Definitions
Implication
According to Durant & Lambrou (2009), the implication can be defined as an assumption that is made towards something which cannot be expressed in words. In his book, Hackley (2009) claims that the textual and visual elements used to design an advertisement are used to imply certain notions regarding the product being advertised. His arguments regarding implications in advertising will play a pivotal role in analyzing the contextual meaning of advertisements. This shall be done by examining both the textual and visual elements of the advertisement in a bid to determine what they imply to the consumers of the product being advertised.
Canonical speech situation
The canonical speech situation refers to “the moment of utterance that serves as the temporal deictic center for both speaker and hearer (Lee and Choi, 2010, p. 213).” In their article, the authors describe this event as an interactive moment where the speaker intends to have the hearer acknowledges that the speaker wants the audience to accept his/her role as the recipient of the message and react to it accordingly. This situation shall be identified in an advertisement to show the role that language and words play in depicting meaning in an advertisement.
Multimodality
As Granstrom, House, and Karlsson (2002, p.16) state, multimodality refers to the “seamless combination of graphic, text, and audio output with speech, text, and touch input to deliver a dramatically enhanced end-user experience.” Their book gives various perspectives on how multimodality is used in advertisements to ensure that consumers develop an interest in the advertised product. This source shall be used in analyzing how various elements have been combined to make the advertisement appealing to the audience.
Polysemy
Nerlich (2003) defines Polysemy as a phenomenon where certain similar words depict different meanings in various situations. In his book, the author states that similar words can be used to bring out different meanings. He further states that understanding the context of the sentence is pivotal towards grasping the intended meaning. This source shall be used to examine how polysemy is used in advertisements.
Explanation
Implication
Slogans are used in advertisements to ensure that the audience grasps the meaning or purpose of the advertisement. For example, an advert may have such a text: “Pleasure to Burn”. This slogan implies that by using the product, the audience will be able to interact with their loved ones who are in distant locations. As such, the slogan is used to infer that the product will enhance unity among people having long-distance relationships.
The canonical speech situation
Using the same slogan, it is clear that the speaker wants the hearer to receive the message and respond to it. The message being put across is that the product will enable the consumers to have some pleasure while smoking the cigarette. “Pleasure to Burn” is therefore a statement that gives the consumer a privilege to enjoy a unique brand of cigarettes. As such, this slogan implies that if the consumers use this product, they will be able to gain an unmatched level of satisfaction unique to this brand.
Multimodality
Advertisements have various features interlinked together to bring out the desired effect on the consumer. For example, an advert may have various images, sounds, and texts that work together to evoke predetermined perceptions regarding the product being advertised. Multimodality is used to appeal to the consumer’s desires thereby ensuring that they buy the product being advertised.
Polysemy
As mentioned earlier, polysemy is the ability of a particular word to have different meanings (Blakemore, 1992). For example:
The shop raised its prices yesterday.
The bank is on the left side of the newly constructed shop.
The shop appeared first in New York City.
From these sentences, the word shop means
- a specific business;
- the building in which the business is housed;
- a type of business.
Application
Implication plays a very important role in the understanding of meaning in media communication. This is mostly because for communication to be effective, one must understand both the implied meaning as well as the contextual meaning being put across. As such, implication enables the speaker to suggest what he/she wants to put across in the message all the while giving the hearer a chance to interpret the message as per his/her understanding.
On the other hand, the canonical speech situation presents both the speaker and the hearer with a chance to use the standard forms of language necessary for any form of interaction. This means that it enables them to understand meaning by having direct dialogue relevant to the topic under discussion. Multimodality ensures that the message is understood by capturing the audience’s interest through a combination of verbal, sound, textual, and visual elements. Finally, polysemy enables the speaker and the hearer to identify meaning by evaluating the context in which the words are being used (Nerlich, 2003).
Norms
Norms refer to the societal beliefs, attitudes, and values that dictate how we behave while interacting with others. In this scenario, the student failed to consider the three attributes that constitute a norm. According to Albarracin, Johnson, and Zanna (2005), a norm must have the following attributes: “Focus on the actions of one’s ego, focus on ego’s reactions to actions of alternative and Negotiation between ego and alternative (Albarracin, Johnson, and Zanna, 2005, p. 32).”
Three things that the student would have done to draw a more elaborate suggestion are as follows: Firstly, the student should have analyzed the context of the norm followed by understanding the egocentric background of the speaker and finally, examine the purpose of the norm. By evaluating these factors, the student would be better placed to come up with a more conclusive and unbiased suggestion.
Advertisement deconstruct
Texts represented in advertisement can signify a myriad of meanings apart from the very obvious message that the advertisement image purports to sell. An image can denote varying directions and be made to evoke deeper sentiments from the viewer and a simple image; one can build up an entire story. All this is in an attempt by the creator of the advert to persuade the consumer to think, feel, or act in a predetermined manner. This paper shall set out to deconstruct and discuss particular elements of an advert to show how the public understands it. This shall be in an attempt to articulate that advertisers normally embedded a lot of ideas and sentiments into an advert to manipulate the intended consumer into acting desirably.
Description of the Advertisement
Advertising is defined by Lester (2006, p.75) as “any form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, and services by an identified sponsor”. In this particular scenario, the advertisement is for a cigarette called “Camel” (employees.oneonta.edu, 2002). The primary objective of the advert in this case is to promote the sale of the cigarette being advertised. The cigarettes are readily available in most stores and are smoked by a large number of people.
As such, the target audience is adults over the age of 18 years old. This particular advertisement consists of a well built young man who is pictured as he lights up a cigarette. Above his head are the words “CAMEL” which is bolded and in red. It is immediately followed by these words: “PleasureTo Burn”. On the bottom left, there is a text box in which the following words are inserted: “SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide”. On the bottom right of the advertisement, there is a picture of a camel below which are these words: “Sense 1913”.
The Deconstruction Process
Lind and Brzuzy (2008, p. 319) suggest that owing to the adverse effect that advertisements can have as they influence the opinions of people and sway people’s attitudes, being media literate is of importance. Media literacy includes being able to actively deconstruct what is seen in the media and particularly about advertisements. The deconstruction process involves a breaking down of the complete whole into various components to enable deep analysis and criticism of the text or image contained.
In the advertisement context, this shall enable one to understand the two levels of meaning i.e. the denotative meaning which is the obvious message that the advertisement contains, and the connotative meaning which has to do with the symbols and the association of this symbols with some experience of knowledge shared by the targeted audience (Roman, 2008).
The Headline
In advertising, a headline refers to the short statement which introduces the theme of the advertisement. Arguably, the headline is the soul of the advertisement and is placed at an eye-catching position within the advertisement. In most cases, the headline is formatted with larger and bold words as compared to other texts within the advert. In this advert, the headline is: – ‘CAMEL Pleasure To Burn’.
The main aim of the headline is to attract the reader’s attention. After reading this statement, the reader often asks: what am I burning? As such, this statement provokes the reader’s curiosity thereby prompting the reader to read more. Also, this heading clearly states the benefits that the readers can accrue from the product. In this case, the heading implies that the readers will have some pleasure when they smoke this cigarette.
Slogan
In this advertisement, the advertiser has used ‘Pleasure To Burn’ as the slogan for this product. According to (Blakemore, 1992), a slogan is a verbal logo that states the purpose, benefit, or one’s commitment regarding the product being advertised. In this advertisement, the slogan is in form of an elliptical sentence which contains a subject (Pleasure), a preposition (To), and a subject (Burn). This statement is an example of an unfinished claim. According to Durant & Lambrou (2009), an unfinished claim asserts that a product is better than the rest or has something that makes it superior but it does not finish the comparison. In this case, the slogan does not completely state what the pleasure is or what is being burnt for the pleasure.
Lingual claims
Similarly, the warning text is an example of a superfluous claim because it states the obvious in all brands of cigarettes. This text aims to imply the dangers of cigarette smoking without really scaring off the targeted market.
As such, this text is a “so what” claim. This type of claim is used by advertisers to ensure that the readers assume what the message implies. In this scenario, the warning states that cigarette smokes contain carbon monoxide. As such, the reader asks himself: so what? Such claims are intended to allow the audience to make their own decisions regarding the usage of the product. Finally, the advertiser has used an endorsement/testimonial statement to promote the quality of the product. The words ‘Since 1913’ are carefully included in the advert to show the superiority and quality of the product. By reading these words, the audience believes that the product has been in existence for a long time and that it is preferred by most smokers.
Tenses
Regarding tenses, the advertiser uses the present continuous tense. For example, ‘Pleasure To Burn’ implies that the product will always give the user that great feeling each time he/she uses it. Also, the warning uses the word ‘contains’ which shows that each product under this brand will still have carbon monoxide. Also, the word is a form of colloquial language which is used in this case to make the dangers of cigarette smoke seem less life-threatening (Durant & Lambrou, 2009).
The warning is a form of a polite command which gives the reader the privilege to choose whether or not to use the product. Similarly, ‘since 1913’ implies that the product has been in existence for a long time and will be available in the future. By using this tense, the audience is reassured that the product will continue to satisfy his/her needs for a long time to come.
Implication
Blakemore (1992) suggests that when deconstructing a text, the primary objective is to draw attention to conflicting logic or, to offer insight into what may not have been explicitly represented in the text. The next step, therefore, involves trying to discover what the advert may have implied but not explicitly stated (Blakemore, 1992). The message implies that from using this brand of cigarette, the audience will experience some pleasure in each puff.
This is depicted in the image of the young handsome man who seems content as he lights up the cigarette. The image also has a message that it tries to send through. Looking at the pose, the physical attributes of the man, and the dressing code, it implies that this cigarette is for the middle-class people who are in the prime of their lives. Durant & Lambrou (2009) asserts that one of the core aims of advertisements is to have the consumer identify with the product. To this end, the advert portrays a modest lifestyle by its depiction of an average young man. The image is not glamorized or highly classy.
The colored background signifies clarity of mind. The dressing code is fancy yet simple. This familiarity will appeal to prospective customers who will mostly be middle-class families. In addition to the main objective of promoting a product, most advertisements express some values that may be held by the society or by the advertiser. Some of the values expressed in this advert are that being happy comes as a result of enjoying the simple pleasures of life.
Polysemy
In this advertisement, the words ‘Camel, ‘since’ and ‘burn’ have different meanings. For example, Camel would normally mean a domesticated animal. However, in this advertisement, it symbolizes a brand of cigarettes. On the other hand, ‘since’ as used in this advertisement is indicative of a period as compared to ‘since which could be used to show the reason. Similarly ‘pleasure’ in this advertisement is a symbolic word that describes the product. In other words, the product is depicted as a pleasure rather than a satisfactory feeling associated with pleasure.
Discussion
From the advertisement deconstruct presented above, it is clear that advertisements use various linguistic tools to attract the audience into using the product being advertised. From a lays point of view, a reader would understand this advertisement in the following way:
By smoking a ‘CAMEL’ cigarette, people will perceive me as a cool person who flows with the times. At the same time, I will have a pleasurable smoking experience that can be matched by no other cigarette brand. Additionally, I am sure that this brand is of great quality and despite the assumed dangers (which are present in all cigarette brands), this brand has been in existence for a long time and will continue to be available for as long as I need it. It is therefore the right brand to smoke because it has all the qualities I desire in a cigarette. This is a general analysis depicting how a majority of the public understand and analyze this advertisement. It is therefore safe to assume that the advertisers got their money’s worth through this advertisement.
Conclusion
Because of globalization and the ever-increasing influence of media outlets in our lives, we need to possess the skills necessary to process and evaluate the constant barrage of media information that is presented to us. Deconstruction of advertisements presents an important front from which to initiate this critical assessment of the media to enable us to recognize and therefore avoid the negative influences and/or misinformation that media may cause.
This paper set out to deconstruct an advertisement of a software product called The Box to critically analyze the advert and show how it relates to a wider set of issues. By using various terminologies, the meaning of the advertisement has been examined and it has been observed that the advert can have far-reaching messages embedded in that the layperson can detect.
References
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Blakemore, D 1992, Understanding utterances, Wiley-Blackwell, New Jersey.
Durant, A & Lambrou, M 2009, Language and Media: A Resource Book for Students, Routledge, New York.
Employees.oneonta.edu 2002, Camel_man.jpg. Web.
Granstrom, B, House, D & Karlsson, I 2002, Multimodality in language and speech systems, Springer, New York.
Hackley, C 2009, Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Approach, SAGE, New Jersey.
Lee, E & Choi, J 2008, ‘Two ‘now’s in Korean’, Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics, vol. 28, pp. 213–222.
Lester, P 2006, Visual communication: images with messages, Cengage Learning, New York.
Lind, A & Brzuzy, S 2008, Battleground: women, gender, and sexuality, Greenwood Publishing Group, California.
Nerlich, B 2003, Polysemy: flexible patterns of meaning in mind and language, Walter de Gruyter, USA.
Roman, A 2008, Critical De-construction of Media Messages. Web.
Thomas, M 2003, Deconstructing public relations: public relations criticis, Routledge, Sydney.