marketing menopause: an analysis of how the marketing of premarin changed as social perception of...
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M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |1
Marketing Menopause: An Analysis of How the Marketing of Premarin Changed
as Social Perception of Menopause Changed
Anika Reza
Carleton University
LALS 5124 A
Lynne Young
December 7, 2009
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |2
__________________________________________________________________ Abstract
This paper analyzes how Premarin, a prescription menopausal drug, was first marketed towards doctors in the 1940’s and how it constructed the menopausal patient as an abnormal deficient creature. In the 1950’s Premarin took on a glamorous image to justify its high cost and in the 1960’s, with publication of Feminine Forever, the menopausal woman was constructed to be a nuisance to her husband and the greater society while present day Premarin ads obscure their ideological construction of the menopausal women as helpless through synthetic personalization. This paper aims to show that the discourse within the Premarin ads, and their construction of menopause and the menopausal women, are reflections of the ideological constructs of its time. I will use Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (SFL) to describe the text and Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to explain and interpret the data. O’Toole’s Multimodal Analysis will be used to analyze the visuals to see if they work cohesively with the text or if it creates dissonance. _____________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Though this paper is focused on Premarin, the number one recommended menopausal
drug on the market (McCrea, 2003) and its marketing strategy, it’s impossible to talk about a
menopausal drug without talking about the medicalization of menopause, which then created the
market for such drugs. The term medicalization refers to treating a natural process as if it were a
medical condition requiring intervention. Schneider and Conrad (1980) argue that the “process of
medicalization has both a cultural resonance and an organizational form” and the “proper study”
of medicalization “requires careful attention to specific historical events and their participants”
(p. 3-8; as quoted in Bell, 2003, p. 43). Therefore by looking at historical events, and how
menopause was regarded by Western cultures, there emerges a pattern that points to a shift from
viewing menopause as a natural bodily transition to one as a “deficiency disease” that needs to
be “cured”. Historically, menopause was often framed as a natural and positive life event for
women who, after years of giving birth, taking care of the children, the family and dealing with
monthly menstrual pain, could finally leave all of that behind and focus on themselves. “After a
certain number of years, woman lays aside those functions with which she has been endowed for
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |3
the perpetuation of the species, and resumes once more that exclusively individual life which has
been hers when a child”, so wrote George Napheys in his 1869 book The Physical Life of
Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife, and Mother (as quoted in Seamen, 2003, p. 9). The social
shift from viewing menopause as a natural period of adjustment to one of deficiency can be
traced to the development of estrogen, which was ironically discovered in the process of
isolating sex hormones in the hopes of curing male impotence (McCrea, 2003, p. 228). Thus the
“cure” for menopause, an event tied intrinsically with the female reproductive cycle, had a very
masculine issue motivated origin. Furthermore, the “cure” was developed before the “disease”
was “discovered” which brings into question the motivation behind labeling menopause a
hormone (estrogen) “deficiency” condition.
Estrogen was developed in several forms through the years and the very earliest ones
were from ovarian extracts (in 1896). Subsequently there was development of isolated estrone
from pregnant women’s urine in the late 1920’s and a synthetic form of estrogen was later
developed in 1932. Finally in the late 1930’s Premarin was developed by Ayerst Laboratories in
Canada and was approved by the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) in the States in 1942 for the
elevation of menopausal symptoms and was then released into the prescription market. Premarin
was derived from ‘pregnant mares’ urine’ as was the name (McCrea, 2003, p. 228; Seaman,
2003, p. 15-17). This paper will first discuss the theoretical frameworks through which it is
operating and will then discuss the methodologies to be used in analyzing the selected data after
which the analysis will follow and the paper will conclude with the discussion and conclusion.
This paper aims to trace and analyze how the menopausal drug Premarin was marketed to the
public and show how the marketing changed as public perception of menopause changed. The
data consists of Premarin ads from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and present day (2009) and the analysis
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will show how Premarin was first marketed solely towards doctors, how it then acquired a
glamorous image (to justify the high price), to how it was then marketed towards the male
population as a one stop solution for their nagging wives, and to the present where Premarin is
marketed through Direct to Consumer (DTC) marketing and synthetic personalization. The
analysis will reveal how women were almost completely excluded from the intended audience of
the early Premarin marketing thus stripping them of agency in regards to decision making about
their body and health. Present day marketing strategies are dramatically different from the past
with ads now addressing the consumer directly however the difference may be the medium and
not the message. The analysis will reveal that often “the interests behind an ideology may remain
the same, but its immediate content…[may] not. The parties…deploy different arguments in
relation to constantly changing circumstances” (Philo, 2007, p. 181) and the circumstances of
2009 are dramatically different from the 50’s and 60’s however the analysis will show much of
the ideology present in the Premarin ads of the past are present in today’s. Women are still
constructed as lacking true agency in the decision-making process regarding their health.
Theoretical Framework
Norman Fairclough, one of the leading figures in the field of critical discourse analysis
(CDA), states on his University profile page that much of his research is “based upon the
theoretical claim that discourse is an element of social life which is dialectically interconnected
with other elements, and may have constructive and transformative effects on other elements”
(n.d). Thus discourse is shaped by, and in turn shapes, other social factors such as social values,
beliefs, power relations and ideology. Therefore a text will have within it embedded structures
which reflect the values, beliefs and ideology of the discourse within which it operates and such
a discourse will then give insight into the values, beliefs and ideology of the society within
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |5
which it operates. Using Fairclough’s understanding of text, discourse and social operations I
hypothesized that the types of representations of values I noticed in Premarin ads from the 40’s,
50’s and 60’s were a reflection of the values shared by the greater society of the time. From
reading the texts and looking at the images of the ads, before performing formal analysis, I could
gather a general sense that there was a devaluation of the menopausal experience and the female
aging process. To ground this initial hypothesis and find evidence of such an ideology within the
text I used M.A.K Halliday’s theoretical framework of systemic functional linguistics (SFL).
Halliday has a “useful descriptive and interpretive framework for viewing language as a
strategic, meaning-making resource” (Eggins, 2005, p. xiv) and meaning is expressed in three
simultaneous strands (ideational, interpersonal, textual metafunctions) that are expressed in
clause structures (Eggins, 2005, p. 2). This paper will focus on the ideational metafunction to see
which participants are associated with what processes to show who has agency and who doesn’t.
The interpersonal metafunction will also be used but mostly for contrastive purposes between the
earlier Premarin ads and the present day Premarin ad and the textual metafunction will only be
used to provide information the ideational analysis cannot; further explanation of this under the
methodology section. Butt D. and R. Fahey, S. Feez, S. Spinks and C. Yallop are all scholars
also working within SFL and some of their explanations and examples of analysis are used to
further inform the analysis.
As stated above my initial observation of the problematic values represented in Premarin
ads led me to believe they were representative of the dominant ideology of their time, based on
Fairclough’s statement that “discourse is an element of social life” which shapes, and in turn is
shaped by, social structures and ideology. SFL allowed me to analyze the texts to see if indeed
these observations could be grounded through textual support. The SFL analysis provided the
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description and examples now further CDA analysis is needed to provide the explanation and
interpretation. Philo (2007) states that Fairclough through his CDA works posits that discourse
“is a social force which has a central role in what is constructed as 'real' and therefore what is
possible. It determines how the world can be seen and what can be known and done within it.
Discourse is thus crucial in explaining how the social subject is positioned and limited” (p. 178).
The limiting of the female social subject within the Premarin ads from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s is
very troubling given the fact that they are supposed to be the target users. Clearly such a strategy
assumes women have no real dominion over their own bodies and it is the doctors and husbands
in their lives that will determine if Premarin is right for them therefore they do not need to be
addressed. From this theoretical framework I will analyze four representative Premarin ads from
the above mentioned decades to show how the discourse represented in the ads were shaped by
the social conceptualization of menopause of the time. According to Fairclough the discourse
would in turn have reinforced (if the same view) the social view on menopause or would have
had transformative effects (if opposing view) on the social view. The scope of this paper doesn’t
allow for an in-depth analysis that may begin to tease apart what affected what (ads influenced
society or society influenced ads) therefore there will only be an emphasis on the fact that there
was a correlation between how menopause was represented in the ads and how it was viewed by
society. A purely textually based theoretical framework would not suffice since images are a
prominent mode of communication in ads. However the space constraint of this paper will not
allow for an in-depth Multimodal Analysis therefore O’Toole’s Multimodal Analysis Tools will
be used in a “light” visual analyses to see what information is being conveyed through the
images and if they work cohesively with the text or if they create dissonance.
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Methodology
There are three main methodologies being used which are SFL, CDA and Multimodal
Analysis. While SFL reveals the structures of the texts and provides a description of the
discourse CDA is used to connect these descriptions with greater social concerns such as power
relations, ideological structures and with how language is being used to achieve certain things.
The images in the ads are analyzed through Multimodal Analysis.
Systemic Functional Linguistics
Halliday’s SFL methodology, as explained and exampled in Eggins (2007), will be used
to give structural descriptions of all clauses. Three layers of structural description is possible;
ideational, interpersonal and textual. My Analysis will focus on the ideational and interpersonal
and textual information will be included only when ideational tools are not sufficient in
describing a certain word. Because there won’t be any in-depth interpersonal and textual analysis
they will be collapsed with the ideational analysis. What I mean by collapsing is that Eggins
(2007) examples of the three layered structural descriptions of clauses are as follows:
As for Diana, she has donated blood 36 times
As for Diana,
she
has
donated
blood
36 times Adjunct:
circumstance Subject
Finite Predicator Complement Complement
RESIDUE… MOOD …RESIDUE
Circ: Matter
Actor
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Extent Topical THEME RHEME
While my version of the same clause will look like this:
As for Diana,
she
has
donated
blood
36 times
Circ: Matter
Actor
Finite
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Extent
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Therefore I include interpersonal or textual information only when the ideational cannot describe
certain functions. Butt et. al’s explanations and examples of experiential metafunction was used
to supplement Halliday’s, especially explanations of embedded clauses and Qualifiers.
Critical Discourse Analysis
How participants are depicted can be analyzed by looking at which participants are the
agents of what processes and how the circumstances differ according to participants. Who has
power in each discourse will be answered through the CDA question, “who is acting on whom
and, therefore, has power” (Young & Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 26). Fairclough (1993) states there is
an “apparent democratization of discourse which involves the reduction of overt markers of
power asymmetry between people of unequal institutional power” (p. 98), which goes to show
that modern society in general liked to believe there was less inequality than before. This led to
what Fairclough terms “synthetic personalization” which is the “simulation of private, face-to-
face discourse, in public mass-audience discourse” (p. 98). Fairclough says this was due to the
spread of conversational discourse from the private domain to the public domain thus blurring a
line between the two. An analysis of synthetic personalization can thus reveal how a corporation
attempts to lessen the visibility of the asymmetry of power between them and the consumer.
Synthetic personalization includes things such as addressing the consumer directly through the
use of the second person pronoun to give the consumer a sense of individuality.
Multimodal Analysis
The multimodal analysis will be conducted using O’Toole’s tools of analysis as they are
explained in The Power of Language. O’Toole’s functions are called Representational which is
equivalent to Halliday’s Ideational, Modal (Interpersonal) and Compositional (Textual). They
work to describe visual modes of communication just like Halliday’s are used for texts.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |9
Context
Medicine, in every society, has the power to define what is normal or abnormal and it has
the authority to either recognize or reject an illness. The recognition or ‘discovery’ of an illness
is rarely an apolitical move, as the medical industry would like us to believe. Medicalization
occurs when a problem is conceptualized through medical vocabulary thus its given symptoms
and descriptions. Bell (1990) talks about how medical ‘discoveries’ are published in professional
journal by members of the profession and the fate of the ‘discovery’ depends on the status of the
author, the journal and the scientific ‘value’ of the evidence and research. Once a disease is
recognized and enters the medical books the next task is to find a cure and since the invention of
synthetic estrogen occurred before the medicalization of menopause, menopause the disease
already had a ready-made cure (Bell, 1990; McCrea, 2003). Because menopause is a gendered
subject associated with reproduction, femininity, sexuality and aging the medicalization of it puts
a once considered natural female aging process into the medical domain which was dominated
by, and to some degree still is, by men. Thus leaving the conceptualization and treatment of a
feminine condition to men within a society that was not overly sympathetic towards females.
The Data
The data analyzed in this paper are four Premarin ads. One is from the 1940’s, 1950’s,
1960’s and one from present day, 2009. The ads are representative of the overall mode and
theme of Premarin advertising of each decade. The ads from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s were
originally printed in medical journals while the 2009 ad was print-screened from the Premarin
website; www.premarin.com. The advertisements are included in the Appendix along with a
Word version of the texts in the ads (some are difficult to read otherwise).
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The Analysis
Targeting Doctors’ Notepads—1940’s
It speaks of peace that comes after strife,
Of the rest He sends to the hearts He tried,
Of the calm that follows the stormiest life—
God’s eventide. (McCrae, 2002)
In the 1940’s and early 1950’s “full-page ad campaigns for estrogen products that ran
repeatedly in the pages of medical journals often depicted menopausal women as mercurial and
capricious” (Watkins, 2007, p. 58). The ads came in two varieties: showcasing either depressed
and frayed looking women (a woman with her head bowed and shoulders slumped) or calm-
looking women (one knitting in front of the fireplace). The former was supposed to represent
menopausal women before they took Premarin and the second set were supposed to showcase
the “well-being” that came over them after they took Premarin. Watkins (2007) says the
intention was to “convince potential clients—all physicians, of course, since estrogen was sold
by prescription only—to order Premarin for menopausal women” (p. 60). The ad analyzed here
was published in 1948 and is typical of the time (See Appendix A).
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It showcases the profile of a woman with her face in the shadow and her eyes are obscured thus
she is not engaging the viewer. Her back is lit up by what may be the fireplace or a lamp (not in
the illustration). Her right hand is clutching something and though it is not clear, it is likely that
she is knitting, an action associated with middle age and relaxation. Her face is impassive
(Ayerst McKenna may call it “calm”) and she plays a prominent role in the image since she is in
the forefront and center. She is seated near a window and the vertical and horizontal lines of the
windoe panes bring the viewers eyes to the woman. The title of the ad reads “The Calm of
Eventide” and this calmness is reflected in the face of the illustrated woman. The epigraph at the
beginning of the paragraph works to illustrate the exophoric reference of the title. It was a
common and understood perspective on life in the 1940’s that the “calm of eventide” came after
an “honest day’s labour”. The ad utilizes this common concept but changes it slightly to fit their
motive thus day is correlated with life, eventide is correlated with middle age and strife is
correlated with reproductive work. Thus in life, after having completed their reproductive work,
women deserved “the calm of eventide” in their middle age. As the ad stated “relaxation…
should come with middle age”. But what to do when the well-deserved calm is disrupted by
menopause? Why, prescribe an estrogenic therapy of course!
The text in the Premarin ad begins with a marked theme (see Appendix A.1):
It is somewhat tragic that so many women must experience a menopause that is an ordeal
with the “it” being the marked theme which is a Cataphoric reference to “so many women must
experience a menopause that is an ordeal”. The marked theme allows the emphasis to be put on
the value judgment that this is a “tragic” event rather than the fact that women experience
menopause. What is interesting is the fact that “tragic” is then tempered by the adjective
“somewhat” which devalues it thus implying that it is a “tragic” event but only to a certain
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degree. This type of construction reflects the later, more blatant, ads that constructed the
menopausal woman as simultaneously a victim and a perpetrator. Women were thought to be
simultaneously the victim of menopause as well as the agent of misery for their husbands and
society at large due to her menopausal symptoms. Thus the menopausal female deserves some
sympathy for her ordeal but not too much. The text goes on to say that the “menopause that is an
ordeal” deprives women of the “physical and mental relaxation which should come with middle
age” thus a relaxed middle age experience is stated to be the norm, emphasized with the modal
“should”, therefore any discomfort felt during middle age (i.e. menopause symptoms) is
abnormal. Physical or mental abnormality is medically treated in Western society thus any
deviation from “normal” brings the phenomenon into the medical realm. Having established the
fact that any physical or mental discomfort in the middle age is abnormal, the next sentence
presents a “solution” for this “problem”; estrogenic therapy:
Fortunately, estrogenic therapy can be instrumental not only in alleviating the physical distress
but also in restoring more normal mental outlook (emphasis my own)
The construction of menopausal symptoms as abnormal is achieved through using the adjective
“normal” to describe the mental outlook that will be restored. The word restored implies going
back to an original state or condition and since the original condition is “free of physical
distress” and includes a “normal mental outlook” it in effect paints menopause as harmful. The
clause has no material process with “alleviating” and “restoring” being part of the circumstantial
information included to explain how estrogenic therapy could be “instrumental” thus it is the fact
that estrogenic therapy is instrumental that gets emphasized. This may seem to be at odds with
usual marketing practices where products are routinely put in actor positions of material
processes however these ads were targeting physicians and not the general public therefore a
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more sedate journal-like voice was adapted to impart a sense of matter-of-factness. This is
confirmed by Watkins’ (2007) observation that doctors were directly mailed information
brochures by Ayerst and she quotes a 1948 article as saying, “Such pamphlets, while providing
succinct clinical reviews and emphasizing the multiple commercial forms of estrogen, are often
full of omissions” (p. 53). Watkins (2007) goes on to say, “since the substance of these mailings
was often replicated in the published advertisements, in condensed form,…[the] pharmaceutical
promotions can be gleaned from related ads” (p. 53). Furthermore most “physicians [in the
1940’s] treated…menopause as a complex process, only part of which was rooted in women’s
glands” (Walkins, 2007, p. 35) therefore by saying estrogenic therapy was “instrumental” in
elevating menopausal symptoms Premarin was working within understood modes of thinking
about menopause at the time. The ad then goes on to state that Premarin is the ideal form of
estrogenic therapy:
[The many published clinical reports on “Premarin”] provide convincing evidence of its
therapeutic effectiveness.
By having “The many published clinical reports” as the Modifier of the Head “Premarin” in the
above-bracketed Nominal Group it becomes unarguable. If a question tag is placed after the
sentence then we find that the element that can be argued is whether it provides convincing
evidence or not, not if there are many published clinical reports: The many published clinical
reports on “Premarin” provide convincing evidence of its therapeutic effectiveness, doesn’t it?
Thus the text dictates truths and controls what can and cannot be questioned. The nominalization
also obscures agency, we don’t know who published these reports therefore we don’t know who
is providing these “convincing evidence[s]”.
The target audience is made more explicit when the text says “your patient”:
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“Whether your patient is in the early menopause or the late climacteric…”
and the theme of the eventide returns as the sentence goes on to say, “…the “Calm of Eventide”
is possible on attainment by means of “Premarin” therapy”. Thus the text achieves cohesion and
coherence by tying the proposed benefits of Premarin with the established social idea of the
“Calm of Eventide”. Coherence occurs through exophoric reference, which allows the audience
to link middle age with the eventide. Cohesion occurs within the text through the repetition of
the “Calm of Eventide”, which the visual supports and extends in terms of meaning, and through
the use of vocabulary chains, for example “physical and mental relaxation” standing in for the
“calm”.
In summary the Premarin ad of the 1940’s were targeted towards doctors. They aimed to
show that menopausal symptoms that created any sort of discomfort was not “normal” therefore
needed to be treated with estrogenic therapy which was an “instrumental” cure and that “many
published clinical reports on” Premarin had declared it to be effective therefore Premarin should
be prescribed to “your patient”. The marketing strategy of the ad reflected the social construction
of menopause in the 1940’s when doctors were the sole source of information on drugs and when
doctors had just begun to believe that menopausal symptoms were primarily, if not solely, due to
estrogen deficiency.
The Glamorous Menopausal Woman—1950’s
Premarin was five times as expensive as the competing synthetic products of the 1950’s
therefore Ayerst, makers of Premarin, needed to convince doctors, and through them their
patients, that Premarin was worth paying the higher price. They began what Seaman (2003) calls
a “snooty campaign” which associated the drug with glamour and sophistication to try to justify
the cost, much like designer labels do today. The campaign worked and doctors and patients
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |15
alike started to believe Premarin was a better product because it cost more.“Madeline Gray [a
prominent writer on menopause] advised her 1950’s readers that if they could swing it, ten cents
a pill for Premarin, as compared to two cents for competing estrogens, was worth it…snob
appeal has been a hallmark of company strategy ever since” (Seamen, 2003, p. 19). To give
Premarin the feel of glamour and snob appeal “the ads in this time period [started to
depict]…menopausal patients as relatively young women, with blonde or brunette hair and trim
figures” (Watkins, 2007, p. 59); many of who looked closer to puberty than menopause. Watkins
(2007) says the representation was deliberate and that Ayerst was attempting to connect
Premarin therapy with youthfulness. The ad analyzed from this decade features a young blond
woman pulling on white gloves as she smiles at someone out of the viewer’s line of vision.
(See Appendix B)
There are bright defocused lights behind her that look like the ones at the cinema halls of
yesteryear or those in front buildings hosting a Broadway play. The gloves, her hair and makeup
combined with the idea that she may have just come out from having watched a play adds to the
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glamorous feeling of the picture. Her smile is flirtatious and since her gaze leads off the picture
we don’t know who she is interacting with therefore the viewer is free to fill the slot; husband,
lover, friends, family. The picture also captured an action, she is pulling on her gloves, thus it
gives the sense that she is an active individual enjoying a night out on the town. Because she
basically takes up the full frame and she is the only one in focus the viewer’s eyes are
automatically drawn to her face and secondly to the white gloves which are set off against the
black backdrop of the coat. The text is much shorter then the 1940’s therefore the image plays an
even larger role in conveying the message. Ads were still targeted towards doctors since they
“continued to control not only the patient’s treatment but also the degree to which she
understood the nature and complexities of that treatment, since only the doctor was privy to the
estrogen labeling information provided by the manufacturer” (Watkins, 2007, p. 27). This is
important to note since these ads were meant to convince the doctor that Premarin was indeed a
glamorous pill thus they would in turn pass this message on to the patient. It seems doctors
would in general be more resistant to such marketing and modern marketing teams would likely
have targeted glamour magazines that women frequently read to try to convey such an image.
However as statistics show the campaign worked and it may have been in part to the fact that
though the images showed glamorous looking women the text in these ads remained sedate. The
1952 ad titled “Premarin in the Menopause” in effect has one main sentence:
Complete relief of symptoms was obtained by most menopausal patients, Perloff reported, and the
greatest percentage who “expressed clearcut preferences for any drug designated “Premarin”
The first clause is a passive construction with the Goal “Complete relief” in the subject position
thus giving in the emphasis. O'Dowd (1998) says Halliday claims that the “passive construction
recasts the agent as a circumstance rather than a protagonist in an event” (p. 110) and this is
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evident in this passive construction where the agent, “most menopausal patients”, of the unmarked
form becomes the circumstance of the marked form, “by most menopausal patients”. This
construction works to put the emphasis on the result “Complete relief of symptoms” rather than
the patient creating a devaluation of the patient experience by putting more emphasis on the
results. “Perloff reported” refers to William H. Perloff who was a doctor and he conducted tests
with menopausal drugs in the early 1950’s. The ad, by referring to him as just Perloff, was
confident that their specific audience of physicians would know exactly whom they were referring
to. Though there is a disconnect between the visual mode and the textual mode of communication
it may work to the advantage of Premarin. That is because people tend to be more conscious and
wear of what information is being communicated textually thus the textual mode of worked to
reassure the physician audience that the ad was indeed a serious medical one aiming to provide
further information on Premarin. Individuals tend to be less critical of visual modes of
communication thus it’s easier to introduce an idea that way that the audience may otherwise have
been resistant to. Thus Premarin is able to acquire the glamorous look through visual modes while
retaining the trusts of their physician audience by keeping the textual construction the same.
In summary Premarin acquired a glamorous image in the 1950’s in order to justify their
higher cost by having young looking women in alluring shots showing them smiling and having
fun. Premarin kept their matter-of-fact like tone to their text in order to keep the physicians’ trust
and the construction of the sentence reveals that Premarin wanted to put greater emphasis on the
result of the tests Perloff conducted with menopausal drugs rather than the patient’s experience.
Harpies and Suffering Husbands—1960’s
I would like to launch into the subject of menopause by discussing its
effects on men. Menopause covers such a wide range of physical and
emotional symptoms that the implications are by no means confined to
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the woman. Her husband, her family, and her entire relationship to the
outside world are affected almost as strongly as her own body. Only in
this broader context can the problem of the menopause—as well as the
benefits of hormonal cure—be properly appreciated (Wilson, 1966; as
quoted in McCrea, 2003, p. 229)
And so begins a chapter of Robert A. Wilson’s influential book Feminine Forever
(published 1966) and this “broader context” he mentions becomes almost the sole context
through which menopausal drugs were sold in the 60’s. Watkins (2007) says, “Several of the ads
[in the 1960’s] suggested that a woman’s menopausal miseries might affect other lives besides
her own” (p. 60) which led to a sort of vilification of the menopausal female. The ad that I
analyze from this decade is titled “Husbands, too, like Premarin” which reflects the social shift
from focusing on the discomfort women face during menopause to looking at the discomfort
women cause others when they are in the menopause. This was published early 1960’s:
(See Appendix C)
The text begins with a long nominal group with two Qualifiers embedded within it:
The physician [who puts a woman on “Premarin” [when she is suffering in the menopause]]
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“Physician” is the Head, everything after that is qualifying “The physician”. There is also a
Qualifier within the larger Qualifier that is qualifying the other Qualifier. The rankshifted
clause, “when she is suffering in the menopause” is qualifying “who puts a woman on
“Premarin””. This long nominal group with all its Qualifiers works to specify exactly what type
of physician “usually makes her [the menopausal woman] pleasant to live with” and it is one
who prescribes Premarin. This becomes an inalienable quality through rankshifting. Because the
ad is focused on the perspective of the husband, as evidenced by the title, and how his life can be
made better by putting his wife on Premarin the issue of women “suffering in the menopause” is
addressed in passing through a rankshifted clause. The husband’s suffering on the other hand is
highlighted in the next sentence:
It is no easy thing for a man to take the stings and barbs of business life, then to come home to
the turmoil of a woman “going through the change of life.”
Though “to take” is within the circumstance, when the sentence is read it makes it sound as if “to
take” is a material process thus giving the man an illusion of agency. Even if “to take” hadn’t
been within the circumstance it would still not be a true material process since “to take” is a
grammatical metaphor and the real process is actually a mental one to be at the receiving end of
stings and barbs. This illusionary agency leads to the real agency of the next clause of coming
home where the man is not greeted by a warm dinner already prepared but a woman “going
through the change of life”. By having the popular phrase in quotations the text recognizes it as a
popular phrase but more importantly it gives it a derisive feel. Premarin ads never shied away
from describing women “suffering in the menopause” thus it is an intentional and significant
thing that they use the euphemism in this particular case. The use of the euphemism works to
belittle the female menopausal experience in comparison with the male work place experience.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |20
The emphasis on the male perspective of menopause as opposed to the female one is reinstated
through the visual mode of communication. The image is of a couple on a boat, the viewers eyes
are drawn the man first due to his central location within the picture and the man is also gazing
strait at the viewer thus engaging them. The various lines within the picture leads to the man
such as the horizontal lines created by the boat, the diagonal lines of the ropes and the sale and
the vertical line created by another rope behind him, these also work to frame him. His bright red
shirt against the blueness of the water behind him also makes him standout and, though the
woman in the boat is not looking directly at him, because her gaze is in his general direction that
too helps to put him in the forefront and focus. The woman’s marginality is made obvious by her
placement in the in the picture to the one side and by the fact that she is looking away from the
viewer thus not engaging their interest. Remnants of the 1950’s glamour look remains, as the
boat is a sign of wealth and prosperity. As for processes and participants the physician is
frequently constructed in the position of the Agent causing something to happen such as causing
a woman to “begin estrogen replacement therapy with “Premarin””. That is also incidentally the
only time the woman was put in the Actor position and that was of a Material process that was
caused by the physician. Similarly even the man is not put in any Actor position except of the
process “to come” thus the most frequent Actors and Agents are the physician and inanimate
objects such as “estrogen therapy” and “sense of well-being”. Thus the power lays with the
physician and the drug Premarin and what it can do. Therefore both the man and the woman are
constructed to be at the mercy of the physician to one degree or another and their happiness and
physical and mental wellbeing rests on the doctor prescribing Premarin. If he does then “She is a
happy woman again—something for which husbands are grateful” and again the motivation lies
not so much in elevating menopausal symptoms in the women for her sake but for the sake of the
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |21
husband. This is problematic since the treatment of patients should be done with her best interest
in mind and not a third party’s. However the 1960’s ad is advocating and normalizing the view
brought forth in Robert A. Wilson’s book Feminine Forever, that women going through
menopause are a nuisance to their husband and society and so they should be put on estrogen
therapy as early as possible to combat this.
In summary the 1960’s saw a prominent figure by the name of Dr. Robert A. Wilson
come into the field of menopausal study and declare, in effect, that menopausal women were in a
state of “living decay” and that only estrogen therapy could save them. He also constructed the
idea of the menopausal female as nagging, bitter, shrewish and mean that makes the lives of their
husbands and everyone else around the miserable therefore if would almost be a public service to
put all middle aged women on estrogen drugs, preferably Premarin. This idea of menopause and
the menopausal female was then reflected in the Premarin ads of the time with a shift in the
intention behind why physicians should prescribe Premarin to menopausal women. The reason
went from, to elevate uncomfortable menopausal symptoms so women could enjoy the “calm of
eventide” to elevate uncomfortable menopausal symptoms so that women don’t make their
husband’s lives miserable thus women’s menopausal experience became devalued.
You Just Need a Friend—2009
The 2009 interactive Premarin ad (it is a video clip of a woman addressing visitors to the
website) is reflective of the society within which it operates. Ours is the information age where
information is disseminated not only textually but visually as well and the reason why it is
important is because, as Lemke (1998) says, orchestrated combinations of modes lead to new
meanings therefore there is a multiplication of meanings not simple addition (as cited in
Bateman, 2008, p. 2). Though the main visual mode is a video clip of a woman who introduces
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |22
herself as Kathy and addresses visitors, the background behind her is a static image showing five
middle aged women sitting around a couch looking at an album.
The still captured through print screen will be analyzed since, though it is a video clip, Kathy
hardly moves except to speak and shift around slightly (see Appendix D). Her demeanor and
facial expression remains the same throughout the clip therefore analyzing a screen-captured
image will not result in loss of information. Kathy plays a prominent role in the photo through
her prominent placement in the foreground and her gaze is directed towards the viewers thus
engaging them. Her shirt and dark jacket, the pleasant smile and the general well kept
appearance gives her an air of approachability and trustworthiness. The top horizontal line of the
dark wood table draws the viewer’s eyes from Kathy to the two women seated on the sofa near
Kathy’s shoulder. The two women’s gazes are directed at another middle-aged woman who is
holding an album. The two women’s gaze combined with the vertical like of the dark wood table
draws the viewer’s eyes to the opposing sofa where three women are seated, including the one
holding the album. Their gazes are directed towards the album and a combination of the gazes
and the bottom horizontal line of the dark wood table brings the viewers gaze back to Kathy. All
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |23
the women on the sofas are well dressed and smiling pleasantly and this visual works to multiply
the meaning of the text since they represent what happens to women after they take Premarin,
it’s a testimonial of sorts. Fairclough (1993) discusses the change in orders of discourse in
modern society and one such change is synthetic personalization which he says is the
“simulations of private, face to face, discourse in public mass-audience discourse” (p. 98) and
that is extremely prevalent in the 2009 Premarin ad. The discourse begins with “Hi I’m Kathy”
which simulates face-to-face conversation and the heavy use of the second person pronoun “you”
throughout the text significantly contributes to the process. Synthetic personalization works to
obscure “unequal institutional power” thus similar ideological constructions which stripped
women of agency in the ads of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s could operate with a new face; that of a
pleasant and friendly looking woman. There are fifteen clauses in the text in total, of which
seven have relational processes, six have material processes, one has behavioural process and
another has verbal process. There are no mental processes which is unusual since menopause is
as much an emotional shift as it is a physical phenomenon. The lack of mental processes
suggests the ad doesn’t want the consumer to think or feel but to do. They want the consumer to
talk to their doctors, to ask for Premarin and then to start to take Premarin. The first seven
clauses are all relational processes except one and they are all statements. This works to establish
the boundaries of Premarin reality by stating how and what is. A verbal process at one point
punctuates the relational processes: “we’ll talk about some of the common symptoms of
menopause” and that is halfway between a statement and a command since the modal “will” is
used instead of the “can”. Following the first seven clauses which works to establish the
Premarin reality of menopause, the next seven clauses are all material processes except one
which is a behavioural, “look”, which is still a half-way material process. This chunk of material
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |24
process clauses works to show Kathy’s helpfulness as she “shares” her stories and “shows” the
consumer where to go. She also says, “You’ll even meet some of my friends” in her effort to be
friendly and these are presumably the same friends that are visible behind her in the image.
“Meet” is one of the very few processes that the consumer is an agent of but I propose “meet”
can have a very passive connotation to it since when two parties meet it is possible to have a
passive party that gets introduced by an active party to a third party thus the passive party still
“meets” people but there may be next to no real material process going on thus the audience is in
a passive role. I say passive role because even with such clauses as, “We’ll do it together” and
“[we’ll] find some of the answers” where the consumer and Kathy share the Actor role it is clear
that Kathy is the true agent. She is stating with a high degree of certainty (through the modal
“will”) all the processes that will take place. The audience, female patients, are still constructed
as if they need guidance and that they may not be able to make good judgments on their own
about their own bodies which is something we saw in the earlier ads which assumed women
needed their doctor’s guidance and then their husband’s and now they need guidance from
“friends”.
The synthetic friendship constructed in the 2009 Premarin ad is just a thin coating of
veneer placed there to distract the audience from the fact that there is an imbalance of power.
Friendship usually implies a balance of power however the synthetic friendship developed by
Kathy towards the audience has a very skewed power balance. Kathy is in the speech role, she is
the one making all of the statements and she is the giver of information while the audience is in
the passive role of receiving the information. Kathy says, “I’m here to tell you you’re not alone”
by which she assumes the audience felt alone and that there is a void for her to fill, thus having a
“friendship” with the audience. This quasi friendship is authoritarian and would not work with a
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |25
strong minded happy audience therefore Kathy constructs the audience as “alone” and in need of
her help and guidance as she says, “I’ll be your guide”. She promises to share her experiences
and to “show how you can work with your doctor to choose the appropriate path for you”. Due to
the power imbalance the process “show” is actually the polite version of “tell” or “command”
since Kathy clearly feels she has “been there” therefore she knows what is best. Kathy
emphasizes doing things together several times in different ways and her desire to “guide” the
audience. Since Kathy is basically Premarin talking it’s not hard where all the guidance will
eventually take the audience but note that throughout her dialogue she never mentions Premarin
or estrogen therapy, this is to create a false sense of impartiality. She completes her dialogue by
saying, “after all it’s easier with friends” though the synthetic friendship is anything but true
friendship and is just an authoritarian voice masked beneath a friendly exterior.
In summary the 2009 Premarin ad utilizes what Fairclough calls synthetic personalization
and what I call synthetic friendship to mask an imbalance of power behind the democratizing
effect of “friendship”. By addressing the audience directly through greeting and by using the
second person the dialogue is able to make the audience feel like an individual and that is
something highly prized in modern Western culture. As Phillo (2007) had stated, “the interests
behind an ideology may remain the same, but its immediate content…[may] not” (p. 181) and
that is exactly what occurred with the modern Premarin ad. Sure doctors and husbands were not
longer working as mediators but the modern discourse still assumed women needed someone to
lean on and to ask advice from and this old construct got a new name: friend.
Discussion and Conclusion
Menopause is the eventual cessation of the menses when ovulation no longer occurs. The
reality of what menopause is does not change but how society conceptualizes and thinks about it
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |26
does. This paper analyzed how Premarin, a prescription menopausal drug, was first marketed
towards doctors in the 1940’s and how it constructed the menopausal patient as an abnormal and
estrogen deficient individual, which reflected 1940’s views on menopause and the menopausal
female. The targeting of doctors was also temporally based since in those days prescription drug
information was only released to the doctor therefore what drugs the patient took would be
decided almost solely by the doctor. In the 1950’s Premarin took on a glamorous image to
justify its higher than competition cost. This was achieved through glamorizing Premarin by
having young looking models in attractive poses represent what it meant to be on Premarin.
Though the image prominently showed the patient the textual structure was a different story. The
text put greater emphasis on the result of the tests conducted by Perloff rather than the patient’s
experience. This was achieved through the passive construction of the clause which put the Goal
in the subject position and the Actor in the Circumstance. Despite the dissonance between the
Premarin image as a glamorous menopausal drug and the serious tone of the text the
combination was a success and seen by the rise in prescription in the 50’s. Thus Premarin was
able to look glamorous as well as serious and trustworthy at the same time. The 1960’s saw the
publication of Dr. Robert A. Wilson’s Feminine Forever, which dramatically changed people
attitude towards menopause and the menopausal woman. Gone was the sympathetic
representation of women suffering from menopause that needed a doctor to rescue them replaced
with the idea of the shrewish menopausal wife that hasn’t taken her medication yet and it making
her husband’s life a hell. With most physicians of the 1960’s being male it was little wonder the
imagery won great sympathy among the doctors and were soon reflected in the ads of the time.
The Premarin ad analyzed here was titled “Husbands, too, Like Premarin” and the text
constructs the doctor as the hero who has the power to make the unpleasant menopausal wife into
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |27
a sedate middle aged woman by prescribing her Premarin and thus rescuing her husband from a
life of misery and pain. Thus the doctor could maker her “ a happy woman again—something for
which husbands [will be]…grateful”. The 2009 Premarin ads, with quite a few decades of
changes between it and the 60’s one, saw quite a few changes in mode and tactics. The modern
day ad used synthetic personalization to make the audience feel like an individual and a synthetic
friendship was constructed between Kathy and the audience. However the “friendship” was not
of equal power balance as Kathy only made statements and commands and never asked any
questions. She also took on the role of the guide as well as the mentor and friend to the audience
but these were put in place to obscure the true relationship between Kathy and the audience.
Kathy is just a Premarin advertisement tool therefore just another means through which they
could convince the public to buy their product. Though doctors of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s
presumably had the best intentions I can’t help but see a correlation between Kathy and the
doctors. The doctors were usually the only agents in the texts like Kathy and they both represent
knowledge, experience and guidance. Therefore though there were definite changes in marketing
schemes over the decades the role of the doctor had remained central until very recently thus in
response to this “loss” Premarin had created their own authority figure in the guise of a friend.
It would appear, as Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr said, “the more things change, the more they
remain the same”. Thus even with the evolving methods of marketing Premarin in order to meet
the reconceptualizations of menopause as time went on one method had apparently needed little
tweaking or changes, that is the central role of the doctor as the keeper and giver of medical
information. That is until social priority and agency changed and people wanted to feel more in
control and do their own research thus Premarin brought in Kathy, their solution to the modern
doctorless medical information gathering. Therefore “the more things change, the more they
remain the same”.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |28
Work Cited
Bateman, J. (2008). Analysing Multimodal Documents: A Foundation for the Systematic Analysis
of Multimodal Documents. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bell, S. E. (1990). Changing ideas: the medicalization of menopause. The meanings of
menopause: historical, medical, and cultural perspectives (pp. 43-62). Hillsdale: The
Analytic Press.
Eggins, S. (2005). Introduction to Systemic Function Linguistics (2nd ed.). New York:
Continuum.
Fairclough, N. (n.d.). Emeritus professor Norman Fairclough. Department of linguistics and
English language. Retrieved December 5, 2009, from http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/profil
Fairclough, N. (1993). Discourse and Social Change (New Ed ed.). London: Polity Press.
McCrae, J. (2002, July 8). Eventide - Canadian poetry archive. Welcome to the library and
archives Canada website. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from http://www.lac-
bac.gc.ca/canvers-bin/entry?entry_nbr=1367&page_rows=10
McCrea, F. B. (2003). The politics of menopause. Social problems across the life course (pp.
227-242). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
O'Dowd, E. M. (1998). Prepositions and Particles in English: A Discourse-functional Account.
New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |29
O'Halloran, K. L. (2006). Multimodal discourse analysis: systemic-functional perspectives
(Open Linguistics) (New Ed ed.). New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Philo, G. (2007). Can discourse analysis successfully explain the content of media and
journalistic practice. Journalism Studies, 8(2), 175-196.
���Sievert, L. L. (2006). Menopause: a biocultural perspective (Studies in Medical Anthropology)
(1 ed.). New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
Watkins, E. S. (2007). The Estrogen Elixir: A History of Hormone Replacement Therapy in
America (1 ed.). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Young, L., & Fitzgerald, B. (2007). The Power of Language: How Discourse Influences Society
(Equinox Textbooks and Surveys in Linguistics). London: Equinox Publishing.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |30
APPENDIX A
1948 | "The Calm of Eventide"
Source: http://www.decodog.com/inven/MD/hrt30716.jpg
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |31
“The Calm of Eventide”
It is somewhat tragic that so many women must experience a menopause that is an ordeal
thereby being deprived of the physical and mental relaxation which should come with
middle age. Fortunately, estrogenic therapy can be instrumental not only in alleviating the
physical distress, but also in restoring a more normal mental outlook.
The many published clinical reports on “Premarin” provide convincing evidence of its
therapeutic effectiveness. Whether your patient is in the early menopause or the late
climacteric the “Calm of Eventide” is possible on attainment by means of “Premarin”
therapy.
Ideational Analysis
It is somewhat tragic that so many women must experience a menopause that is an ordeal
It
is
somewhat
tragic that so many women must experience…ordeal
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Circ: Quality
Attribute
Theme
MARKED
Rheme
thereby being deprived of the physical and mental relaxation
thereby
being deprived
of the physical and mental relaxation
Adjunct: Continuity
Pr: Material
Circ: Manner
which1 should come with middle age
which
should
come
with middle age
Actor
Finite Modal: Obligation (medium)
Pr: Material
Circ: Accompaniment
1 “which” is working as an anaphoric reference to “physical and mental relaxation” there it’s Actor
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |32
Fortunately, estrogenic therapy can be instrumental not only in alleviating the physical distress, but also in restoring a more normal mental outlook.
fortunately
estrogenic therapy
can
be
instrumental
not only…
but also…
Adjunct: comment
Carrier
Finite
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
Circ: Manner
Circ: Manner
The many published clinical reports on “Premarin” provide convincing evidence of its therapeutic effectiveness.
The many published…Premarin
provide
convincing evidence
of its therapeutic effectiveness
Actor
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Manner
Whether your patient is in the early menopause or the late climacteric
Whether
your patient
is
in the early…
or mmm
the late climateric
Adjunct: Contin
Token
Pr: Identifying
Value
Adj: Conjun
Value
the “Calm of Eventide” is possible on attainment by means of “Premarin” therapy.
the “Calm of Eventide
is
possible
on attainment
by means of Premarin…
Carrier
Pr:Attr
Attribute
Cic: Manner
Circ: Manner
Qualifiers in Nominal Group
The following is a nominal group, which has Qualifiers:
somewhat tragic [that so many women must experience a menopause [that is an ordeal]]
“tragic” is the Head, everything after that is qualifying “somewhat tragic”. But there is a
Qualifier within the Qualifier with “that is an ordeal” qualifying “menopause.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |33
APPENDIX B
1952 | " Premarin in the Menopause"
Source: http://www.decodog.com/inven/MD/md29394.jpg
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |34
Complete relief of symptoms was obtained by most menopausal patients, Perloff reported,
and the greatest percentage of patients who “expressed clearcut preferences for any drug
designated ‘Premarin’”
“PREMARIN" in the menopause
Estrogenic Substances (water soluble) also known as Conjugated Estrogen Equine Tablets
and Liquid
Highly effective – Well tolerated – Imparts a feeling of well being
Ayerst, Mckenna & Harrison Limited – New York, NY – Montreal, Canada
Complete relief of symptoms was obtained by most menopausal patients,
Complete relief
of symptoms
was obtained
by most menopausal patients
Goal
Circ: Manner
Pr: Material
Circ: Manner and Actor
Perloff reported,
Perloff
reported
Actor
Pr: Material
and the greatest percentage of patients who “expressed clearcut preferences for any drug designated ‘Premarin’”
and
the greatest percentage…any drug
designated
Premarin
Adjunct: Conjunction
Actor
Pr: Material
Goal
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |35
APPENDIX C
Early 1960’s | Husbands, too, like “Premarin”
http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/upload/2007/06/husbands%20too%20like%20premarin.jpg
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |36
Husbands, too, like “Premarin”
The physician who puts a woman on “Premarin” when she is suffering in the menopause
usually makes her pleasant to live with once again. It is no easy thing for a man to take the
stings and barbs of business life, then to come home to the turmoil of a woman “going
through the change of life.” If she is not on “Premarin,” that is. But have her begin estrogen
replacement therapy with “Premarin” and it makes all the difference in the world. She
experiences relief of physical distress and also that very real thing called a “sense of well-
being” returns. She is a happy woman again—something for which husbands are grateful.
“Premarin,” conjugated estrogens (equine), a complete natural estrogen complex, is
available as tablets and liquid, and also in combination with meprobamate or
methyltestosterone.
Ideational Analysis
The physician who puts a woman on “Premarin” when she is suffering in the menopause usually makes her pleasant to live with once again. 2
The physician…
usually
makes
her
pleasant to live with
once again
Agent
Modal: Frequency
Pr: Causative
Actor
Goal
Circ: Manner
It3 is no easy thing for a man to take the stings and barbs of business life
It
is
no easy thing
for a man
to take the stings…
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
Circ: Manner
Circ: Matter
2 the material process “become” is ellipted thus it is: makes her [become] pleasant to live with 3 Cataphoric reference to “taking the stings and barbs of business life”
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |37
then to come home to the turmoil of a woman “going through the change of life”.
then
to come
home
to the turmoil
of a woman…
Circ: Location
Pr: Material
Circ: Location
Circ: Manner
Circ: Manner
If she is not on “Premarin,” that is.
if she is not on “Premarin
That
is
ELLIPTED
Circ: Cause
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
But have her begin estrogen replacement therapy with “Premarin”
but
have
her
begin
…therapy
with “Premarin”
Adj: Conjun
Pr: Causation
Actor
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Accompaniment
and it4 makes all the difference in the world
and
it
makes
all the difference
in the world
Adj: Conjun
Agent
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Manner
She experiences relief of physical distress
she
experiences
relief
of physical distress
Senser
Pr: Mental
Phenomenon
Circ: Manner
and also that very real thing called a “sense of well-being” returns
and
also
that very real thing called a “sense of well-being”
returns
Adj: Conjun
Adj: Contin
Actor
Pr: Material
4 Anaphoric reference to “estrogen replacement therapy with Premarin”
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |38
She is a happy woman again
She
is
a happy woman
again
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
Circ: Location
something for which husbands are grateful
something for which
husbands
are
grateful
Circ: Matter
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
Qualifiers in Nominal Group
The following is a nominal group, which has Qualifiers:
The physician [who puts a woman on “Premarin” [when she is suffering in the menopause]]
“physician” is the Head, everything after that is qualifying “The physician”. But there are
Qualifiers within Qualifiers and in this nominal group “when she is suffering in the menopause”
is qualifying “who puts a woman on “Premarin””.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |39
APPENDIX D
2009 | Premarin Website Intro
Source: www.premarin.com
Dialogue: Hi I’m Kathy; menopause can be a confusing time for many women. For
me it was a time of real change but I’m here to tell you you’re not alone.
I’ll be your guide and together we’ll talk about some of the common
symptoms of menopause. I’ve been there and on this site I’ll share some of
my experiences. I’ll also show how you can work with your doctor to
choose the appropriate path for you. You’ll even meet some of my friends
who will share their stories. We’ll do it together and find some of the
answers you may be looking for so look for me as you review this site and
I’ll guide you through, after all it’s always easier with friends.
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |40
Hi I’m Kathy; [Statement]
Hi
I
‘m
Kathy
Adjunct: Vocative
Token
Pr: Identifying
Value
menopause can be a confusing time for many women. [Statement]
menopause
can
be
a confusing time
for many women
Carrier
Finite
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
Circ: Manner
For me it was a time of real change [Statement]
for me
it
was
a time of real change
Circ: Manner
Token
Pr: Identifying
Value
but I’m here to tell you you’re not alone. [Statement]
but
I
‘m
here
to tell you you’re not alone
Adjunct: Conjunction
Token
Pr: Identifying
Value
Circ: Cause
I’ll be your guide [Statement]
I
‘ll
be
your guide
Carrier
Modal: Inclination (high)
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
and together we’ll talk about some of the common symptoms of menopause. [Statement]
and
together
we
‘ll
talk
about…
of menopause
Adj: Conj
Circ: Manner
Sayer
Modal: Incli (high)
Pr: Verbal
Circ: Matter
Circ: Manner
I’ve been there [Statement]
I
‘ve been
there
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |41
and on this site I’ll share some of my experiences.
and
on this site
I
‘ll
share
some… experiences
Adj: Conj
Circ: Location
Actor
Modal: Inclin (high)
Pr: Material
Goal
I’ll also show how you can work with your doctor to choose the appropriate path for you [Statement]
I
‘ll
also
show
how…doctor
To choose…
Actor
Modal: Inclin (high)
Adj: Contin
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Cause
You’ll even meet some of my friends who will share their stories. [Statement]
you
‘ll
even meet
Some of my friends who will share their stories
Actor
Modal: Inclin (high)
Pr: Material
Range
We’ll do it together [Statement/Command]
we
‘ll
do
it
together
Actor
Modal: Inclination (high)
Pr: Material
Goal
Circ: Manner
and find some of the answers you may be looking for [Statement]
and
find
some of the answers you may be looking for
Adj: Conj
Pr: Material
Goal
so look for me as you review this site [Command]
so
look
for me
as you review this site
Adjunct: Conjunction
Pr: Behavioural
Circ: Cause
Circ: Manner
and I’ll guide you through, [Statement]
and
I
‘ll
guide
you
through
Adj: Conjunction
Actor
Modal: Inclination (high)
Pr: Material
Goal
Pr: Manner
M a r k e t i n g M e n o p a u s e |42
after all it’s always easier with friends. [Statement]
after all
it
‘s
always easier
with friend
Adj: Conjunction
Carrier
Pr: Attributive
Attribute
Pr: Accompaniment
Qualifiers in Nominal Group
In the following clause the nominal group is bracketed:
You’ll even meet [some of my friends [who will share their stories]]
“friends” is the head of the nominal group “some of my friends who will share their stories” with “who will share their stories” qualifying “friends”.
In the following clause the nominal group is bracketed:
and find [some of the answers [you may be looking for]]
“answers” is the head of the nominal group with “you may be looking for” qualifying it.
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