Language Game in Advertising and Its Impact on Consumers

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Introduction

In the modern world, almost any business cannot be competitive without advertising. That is why many companies have entire headquarters and even departments working for company’s marketing. One of their main tasks is to create and distribute an effective advertising campaign for a particular organization. In this case, effective advertising can lead to the creation of demand for the promoted product, to maintaining and increasing existing demand, to changing the consumer’s negative attitude towards the product to a positive one, to promoting the product, avoiding fluctuations in demand that depend on the season, or cause a decrease in demand when the product is harmful to human health (cigarettes, alcohol, etc.), or when supply greatly exceeds demand. In the end, marketers study the market, analyze it and make a forecast for the future. If a decrease in demand is predicted, marketers begin to take measures to maintain and stimulate it with the help of advertising [1. P. 1291]. The main goal of any marketer is to attract attention and maximize the company’s profit. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is to create an incomparable, memorable and attention-grabbing text written on a photo or picture or voiced over a video.

The purpose of this article is to show how the phenomenon of “language games” can be an effective tool for creating interesting and remarkable advertising materials.

The above goal has defined a number of tasks:

1. To define the phenomenon of “language games”;
2. To show the functions, types and use of language games in advertising as a way to attract consumers’ attention.

The authors used scientific descriptions (methods of continuous sampling, generalization, interpretation, classification and systematization of material) and a comparative method. Several methods were used on various advertising slogans widely presented in the media.

Marketing specialists use the term “language games”, which is a violation of language norms and cliches, in order, to attract attention and increase the expressiveness of the text in advertising and commercials. The ultimate goals of language games in advertising can be to attract the attention of the consumer, to provide the consumer with pleasure from humorous messages, to compress the meaning of the text, and also censorship [2. P. 3]. The term “language game” was first used by L. Wittgenstein, who associated this phenomenon with the use of language in the relevant sphere of communication, the ability to use language tools taking into account the function they implement (communicative, expressive, appellative, etc.) and understanding the role of the speaker as a participant in the communicative act in achieving the goal of communication. In general, language games should be understood as a conscious violation of linguistic norms, rules of speech communication, as well as the distortion of speech clichés in order to give the message greater expressive power.

Types of language play in advertising

A large number of linguistic means are used in advertising texts, which help to achieve the desired result more effectively. In addition, one of the important requirements for advertising texts is to use as much information as possible, but at the same time there should be as few words as possible so that the text is easily digestible by the recipient. At the moment, advertising products are released in huge quantities in different forms, the most common of which are: video, film and photographs. This has led to the audience ignoring advertising signals.

Thus, advertising can be considered appropriate only if it attracts attention, is understandable to everyone and is easy to remember. To achieve this goal, the means can be very different: from relaxing the rules of spelling to ambiguity of phrases in advertising texts.

The use of several types of language play in advertising from a linguistic point of view: (phonetic, morphological, syntactic, pragmatic and stylistic games). Each of them is effective, but only in different situations, under different conditions [3. P. 274–275]. Much depends on the chosen advertising audience. The text with a language game should contain such terms and phrases that are understandable and accessible to a consumer, the text should be presented in such a way as not to cause discomfort and misunderstanding, but with an ambiguous meaning, to make humorous massages.

The phonetic aspect of a language game is the use of one or two sounds in words. It is accessible to everyone, so it is applicable in almost all conditions. This technique is closely related to graphics, since frequent writing of the same letters or syllables leads to visual memorization [4. P. 151]. For example: Ritz Crackers: Nothing fitz like a Ritz. The campaign “Nothing fits like a Ritz” was designed to remind today’s “forgetful moms” how the Ritz fits their lifestyle. To communicate that the unique taste of Ritz is perfect for any meal, we used our most mouth-watering symbol, Ritz Crackers, combined with the brand’s signature red and yellow colors. The result was a very simple campaign idea that exceeded all objectives, leading to increased awareness and usage, franchise penetration, and claim distribution. Ritz sales also increased significantly, delivering the highest profit margin and advertising effectiveness across the entire Nabisco portfolio [5. P. 2].

Laugh attack? Don’t hold back (we make bladder leaks like no big deal) — (Always pads advertising). This example illustrates the phenomenon of assonance, namely the repetition of the final consonants “ck”. You can also see the attack here — the reverse rhyme. Thus, thanks to such means as assonance and rhyme, the advertising text attracts the attention of the target audience, because the slogan with the help of these means immediately catches the eye and is remembered for a long time. Here we can highlight the expressive function, since with the help of this rhyme the advertisement influences the addressee, focusing on a socially significant situation and thereby encouraging the purchase of this product.

Advertisement of Metropolitan Home hotels: “Mode for your abode” uses the rhyme “Mode — abode”. The advertiser seeks to show that the hotels will offer the best living conditions and a certain mode will be chosen in accordance with the preferences of consumers. This advertisement performs a generalizing function, since it conveys general information about the living conditions in the hotel environment. One of the best ways to promote a brand is to create an advertisement that rhymes with the brand name, the rhyme immediately distinguishes the advertisement from the rest, since it focuses on the brand name. Rhyme is often used in advertising, because it is easier for a person to remember the rhyme of the advertised text.

In advertising text, metaphor is used quite often, since it creates an evaluative image in connection with the implementation of the aesthetic function and emotional impact. This is a hidden comparison of two objects or concepts based on a certain similarity between them, real or imaginary: “Tchibo. Awaken the Senses” (Tchibo coffee), “Engineered then move the human spirit” (Mercedes-Benz car). The Coca-Cola slogan “Live on the colorful side of life” also uses a metaphor that sets the buyer in a positive mood, helping consumers to get a boost of energy. This type of advertising determines and regulates the mood of consumers, increasing the communicative effect of advertising. Volkswagen Jetta: JETTAime. In car advertising in France, the model name is used instead of “Jet’aime”, which means (I love you). The substitution of the name creates complete consonance with the phrase, thereby causing audience approval and ease of memorization.

1. The city is in your hands — Advertisement by Ford in 2015

Fig. 1. The city is in your hands — Advertisement by Ford in 2015
Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/pin-de-pablo-alcaine-en-plagios-publicitarios--521573200580497805/

1. Syntactically, this advertisement is formed by a declarative positive sentence consisting of a subject and a predicate. (The city) is the subject, a noun phrase. The predicate is formed from head, which is a copulative verb, and another noun phrase as a predicative complement (In your hands).
2. Semantically, the claim in the advertisement is the most intriguing: not only is it significant in defining why there is a key in the shape of a city skyline, but it also gives the hidden meaning to the advertisement. By saying, “The city is in your hands,” the advertisement is saying that if you buy this car, you will feel confident and powerful.
3. Pragmatically, when you buy this Ford Fusion, you get a city. The Ford Fusion is urban, modern, powerful, full of possibilities, and it is all yours. You have this key; you hold it in your hand. The city is now yours. With this key, with this car “The city is in your hands”.
4. From a semiotic point of view, with the keys, customers can feel that the whole city is in their hands. Not only does the combination of squares, circles and triangles that create the silhouette of the city skyline as the image cut from the blade of the key convey the image of driving through the center of a large metropolis, evoking all the feelings that the reader can associate with this journey. It also plays on the idea of the “key to the city” known in popular culture. The copy also complements this image of the city skyline because it tells the reader that the city is in their hands.

The graphic aspect of a language game is focused on the visual perception of the text. Most often, fonts are used, where the highlighted part of the word or sentence is the name of the company, product or service. Word transformation in advertising text was also used, that is, replacing one word with another, similar visually, in writing, but different in meaning. For example, TECH IT EASY — in the text of the sign of a store selling equipment and high-tech goods, despite the replacement of the component, there is an obvious allusion to the very popular stable expression “TAKE IT EASY”. Given the compound meaning of the phrase “progenitor”, the new name can be understood approximately as follows: “Relax with our technique” [6. P. 168].

2. Cake Away is a cake shop founded in Didsbury, Manchester, in 2017

1. Syntactically, cake away is a compound noun, which is used in this slogan as a pun by combining two words together (Cake + Away), derived from the word (take away).
2. Semantically, the pun in the text of this sign is built on the replacement of a recognizable component of the word structure (“take away” — 1. Fast food to take away, 2. A store or restaurant where food is sold. to be eaten elsewhere). In addition, the words “Cake cake” and “Away” are minimal pairs that differ only in one phonological element, such as bakery, cake and take, and have different meanings. They are used to demonstrate that the two phones are two separate phonemes in the language. The compound noun here hides this message (“Cake Away — Take a cake with you”).
3. The pragmatic aspect of this advertisement shows that all the products sold in the store are as tasty and affordable as McDonald’s in fast food, and you can eat them in convenience. So, there is a hint of a well-known lexical unit (Takeaway), and the sign looks very attractive, telling us that in this cafe or shop you can buy cakes, ice cream with fruits, milkshakes to go.

3. Once A PAWN A Time — A pawn shop in Los Angeles, California, which offered a six-day delay in payments in 2017

1. In terms of syntax, this slogan is formed by a pun based on the blurring of the word boundaries of the famous stable expression “Once upon a time” (this famous phrase stands at the beginning of many English fairy tales).
2. Semantically, the sentence in this slogan (Once a PAWN a Time) — a play on words of the same name — gives additional meaning to the sign. The name is not in the most pleasant places, where you need to leave something valuable as collateral and get a “fairytale”, with faith in a happy ending, optimistic sound (it’s not terrible if one day you use a pledge): “Once / once / there was a pledge”.
3. From a pragmatic point of view, pawn shop advertising gives us important information about the nature of the store and the pawn of its services (Pawn [pɔːn] — pawn).
4. Semiotics here refers to the services offered by the pawn shop and the attitude of the target audience, the pawn shop slogan encourages customers to receive their services (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Examples of Language play
Source: photo by Mohamed Alsadig Hamid Musa.

Language play and language games allow you define spelling, namely, the violation of spelling rules. Such advertising is striking, and therefore remembered last. An example is one of the Sneakers ads (OH DEER — IT`S HARD TO SPEL — WHEN YOUR HUNGRY). These types of advertising are very effective on banners, labels and flyers, but their decoding is possible only for an audience with additional cultural knowledge.

With the help of texts, you can “play” with consumers by replacing morphemes in words or excluding them from words. For example, the slogan of LG had the slogan “Digitally Yours”, which was translated as “Yours digitally” from (Fully yours) “completely yours”, which means “sincerely yours”.

4. Nespresso. What else do you need? (advertisement for coffee)

In the above example, the language game is lexically expressed through hyperbolic functions. Manufacturers position their product as unique, self-sufficient, this can be understood from the phrase (What else do you need?). On the one hand, this slogan is addressed to competitors, namely, that only this product is the best on the market, other products are incomparable with Nespresso. But, on the other hand, the product itself has everything you need, excellent taste, ingredients, etc., so the need for any other product is excluded. In this example, we can highlight the slanderous function, since this question “What else do you need?” discards any thoughts about other products, presenting them as less significant.

The syntactic aspect of the language game is the use of phrases with double meaning. As an example, consider the slogan of the House in the Village enterprise: “It’s good to have a house in the village.” The phrase is ambiguous; on the one hand, they mean that it is good to have the products of this company, and on the other — to own a house in the village. Maybelline cosmetics ad: “Maybe She’s Born with It, Maybe It’s Maybelline,” or KitKat ad: “Have a break, have a KitKat!”.

TAKE CONTROL LOSE CONTROL. INTRODUCING AUDACIOUS MASCARA. Every layer Multiplies. Amplifies. Mesmerizes (advertisement for mascara). In the given advertising slogan, the language game is built using the same technique as in the previous one, on the opposite — “TAKE-” and “LOSE”. In the case of “TAKE”, this means that by using this mascara, you will take control of your appearance and your inner state, and the meaning of the word “LOSE” is interpreted as a key that allows you to use this product. for relaxation, the mascara independently controls the situation. Whether you cry or laugh — it does not matter, the mascara will suffer. In this example, the comic function is highlighted, since with a cursory perception, mutually exclusive positions are established “TAKE—LOSE”. In addition to the comic, the compression function is also distinguished by the versatility of the meaning, which is “packed” into a fairly compact form [6. P. 172]. Parallel constructions: a technique that is not very common in a sentence. A necessary condition for parallel construction is an identical or similar syntactic structure in two or more sentences or parts of a sentence, for example: How refreshing! How Heineken! (Heineken beer); Take Toshiba, Take the World — Take Toshiba (Toshiba); Stop wishing. Start living (Meltin ‘Pot jeans); Looks ugly. Tastes great (Stella Artois); Don’t dream it (Jaguar cars).

Wordplay can be manifested by replacing or adding words to well-known sayings, phrases, proverbs or expressions. It is important that the original is easy to guess when reading. For example, the MasterCard slogan: “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard”. The high prevalence of MasterCard bank cards is emphasized, which means that you can pay with them almost anywhere and at any time. Or an advertisement for a remedy for poisoning, as in the IKEA bathtub advertisement: “Start with a clean face” [5; 7–14]. The global economy is experiencing rapid dynamic movements and changes that are becoming more and more obvious every day, and in light of the influence of human thinking and culture on these changes, there are many desires and various ways and means of achieving them and satisfying needs. After all, advertising has become a visual, sound or readable means that affects feelings and ideas, attracts attention and causes a desire to buy. And just as the latter works to win the consumer, to direct him and to ensure his loyalty to the advertiser’s goods, we also find that it constitutes the first line of defense against competing goods by its contribution to the institution having gained an appropriate market share and then by maintaining and increasing that share. Here advertising does not work alone but within the framework of an integrated sales system. Marketing and Management.

In view of the growing interest in advertising activity in recent times and the diversity of its methods, techniques and means, and the fluctuations in the number of advertisements we see, read and hear, between success and failure, and also because of the important role that the latter plays in increasing the market share of the institution and works to ensure that the latter remains steadfast in the face of the various problems it faces.

Conclusions

Advertising is a social phenomenon, the transfer of information through the addressee and the addressee. The term “advertising text” follows from the concept of advertising, which is interpreted as an oral or written text, the purpose of which is to convey information to the recipient. Advertising is one of the means of stimulating demand. In very rare cases, this may be the only way to change demand over a certain period of time, and this fact indicates the difficulty of assessing the effectiveness of advertising. Advertising efforts are often accompanied by a change in the price of a product or distribution channels or other advertising efforts. Advertising is also accompanied by the appearance of competitors’ advertising. In such texts, the comic function prevails, thanks to which advertisers try to attract potential consumers. It is also worth adding that the advertising test has a number of features, such as the presence of a title, brevity and conciseness, and to achieve an effective result and attract people’s attention, graphic elements such as fonts and colors are often used in texts.

Language play has many functions. The main functions of language play are comic, linguistic, evaluative and manipulative. It should be noted that these functions do not exclude, but complement each other; one advertising text can perform several functions of language play at once. It follows that language play is multifunctional and is one of the strongest mechanisms for creating a unique and effective advertising text, since its functions play a major role in increasing expressiveness and emotionality.

About the authors

Anna E. Bazanova

RUDN University

Author for correspondence.
Email: baza89265851150@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5560-5953
SPIN-code: 9236-8295
ResearcherId: Z-1336-2019

PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and History of Journalism, Faculty of Philology

6, Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, Russian Federation, 117198

Mohamed Alsadig Hamid Musa

RUDN University

Email: khamid_musa_ma@rudn.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0298-558X
ResearcherId: ABA-3768-2020

Assistant lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and PhD student of the Department of Theory and History of Journalism, Faculty of Philology

6, Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, Russian Federation, 117198

References

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