adverts aimed at men in the 1920s 60s
TRANSCRIPT
A C O M P A R I S O N B E T W E E N 1 9 5 0 S A N D M O D E R N T E X T S
ADVERTS AIMED AT MEN
ORIGINAL TEXT Cataphoric referencePotential
pun? (‘Breaking
news’)
Neologism
Stage structure,
instructions for simplicity
Synthetic PersonalisationAlliteration
Graphology; focuses on ‘handsome
look’
ImperativeAlliterationSibilance
(Similar to ‘New tech’)Synthetic personalisation
RhymeSpecialist lexis
RepetitionImperative
Expert opinionGraphology – Illustration
Graphology – IllustrationOrder of precedence
Elevated lexisElevated lexis
SIMILARITIES TO MODERN TEXTS
• Synthetic personalisation (use of 2nd person pronoun ‘your’) • ‘Shaving News’ technique – ‘new technology’• Jargon (pos. neologism) ‘COROSHAVE’ • Instructions, imperative structure ‘Wash- wet
face’• Influential power, convincing that this product is
the best • Cataphoric references – ‘shaving news’ • In the second text, elevated lexis (‘Exhilarating’)
DIFFERENCES TO MODERN TEXTS
• Alliteration often seen as cliché (‘Superwhipped for super shaves!’)• Modern focus on ‘sexy’ look – not on ‘handsome’• Exclamative sentences likely to be interpreted as
patronizing in modern adverts (‘SHAVE…!’) • In the second text, high focus on language rather
than image.
HYPOTHESIS
•Advertisements aimed at men will have changed language devices over time.
COMPARATIVE TEXT (1)
Modern advert,
taken from Men’s Health
magazine
List of 3 (cadence)Simple sentences
Percentage Authenticity, modern advertising
‘A place’ - Metaphor
AlliterationAbstract NounActive verbs
RepetitionElevated lexis
Colloquial
COMPARATIVE TEXT (2)Imperative
ImperativeList of three -
cadence
Expert opinion
Heavier focus on image,
possible sexist as using
women to sell product
Rhetorical Question
METHODOLOGY
• We used Google images and http://www.advertisingarchives.co.uk/en/category/show_list_page.html provided us with a wide variety of advertisements aimed at men throughout different time periods. • Men’s Health magazine provided us with the
comparative text we chose, though many of the ads consisted of vary little language and were mostly just images with a logo. This in itself could show how advertisement language has evolved.
LEXIS
1950s Texts• Text 2 uses much
elevated lexis (e.g. exhilarating’ ect) and specialist lexis (e.g. ‘abdominal’)in order to sell their product. This is because they wish to convince the audience (Influential power) that this product is new, proven and high tech.
Modern Texts• Both texts use ‘expert
opinion’ to convince their audience. They use elevated lexis (such as ‘clinically proven’) though less than the earlier texts.
GRAMMAR
1950s Texts• The second text in
particular uses long, complex sentences in order to descriptively sell their product. E.g. ‘Massage is the key - massage of the vital muscles of the abdomen, on whose strength and tone your figure, carriage and digestion depend.’
Modern Texts• The first test uses very
simple, short sentences as though written in note form. E.g. ‘Helps minimise the look of fine lines, helps firm up the skin’.
SEMANTICS
Some words relating specifically to women or
men
SEMANTICS
Due to lack of text this didn’t work so
well…
DISCOURSE STRUCTURE
1950s Texts• The second text uses a lot more
text to convince it’s audience. It is also similar to modern day texts which use ‘expert opinions’. It may be significant that over time, we have changed who these people are; we are more likely to be attracted to products which are used by celebrities.
Modern Texts
GRAPHOLOGY
1950s Texts• These have less
complex graphological features due to the time period – they use illustrations though rely more on their language choices to sell their product.
Modern texts• Often have very little
writing and rely more heavily on an image to sell their product.
PRAGMATICS
1950s Texts• In this time period it is likely
that it was more unacceptable for men to act feminine, and therefore invest in grooming products. They therefore sell their products as more masculine and necessary, though the second text uses ‘men and women’ as the order of precedence. There is, however, less of a focus on female attraction than the modern texts.
Modern Texts• In recent times
advertisements aimed at men encourage grooming products. The second is somewhat sexist as it used graphology as its main influential feature, advertising female attraction.
CONCLUSION
• We found that our non-directional hypothesis that adverts aimed at men will have changed language devices over time was correct, though we also found that some devices remained the same. • One major feature of change was the amount of
text used.• There were possible indications of sexism, though
not enough evidence in the 4 short advertisements analysed.
EVALUATION
• If we were to conduct the research again, we would refine our hypothesis to be more specific to allow for more detailed research.• We would also choose advertisements which
include much more text, though it may be best to avoid adverts altogether due to the modern focus on image.
OTHER TEXTS
OTHER TEXTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Google images • Bing images• http://
www.advertisingarchives.co.uk/en/category/show_list_page.html• The Times Digital Archive