Media Speak - the Language of Advertising - Article Example

The following paper attempts to explore the vagaries of language as ascribed to by the media in advertising. The topic is “MEDIA SPEAK- THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING”. The following paper shall focus on the implicit and explicit meaning of the project’s claim stating “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity”. It also attempts to explore and explain the causes and effects of the use of misleading words in language. Keywords: weasel words- help, virtual, new, improved ; advertising; selling; claim; unfinished words Project’s Claim: the great enemy of clear language is insincerity The author is defending the above-mentioned claim, as well as saying that advertisers use ‘weasel words’. These are words that appear to say one thing, when in fact, they say the opposite, to get buyers to buy their products. He goes on to state that the word ‘help’ is a major weasel word. Other words that can be regarded as weasel words include ‘new’ and ‘improved’. Some unfinished words are also weasel words. They may be used independently or in conjunction with other weasel words to make an advertisement claim. According to the author, the main reason for the use of these weasel words is to fill the gap between the advertiser’s real and declared aims. This is evident in the claim “with theses words, I can sell you anything” Another reason for the use of these weasel words is because they promise much; which is true in the case of unfinished words. Unfinished words depend on the viewer to finish them, and as such can be said to be ambiguous. “Unfinished words can also be joined with powerful visual images on television to appear to be making significant promises about the effectiveness of a product, without really making any clear promises” (Goshgarian, Gary 2010) These reasons are not good enough, although they can be said to be of relevance to the thesis. This is because resorting to inflated language in order to give importance to insignificant claims is sneaky. Such statements always “appear to say one thing when in fact they say the opposite or nothing at all” (Goshgarian, Gary 2010) The evidence provided by the author about this is accurate and sufficiently credible. It addresses the problem of adverts that try to convince the buyer that the product the advertiser is pushing is really different from other similar products. As the author states, a visit to the supermarket will prove that there are a lot of products displaying the words ‘new’ and ‘improved’. A product is considered to be a new product for about six months after entering the market, but a product can be labeled new if there has been a material functional change in the product. The evidence also clearly shows that the words ‘material functional change’ are very ambiguous, as only the manufacturer can prove that there has been a change in the product. So when the manufacturer states that the product has undergone such a change and is not challenged about the validity of the claim, then the manufacturer can get away with the claim. Grounds This topic discusses linguistic theory, as it tends to bear on the analysis of linguistic data. The concept displays the main arguments hierarchically, and the given examples provide insight into the implementation of the concepts involved in this topic. In the section about combining weasel words, the author states that “most adverts don’t fall neatly into one particular category or another because they use variety of devices and words, and so are used in combination to make ad claims” as in the case of the coffee advert that makes use of unfinished words like more, flavor and body, all in one phrase. These kinds of phrases can be termed ambiguous because their meaning is entirely subjective. These words might mean one thing to one person and another thing to someone else. Some product ads also claim to taste good or taste better, but the question here is what do they taste better than? Another argument or line of reasoning that supports the claim that insincerity is a great enemy of clear language is that the use of the word ‘virtually’ is quite deceptive. As the author observes, whenever the word ‘virtually’ appears in an ad, the claim will revert to its real meaning if one translates the word following ‘virtually’ into its direct meaning. “Thus, a television set that is labeled as being virtually trouble free translates into a television set that is, in fact, not trouble free. A virtually fool-proof operation of an appliance becomes an operation that is not, in fact, foolproof, and a product that is labeled as virtually never needing service becomes a product that is not ,in fact, service free” (Goshgarian, Gary 2010) Warrant The connection between the second reason and the claim is that unfinished words and weasel words are very close to insincerity, and thus are inimical to clear language. The use of unfinished words is also misleading, as most people may not be able to understand what the manufacturer is saying, or even come close to understanding it. For example, the Ford Company advert that proclaims that a car manufactured by Ford is 700 percent quieter; but doesn’t say what it is quieter than; is quite misleading. The company later declared that it meant the vehicle was 700 percent quieter inside than outside but then, how was the general public to know that was the intended meaning? Some of the evidence provided by the author to support this reasoning includes: Evidence #1: The fact that the word ‘help’ qualifies everything following it. Evidence #2: Help is used in combination with action-verb weasel words like ‘fight’ and ‘control’ because it is an extremely useful weasel word. Evidence #3: Some adverts claim that the product will help you to keep young-looking, but then many other things will help keep you young-looking like good nutrition, exercise, rest, and a facelift. The advert does not state that the product will keep a person young, but young-looking. Thus the language here is not very clear, as a person might look young to some people, but old to others. The third reason is that unfinished words depend on the reader to finish them by providing the words that have been left out on purpose. The connection between the claim and the third reason is the fact that each person fills in the gap in the claim differently, thus making the product to become all thing to all people, while not promising anything at all. The evidence supporting this third warrant includes: Evidence #1: Pall Mall cigarettes being advertised as a longer, finer and milder smoke, without stating clearly what they were longer, finer and milder than. Evidence #2: An aspirin advert claiming that the brand is twice as much of the pain reliever than that most recommended by doctors. Evidence #3: An ad that states that the product Magnavox gives more, but doesn’t say what it gives more of. Evidence #4: A toothpaste that says it helps prevent cavities, not that the product will actually prevent cavities. Evidence #5: A liquid cleaner advert that states that the cleaner helps keep the home germ free, but doesn’t say whether the cleaner actually kills germs or not, or which germs it kills. Evidence #6: Products that say they will help in controlling symptoms with regular usage, but in effect are saying that the product will only assist in the control and not the elimination or curing of the symptoms or the causes. Refutation The first objection against the author’s claim here will be that parity claims are safe because they are legal and supported by a number of court decisions, although beyond parity claims, weasel words arise. The word ‘help’ which means ‘aid’ or ‘assist’ is being used indiscriminately, because it tends to qualify the words following it. Most times, strong, dramatic words are used after weasel words like help; thereby insuring that the viewer forgets the initial word and begins to concentrate on the dramatic claim. Moreover “although the advertiser wrote the advert, he is not held responsible for the claims read into them” (Goshgarian, Gary 2010) The unstated moral judgment in this topic is that the laws designed to prevent untruthful and fraudulent claims in advertising are being bent and broken. The author believes that it is imperative for advertisers to become more careful in their adverts and claims made by them about their products. This topic is thought-provoking, as it explores the various interconnections between language and advertising and critically examines the effects of language on culture and also how culture constructs and affects language. The writer offers some refutations including the observation that these misleading statement sound nice, but they are meaningless until you fill in the claim with your own words, the words which the product advertiser did not use. He goes on to accommodate objections by also citing the use of language by government officials to exploit and manipulate. Although the author remains close to language use in the language of advertisers, he succeeds in alerting a reader to the special power and sneakiness of weasel words. Summary The author has made use of various analogies from everyday life in explaining the concepts of language that many people might find perplexing. As the author observes, insincerity is the great enemy of clear language. When there is a gap between ones real and ones declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhaustive idioms. Language is regarded as a communication tool. Just as common tools like spades and hammers have function and form, so also language possesses functions and form. Simple analogy can be very effective in understanding a lot of features common to human language. This approach is also effective for communication of complex language material at various levels. References Goshgarian, Gary (2010) Exploring Language. New York: Addisin, Wesly, Longman. Toulmin, S. (1964) . The Uses of Argument. New York: Cambridge University Press. Read More