Napoli: Liguori