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Persuasive Language in Advertising
The aim of this project is to acquaint the readers with the concept of persuasive languge which is ever present in advertisements all over the world. We are constantly surrounded by various types of commercials whether it's on the radio, television, on the Internet or on the buildings of our towns. This constant contact with persuasion has a great impact on our perception of the world and greatly influences the process of making a choice not only when it comes to buying products, but also in other areas of out lives.

Advertising
The basic meaning of advertising is related to its etymology which comes from Middle French advertiss and means "to take notice of". However, as the study of advertising has developed,other, more complex, definitions have emerged. According to Cook advertising does not only limit itself to simple product promotion but it also performs a very important function for the modern technology. Ads act as a mirror that reflects the current changes which occur in the social, economic and personal relations. "[Advertising is] a form of persuasion which is directed at large numbers of people by means of the media"

Cook's Categories of Advertisements
Ads can be classified depending on :
 * 1) the medium in which they appear - the medium of advertising influences the form in which the advert appears, for instance TV advertisements use music and moving pictures whereas those found in magazines and newspapers can only rely on printed images and text.
 * 2) the product they promote - luxuries such as perfume and expensive delicacies are advertised in a different way to necessities being products of everyday use.
 * 3) whether they try to sell a product or not: non-product ads and product ads (for example:government and charity advertising, trade and technical advertisements, prestige, business and financial advertising)
 * 4) the technique they use to advertise:

Functions
It is popular to assign only the persuasive function to advertising, this is due to the fact that people want to make a clear-cut distinction between ads which are used to sell products (product ads), and other types of discourse. However, Guy Cook mentions other types of ads which do not exactly follow the standard function distinction, these are non-product ads which aim at warning, informing or encouraging the society about some important issues. Another function of advertising is mentioned by Helen Katz ,the function to inform through entertainment. "Advertising in the media performs the dual role of informing and entertaining. It informs us of the goods and services that are available for us to purchase and use. And, along the way, it often entertains us with some humorous, or clever use of words and pictures".

Forms of Adverts
Dyer ennumerates different forms of ads used to influence the audience, they differ in the mode of address that is used:


 * direct exhortation/ direct address- the advertiser seems to have face-to-face contact with the audience
 * monologue on behalf of the advertiser- in such a commercial there is a presenter who speaks in behalf of the advertiser, for instance, a celebrity who is connected with the brand. An example of this form of advertisement could be a commercial by Ivy Park an active wear line co-founded by Beyonce who also appears in the role of the presenter in the Where is Your Park commercial.
 * dialogue in domestic playlet- this form of address involves ordinary people who perform everyday activities. This kind of commercial gives the audience an insight into someone's lige, an effect of "eavesdropping". For example Reebok's The Retro Shopcommercial, which features an everyday scene from a barber shop.


 * dialogue interview with an "ordinary" customer- these interviews give an impression of testimonials of products and are usually conducted by soomeone who is well known to the customers, for instance a celebrity or a popular broadcaster. An example of this form of address may be a commercial for Reebok's Be More Human campaign in which a science journalist interviews passers-by on the streets of an American city.
 * interior monologue- in this form of advert the audience gets an insight into the thoughts of the character seen in the ad. This technique aims to make the audience identify themselves with the person in the advert. This kind of advert is usually in the form of a stream of thoughts. An example of this technique can be founf in Nike's Find Your Greatness commercial.

Language
Lakoff states that “ language is, and has always been, the means by which we construct and analyze what we call ‘reality’”. Although this definition does not apply specifically to the language of advertising but to language in general, we can clearly make out that by means of language – an invisible device – we can control others, gain knowledge and experience, and express ourselves – and that’s precisely what the language of advertising does, it shapes our way of thinking by the right selection of words in ads and makes use of what’s familiar to the consumers in order to propose new, unusual products. Endless combinations are possible, every combination of words in an ad introduces new meaning, new images and different associations.
 * According to the Saussurean theory of semiology, language is:

"a system of signs which have meaning by virtue of its place in the system, and the fact that this system is known and shared by its users. A language is a ‘social fact’, a convention."

- Cook quted after Saussure


 * The idea of language being a convention is later reinforced by Saussure’s statement that linguistic signs are arbitrary:

"There is a connection, of meaning, between a signifier and a signified, but it’s not motivated by any resemblance between the two; it holds only because it is known to hold by people who use the system."

- Saussure


 * Signifiers and signifieds are usually defined as form and content of a word, although according to another scholar, Williamson, there is a significant difference between these four terms. First of all Williamson claims that signifieds are objects, while form cannot be seen; signifieds are ideas, while content implies that something is material, moreover an even bigger diversity lies in the relation between the two pairs, the form is generally recognized as detachable from content whereas the signifier and the signified are very closely linked. Saussure identified different types of relations into which the signified and the signifier enter to form meaning, in rhetoric these are usually referred to as metabolas, whose fundamental part is substitution of one expression for another:

Metaphor is a figure in which one signifier (word) or vehicle refers to two signifieds (concepts) or topics. According to O’Shaughnessy it is the most powerful tool to change attitudes of consumers because a large part of our language and perception is based on the structure of a metaphor. An example of this figure of speech can be noticed in Nike’s slogan “I am the bullet in the chamber”. Other figures which are used in advertisements and can be described by the ‘S’ over ‘s’ equation is metonymy, synecdoche and symbol.

Metonymy Metonymy is “using one entity to refer to another that is related to it”, an example of using one for the whole in advertising can be calling a product by its brand name for example when someone says “I need to get new Nike’s” meaning “trainers”.

Synecdochy Synecdoche is a type of metonymy which in characterized by the part of the whole referring to the whole object; for instance when somebody says “I’ve got a new set of wheels” where the part of the car, a “set of wheels” stands for the whole car. An example of a sportswear advertisement which makes use of this feature is Nike’s slogan “The sneaker unleashes the monster” which refers to the brand in general by means of just one type of product which the brand produces.

Symbol The relationship between the signifier and the signified of a symbol is similar to that of metaphor with an exception that “the connection is effected more by convention than by any perceived similarity, allowing reference to be made directly from the signifier of one entity to the signified of another”. Symbols in advertising are used in slogans as well as visually. Advertisers’ goal is to make their product into a symbol that is positive to the consumers; for instance the logo of Nike is a “V” which symbolizes victory-the goal of every sportsman or sportswoman.

Block language Leech defines the language of advertising as block language. It is characterized by “a generalized absence of articles, a predominance of nouns and nominal groups and a concomitant rarity of verbs and frequent syntactic disjunction”. Block language only uses words which are necessary to communicate the message. In order to use little space and to transmit as much information as possible the finite verb is omitted. Advertisers make use of simple sentences and minor sentences; simple sentences have only one clause with a single subject and a verb, whereas minor sentences do not adopt grammatical rules, they consist of only the nominal phrase without other constituents which are normally considered obligatory (for instance they do not have a finite verb) examples of minor sentences are headings, stereotyped expressions (Hello!) and emotional expressions.

Imperative mood Simple language and a direct apostrophe to the addressee are a great way to drag attention, especially the use of the imperative mood, which is more common in advertising than declarative mood; examples of such advertisements are “Just do it”(Nike), “It’s a big world. Go run it!”(Asics).

Colloquial and unofficial language Language of advertising is very often colloquial and unofficial, it usually stems from the limited airtime (on television or on the radio) but also from the fact that it tries to “imitate some aspects of real speech”. The narration is frequently very direct and when wrongly used it can be considered by the consumers as rude, sexist or generally insulting, for example a Nike’s slogan “One more thing for men to rule”.

Idioms Advertisements also make use of idioms, scientific language and even legal language depending on the purpose and character of the advert. “There are many advertisements which use features strictly appropriate to another role”. Scientific vocabulary is used in sportswear advertising in order to convince the audience that their products are created with the best materials and provide comfort at the highest level.

Adjectives in the superlative and comparative Adjectives in the superlative and comparative are very often used in advertisements to point out superiority or some unique features of a product. “You see the best player in the world. He sees room for improvement”(Nike), “Becoming stronger than your strongest excuse” (Under Armour).

Weasel words Weasel words, words which have an extra meaning apart from their dictionary meaning, are used on purpose for their ambiguity so that advertisers can freely describe their products without being held accountable for assigning specific features to them, such terms are also used in order not to offend anyone because their function is to ‘weaken’ the literal meaning or force of a statement. The term used to name such words “weasel words” comes from a slang phrase “to weasel out of something” which according to The Free Dictionary means “to escape responsibility for something” or “to squeeze one's way out of something”. Examples of such words are: “is like”, “virtually”, “improved”, “helps”, “is useful”, “many”, “most of”

Open-ended comparisons A strategy of open-ended comparisons is frequent in advertising, according to Winkler it is a process in which a product “is grammatically being compared to nothing but the consumer is left with the feeling that it has been”. Consumers usually interpret such comparisons as being compared to the business rivalries on the market. “See better, feel better, look better” (Columbia), “Move more. Move better.” (Nike).

Modal auxiliaries Advertisers often use modal auxiliaries in order to adjust the statements they have made about their products, with the use of could, will, should, may, can and might they provide us with additional information about the verb that the modal auxiliary governs and simultaneously have a “clear effect on the total meaning of the utterance” Examples of modal auxiliaries used in sportswear adverts are Nike’s slogans: “We will run more km than ever”, “I will protect my home court”, “We will reinvent running”, “ You can do it”, “If no one thinks you can then you have to”, “If you can see it you can reach it”.
 * must- necessity or obligation is expressed
 * will- certainty is expressed
 * should– a slightly weaker obligation is expressed
 * can– ability, possibility is expressed
 * may- possibility is expressed

Parallelism Parallelism is a device frequently used in advertising, according to A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory “[paralellism] consists of phrases or sentences of similar construction and meaning placed side by side, balancing each other”

Repetitions and paraphrases are in structure to parallelism because they repeat something that has been mentioned before. An example of parallelism in advertising can be noticed is Asics’ slogan “Unload your mind, unleash your power”.