The Power of Advertising Language

The Power of Advertising

• Advertising language is often manipulated to suggest meanings beyond the scope of the product or service being marketed.
• Figurative language is used to make language more vivid and engaging, establishing comparisons and associations between objects or concepts.

Figurative Language Devices

• Simile: a figure of speech that compares two objects or concepts using "like" or "as," e.g., "He roared like a lion."
• Metaphor: a figure of speech that expresses one object, event, or action as actually being another, e.g., "Tropicana fruit juice is 100% pure sunshine."

Examples of Figurative Language in Advertising

• Consulate's menthol cigarettes: "as cool as a mountain stream"
• US Coffee Bureau: "good coffee is like friendship: rich and warm and strong"
• Nivea Soft: "like gentle summer rain"
• Tropicana fruit juice: "100% pure sunshine"
• Jaguar cars: "a place in the sun that moves like the wind" (combination of metaphor and simile)

Metaphor in Dating Ads

• Examples of metaphors used in dating ads:
  • "BRUCE WILLIS looking for his Demi Moore" (comparing a person to a celebrity)
  • "FILLY 34 n/s, seeks intelligent Stallion" (comparing people to horses)
  • "ANGEL WITH halo & wings but in need of TLC" (comparing a person to an angel)
• The repeated use of abbreviations in these ads may be due to a desire to convey a sense of informality and relaxed communication.