Rhetoric In Advertising

Every day, people are exposed to almost innumerable “injections of advertising” (Fairclough, 1989, p. 201). Advertisers incorporate numerous rhetorical devices to entice, bond with, and manipulate their target audience. Rhetoric can be defined as, “language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect, but which is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content” (“Rhetoric,” 2017, para. 2). Through persuasive language, simulated inclusivity and interaction, and subtle forms of deception and manipulation, advertising has become an effective tool to exert power over consumers. Through these techniques, advertisements can have a strong effect on consumers, and influence their behavior, attitudes, and lives. It is important

Advertising companies use an array of techniques to persuade, personalize, and deceive their consumers, with the overriding goal to see products and/or services. These examples are only a few of the numerous ways companies attract, convince, and fool consumers into acquiring products and services. Through linguistic techniques, advertisements attract audiences, make them feel as if products being sold are a perfect match for them, and manipulate consumers into thinking they need whatever is being sold. “Advertisements are an excellent place to see the way in which language can have power as well as seeing certain ideologies at work” (Mooney et al., 2011, p. 20). Through effective “communication strategies” (Fuertes-Olivera, Velasco-Sacristán, Arribas-Baño, & Samaniego-Fernández, 2000, p. 1292) advertisements give consumers glimpses of what life could and should be like. These ideals are reiterated almost everywhere people go, whether that be in public transit, down city streets, or even in the comfort of their home watching television. Consumers are subjected to advertisements every day, and in every avenue of life. Because of this, advertisements will continue to use the above linguistic strategies to appeal to the masses and make them feel as if they are valued, as if they are worth it, and as if they could not live a fulfilled life without the products being sold. Perhaps if consumers remain conscious of the various techniques advertisers use to create an illusion of connectivity, they will become less susceptible to their claims and empty