Session Thirteen Concluding Remarks About Advertising Language

1. Session ThirteenConcluding Remarks About Advertising Language

2. Today in China, while our economic structure is shifting from the entirely planned economy to the socialist market system, advertising is becoming more and more active and sophisti- cated. In 1992, China’s advertising expenditure reached $862 million, among the fastest growing countries in Asia. Now with China’s entry into WTO, this expenditure figure will undoubtedly rise up, which will support the view that adverti- sing is an indispensable means for providing the information that all market-oriented indus- trialized societies need for economies to function

3. efficiently. And as English is one of the most widely used languages in the world, it is necessary to study and analyze the language features of English advertising. Current advertisements reflect radical changes in the technology, me- dia, the social and economic relations, the sense of personal and group identity. For the insight they provide the nature of these changes; and for the way they prepare us for further changes to come. It is a particular valuable field of study. It goes without saying that research into the

4. language of English advertising is both interesting and rewarding. To achieve this awareness, we should not only have a good understanding of the language of English ad- vertising, but also know its influence on the English language, its trend and existing pro- blems. A. Influence on English Language One obvious influence of English advertising on the English language lies in the fact that English advertising contributes a lot of new words to the vocabulary stock of modern English.

5. Some products or services are so popular that they have significantly changed people’s life patterns. Their brand names, product names or words appearing in their advertisements enter the lexical items instead of being the privilege of English advertising. For example the word “mackintosh” originally was the brand name of a raincoat. It was named after its in- ventor, Charles Mackintosh. However, in modern English, it almost becomes the substitute for any raincoat. The association between the brand name and the product has been cut off.

6. In this category we also can include “jacuzzi”, the brand name of a bathing service; “crock pot”, the brand name of an electric cooker; “aspirin”, the brand name of a medicine trea- ting headache; “xerox”, the brand name of photo copier ; ” “biro”, the brand name of a ball-pen. The other type of words contributing to the English language are the advertising coinages, whose abundance is one of the lexical features of English advertising. The most typical exam- ple is the word “pinta” in the advertising slogan

7. of British milk: “Drinka pinta milka day”, which is mentioned in the second chapter. This slo- gan acquired its popularity immediately after its appearance and became a household word. And later the coined word “pinta” became the substitute for “milk”, and many people would use “pinta” rather than “milk”, although the latter are also found in everyday usage. The other advertising coinages coming into the common core of the English language inc- lude: cellophane, escalator, travolator, etc.

8. All of these words contributed by English advertising are used by modern English spea- kers so commonly that even lexicographers have to include them in the dictionary as lexi- cal entries. In this way, their “legal” status in the English language has been confirmed. Some of them become so common and even get derivatives, such as “escalatory” from “escalator”, “xerography” from “xerox”, etc. There’s a paradox about such words, espe- cially those words from brand names. Adver- tisers always want consumers to notice their advertisements and remember the advertised

9. products longer so theymake great endeavor to create eye-catching and easy-to-remember brand names. Nevertheless, with the populari- ty of the products, some brand names turn out to be common words and lose their originality as advertising coinages. But, on the other hand, advertisers often have to apply for patent right to protect their privilege of using brand names, and prevent competitors from taking advan- tage of their inventions. For example, in order to protect its privilege of the word “Xerox”, the company’s legal adviser even warns the general public not to say “I’ll xerox a copy for you”,

10. but to say “I’ll make a duplicate for you on the xerox copier”. However, the extensive utiliza- tionof the promoted product usually makes such efforts end in vain. At last, these brand names will inevitably become common words of the English language in general and are used by the public to refer to types of products. So when they create some extraordinary brand names, advertisers have to face the reality that one day they will lose their privilege of such brand names. This is the price they have to pay for the popularity of their products. Another

11. main influence on English advertising is so- called movement of “colloquialisation”, which is also a main contribution of English adver- tising to the English language. Advertising has been in the vanguard of this tendency, which has gained impetus in the 20th century particularly through the develop- ment of the popular press and radio and tele- vision broadcasting. Together with the over- whelming popularity of advertising, English advertising with the public-colloquial style, produces much influence on the English

12. language as a whole. English advertising contributes a great deal to the movement of　“colloquialisation” and is partly respon- sible for the rise ofthe public-colloquial style.( 方薇，1997:7 ) At present, colloquialism seems to be the general trend. For instance, if we compare contemporary prose with that of the 19th cen- tury, we will find that prose today is generally simpler, easier and livelier. When we appreci- ate modern prose, we should pay tribute to English advertising. It is partly through the

13. influence of English advertising that modern • users of the English language acquire the • public-colloquial style for public communication. • The influence of English advertising justifies • the relationship between a language and its • users: people create a language form as de- • sired; this form, in turn affects people’s concep- • tion of the language as a whole. • B. Trend of English Advertising

14. When describing a product’s qualities, adver- Tisers prefer a “sincere” suggestion rather than an explicit declaration. These adver- tisers act as multi-sensory authors who use a style of literary deceptiveness for commer- cial purposes. Through weak implications, advertisers aim to influence and direct con- sumer’s behavior based on advertising lan- guage that is very secretly constructed. Adver- tisers control inference possibilities by both demarcating message parameters and by skillfully accessing audience prior knowledge.

15. Message recipients are then more likely to construct inferences that have a limited sub- stantiated base. One trend of English advertising, as many linguists have feared, is that the advertising language becomes elusive and manipulative. Authors like Aldous Huxley and E.B. White have warned of its manipulative nature. As Barbara Stern aptly rationalizes, the deceptive nature of advertising language lies in the fact that it frequently uses poetic license to say one thing and mean another, borrowing literary

16. tactics to convey messages by means other than or in addition to the words ( Charles A. O’Neill , 1986:72 ). The other trend of English advertising is: the language is getting oral and the grammar is getting simpler. All these changes, if careless- ly used, may easily lead to ambiguity and mis- understanding, which affects the product’s image negatively. The most authoritative critic of advertising is the Journalist Edwin Newman. In his book Strictly Speaking, he worries that the careless utilization of language might

17. some day threaten the survival of the English (Charles A O’Neill, 1986:127). Now let’s see the following example. “Tired of cleaning yourself ? Let me do it.” This is an ad of a company that provides all kinds of services to family like cleaning windows, carpets, etc. But from its sentence structure, it is obviously misleading and even ridiculous to the readers. If “yourself” is used as an object, “cleaning yourself” simply means taking a shower or a bath. As a consequence the whole sentence means: if you are tired of

18. taking a bath, our company will do this for you. But if the sentence order is like this: “yourself tired of cleaning ? Let me do it. ” This meaning is what the company really intends to convey to the customer. The above-mentioned sentence is a typi- cal example of ambiguity caused by words, conjunctions, and modifications. If we don’t pay much attention to this tendency, it will lead to vagueness in expression, leading the consumers to misunderstanding. The language of advertising appeals to our

19. emotional needs under the skillful craftsman- ship of the copywriter. At the same time, language is always changing. So is the language in advertising. Charles A.’ Oneill(1986:117) states: over the years the texture of advertising Language has frequently changed. Styles and creative concepts come and go. But there are at least four distinct general characteristics of the language of advertising that make it different from otherlanguages. 1. The language of advertising is edited and purposeful.

20. 2. The language of advertising is rich and arresting: it is specifically intended to attract and hold our attention. 3. The language of advertising involves us; in effect, we complete the advertising message. 4. The language of advertising holds no secrets from us; it is a simple language. In summary, though some of the language characteristics of English advertising are de- veloping to the linguist’s worry and dismay, its propaganda and practical roles still cannot be over-underlined.