A critical discourse analysis of

advertisements in Malaysia

Advanced Discourse Analysis ENGL 6106

Presented by:Ihsan Ibadurrahman – G1025429

Mohd. Ridzuan Mat Zin – G1126649

Introduction• Advertising has evolved along with the advancement

of technology.• We can see an advertisements almost everywhere and

anytime. In Malaysia Ads can be found in various places: mass media, buses, LRT, Handrails of escalators, billboards, and wallpaper

• The languages, pictures, colors and other elements are used in order to catch our attention towards it.

• The term advertising comes from the Latin verb ‘advertere’ which means to direct one’s attention to something (El-Daly, 2011).

Methodology: Research Method• Qualitative: rely mostly on text and image data, and

the focus is on learning the meaning that the participants have on the ads (Creswell, 2009)

• Open-ended 3-page Questionnaires are distributed to 10 postgrad IIUM students majoring in English who are currently taking Critical Discourse Analysis. (3 males, 7 females)

• Using a three dimensional approach: – Linguistic Analysis– Social Analysis– Cultural Analysis

Linguistic Analysis

• What information is given about the products?• How is the product presented in terms of words and

images?• What symbols are used to promote the product?• What associations are made with the product?• What is the relationship between the product and

people?

Social Analysis

• Who is the main audience for the product?• Why should the product be purchased?• What evidence is given to support the ad’s

claims?• What values does the ad reflect and/or

promote• How is the ad designed to make one feel?

Cultural Analysis

• What are the most salient messages found in advertising?• How does advertising create particular identities?• What stories do advertisements tell about the world?• What influence does advertising have on cultural behavior?• What type of lifestyle(s) does the ad promote?

Cook (2001) mentions that culture is an inseparable component in the task of discourse analysis in advertisement because it is needed to describe the phenomenon occurred in the text and context of a discourse.

Methodology: Procedure• The 10 participants were each given an ad to

analyze, and answer a three page questionnaire based on the ad. [link]

• It roughly take 15 minutes to complete• The 10 Selected ads were taken from– 3 from Malaysian newspaper: Sunday(2) and The

star (1)– 5 from Magazines: Men’s Fitness (1), Galaxie (2),

Digital camera (1), Cleo (1).– TV Commercials: YouTube (2)

Data Analysis

• The responses from the questionnaires are analyzed to see if there are any emerging patterns from the 3 different dimensional approaches.

• Only the most salient points from the responses are taken into consideration.

• The answers are also cross-checked with the information gathered from the book, the internet, and researchers’ own opinion about the product.

The new Nikon 1

• A picture of a girl standing in the middle of jungle while holding the Nikon camera with the capital word “I AM YOUR SMART PARTNER”.

• It infers that the product can be a person’s best friend as it can be taken anywhere at anytime.

• The ad represents the idea that those who buy the camera don’t need to have other friends.

• Promoting individuality and technology.

Oxy Blackhead clearing wash• The ad is targeted for young adults and

adolescences, hence they use an image of a young couple holding the product.

• The use of parallelism in the ad: Say NO to BLACKHEADS Say YES to OXY• The background is extremely white, to show a

contrasting theme with the ‘black’ background, which is the very idea of the ad. (No Blackhead)

Oris ProDiver Col Moschin

• The product is presented in a beautifully coloured and enlarged image.

• It promotes the product by selling the name of a country “Swiss” which is known for its high quality watches.

• The choice of word “real watches for real people” signifies the product is meant for people who strive for perfection in life just like the watch itself.

Marigold 100% Juice

• The choice of the word “PURE” correlates with the name of the product which is 100% Juice.

• The image of freshly peeled Orange surrounding the product connotes the idea that its taken fresh from the Orange.

• Connotes the idea that the drink is healthier and ‘purer’ than the other products because it contains no added sugar and artificial colouring.

Maybelline ColorSensational• The use of very strong words printed in bold;

SEXY.SOFT.SENSUOUS.STRIKING which are alliterations of the initial S and correspond to the name of the product itself; SENSATIONAL.

• The use of four coloured rose petals with honey oozing from them depicts the perfect lips that they are trying to portray.

• These petals have also been neatly arranged in order, with the honey each trickling down to the words it corresponds to

Menara 238• The ad uses parallelism to sell the product; BIG

BOYS NEED BIG SPACE FOR BIG PRESENCE and BIG IMPRESSION, the capitalized FOR and NEED are not enlarged to give more prominence to the aforementioned parallelism.

• The rhetorical device is particularly effective to reinforce the quality of the product (El-Daly, 2011).

• The beautiful view of Kuala Lumpur seen from the window of the room is used to attract the potential buyer.

Hyundai ELANTRA• All the positive words are used to project good

image of the car; “small car fuel efficiency, spaciousness, premium touch, dynamic design” enhance with the word “IMPOSSIBLE”. This clearly conveys that the dream car has become a reality and is available now.

• Out of all 28 words used in the ads, only one is a verb: Imagine.

• The inclusion of awards in the ad further promotes the good quality of the car.

Guinness• The ad attempts to promote two things; the beer and

the St. Patrick festival 2010. • In trying to accomplish these two goals, it uses many

symbols such as the smiley, the St. Patrick flower symbol and fireworks.

• The use of green background color conforms that of St. Patrick’s celebration, which is culturally known to symbolize the green Ireland.

• The ad promises to bring laughter and joy to the life of people regardless of their race as can be seen from the picture.

McDonalds Fillet-O-Fish• There is an emphasis on the word “EASY” used

repeatedly throughout the ad as a parallelism to reinforce the quality and the efficiency of getting the product.

• The same also applies to the fish symbol which is used to portray the product.

• People who eat the burgers are portrayed as happy people, smiling, enjoying life and are content with what they have.

• The fast-paced music resembles busy urban people living in a bustling city, wanting to have something ‘easy’ and quick so that it doesn’t distrub the pace of their life.

New Honda Jazz Hybrid• The ‘green’ color used in the car is in contrast with the

white background color, conveying the ‘environmental friendly’ car that it is purported to sell.

• Images of bird and clouds seen from the car, and blooming flowers are also present to further illustrate the ‘naturalness’ of the product.

• All the words are presented in question format using ‘parallelism’:– Who says green can’t be the color of passion?– Who says you can’t make angry birds happy?– Who says saving the planet is only for superheroes?

Discussion• One of the most salient feature of language used in the 10

ads is parallelism which serves to foreground the linguistic units, and thus render the quality of the product more effective (Cook, 2001; El-Daly, 2011).

• The analysis of Ads entails not only human cognitive process, but also features specific to a given culture. A prime example of this is the Guinness St. Patrick’s ad which uses the green color and the symbol of the leaf in promoting the event.

• As pointed by Cook (2001), ads can make people feel dissatisfied with what they have and thus consume more. This is done by the use of clever words (real watch for real people) or pictures such as the picturesque view of Petronas building of the Menara 238 ad, which can be deceiving.

Conclusion• From the 10 analyzed ads, it can be concluded that in discussing

adverts, we cannot separate text with its context, which involves: substance, pictures, music, paralanguage (font color and size), intertextuality and inter-discursivity (Fairclough, 2001).

• Such complexity means that “advertising always holds more to be analyzed, leaves more to be said”. (Cook, 2001: 5)

• We should be vigilant of the persuasive power of ads which results in commodification, where we buy the product not because we need it but want it. (Govindasamy & Khan, 2010)

• By critically analyzing the discourse in adverts using the three dimensional approach proposed by Esposito (2011), these persuasive power in creative language use could be demystified.

References• Cook, G. (2001). The Discourse of Advertising (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.• Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design. California: SAGE Publication.• El-daly, H. M. (2011). Towards an Understanding of the Discourse of

Advertising: Review of Research with Special Reference to Egyptian Media. African Nebula, Issue 3, pp. 25-47.

• Esposito, J. (2011). A Critical Approach to the Analysis of Advertisements. The Linguistics Journal, Vol. 5, pp. 197-219.

• Fairclough, N. (2001). Critical discourse analysis as a method in social scientific research. In R. Wodak. & M. Meyer, Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 121-138). London: Sage.

• Govindasamy, S., Khan, M. H. (2007). Selling the Global Popular: Reading Adverts in Malaysia. In P. Krish, Discourses on culture and identity : an interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 47-70). Selangor: Pearson Malaysia.

• Van Dijk, T.A. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: a plea for diversity. In R. Wodak. & M. Meyer, Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 121-138). London: Sage.