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message of the advertisement clearly. People tend to catch text or speech with music and motion pictures easier than just printed text with visual layout and
cover. Cook 2006 supports this idea in a statement as follows: The drift away from language towards music and pictures is paralleled by a
preference within the language of television ads for the sub-modes of song and speech over writing. Both tendencies reflect a general preference for
orality; sound and vision are the vehicles of face-to-face interaction, while in writing we neither see nor hear our interlocutor p. 59.
On the other hand, magazine is not fast on attracting consumers’ attention, but it is more affordable than television media. Yet, television can gain more consumers’
attention by its audio visual factor but it needs higher cost and more complicated production process.
a. Elements of Advertisement
Arens 2006 says that the primary concept of advertisement in electronic media such as radio and television is the same as in other media p. 417, which
includes attracting audience’s attention and interest, ensuring the credibility, and encouraging audience’s desire to act as a direct response p. 424. Attention,
interest, and credibility can be seen in the copywriting of the commercial video’s script, then the elements such as headline, body copy, and slogan can be applied in
television commercials too. 1 Headline
Arens 2006 states that headlines are words that attract attention and will appear first p. 417. Moreover, headlines also serve other purposes such as
engaging the readers, explaining the visual, leading the reader to the main message in body copy, and presenting the selling message p. 417. In order to
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serve the purpose of drawing audience’s attention, headlines mostly appear attractively, for example in a commercial video it is in the form of question or
strong statement. This is an attractive technique, especially if there is no visual as the main attraction, as also stated by Foster 2001 that whatever the type of
publication or report, the headline must encapsulate the main points of the text in an interesting and eye-catching way p. 57. Although there is any visual, picture,
or illustration as the main attraction, the headline has to be able to give additional explanation or description. A good and effective headline does not only draw
attention but also maintains that attraction to linger solely on the whole advertisement. One final aspect of headline which is also important is the selling
message. If the headline cannot sell the product, then it fails to fulfill the basic purpose of advertisement. So, a headline has to be attractive, explaining, and to
the point. Headlines have several types based on the advertising strategy. These
variations according to Arens 2006 are benefit headline, information headline, provocative headline, question headline, and command headline p. 420. Benefit
headline contains simple statements of the products important benefit, not the features. Information headline announces believable news or promises
information. Provocative headline provokes audience’s curiosity by stimulating questions and thoughts. Question headline encourages audience to follow the
whole text and to search the answer in the body copy, so the question must not be easy or predictable. Command headline orders the audience to do something.
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2 Body copy Body copy is the complete idea or point or message of the advertisement. It
covers the features, benefits, and utility of the product. Body copies in commercial videos cannot be ignored as easily as in printed advertisements because they are
more attractive and engaging. In most commercial videos, the dialogue or the monologue is usually the body copy, yet the challenge of writing a body copy is to
make it simple and interesting without reducing the important information or message. According to Arens 2006, there are five characteristics of language that
must be included in writing an effective body copy: the use of vivid language, the use of personal nouns, the use of contractions, the use of present tense and active
voice, and the use of as few punctuation as possible p. 422. Moreover, the use of this language style in a body copy is described simpler by Weilbacher 1984 as
follow: The good copy writer uses accessible language, but he uses language that is
colorful and likable, language that neatly catches a contemporary meaning, and that reflects that point in its evolution that most of its audience will
understand at once and thoroughly enjoy p. 93. Besides several characteristics of body copy language, Arens 2006 also
proposes six types of body copy that can be chosen in copywriting p. 422. Straight-sell copy directly explains what the headline has stated with factual
presentation. This copy describes the features of the product clearly and straight-forwardly. Institutional copy is used to promote a philosophy of an
organization rather than selling products. This is to show the organization’s credibility. Narrative copy is used to write advertisement body copy in a
story-telling style. Usually the story is ended with the product or service being the
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solution of the problem existed in the story. Dialoguemonologue copy is similar to narrative copy in using story to sell products, but it has more evidence because
the characters’ words are more believable. Picture-caption copy relies mostly on the pictures or illustration. So, the idea is like a graphic story that sells product
through its pictures with some words to it. Device copy is used to grab attention that can be memorable, and the devices are figures of speech such as puns,
alliteration, and rhymes, or humor. 3 Slogan
Slogan is the familiar statement that is commonly regarded to particular advertisements. Arens 2006 states that slogan has the purpose of providing
continuity to a series of advertisements in a campaign and reducing an advertising message strategy to a brief, repeatable, and memorable statement p. 424.
b. Language of Advertisement
