Functions of Presupposition in Advertisement
The language of advertising is unique. It is different from the daily-life language. Its language is persuasive. The language of advertising is the language
that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice people to purchase products or service Asher, 1994: 42-44, either for purposes of direct action or indirect
action. Thus, the advertisers have to find ways to shout at the readers from the page.
In order to shout at the readers, the advertisers must use the attention seeking devices that the media provide, in this case print media, magazines
particularly. Whether it is from the image, verbal text, or layout, the copywriters have to be very creative in designing the attractive and catchy advertisements to
promote their products and ideas. Moreover, they are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products. They generally make indirect assertions, i.e. via
presupposition. Thus, presupposition plays a big role in advertising language to help it realizing its functions.
From the analysis conducted to 100 ads of WEEKENDER magazine issued in year 2007, there are some uses of presuppositions that are elaborated as
follows: 1
Presenting the existence of the product or service Instead of using assertion, advertisers can use presupposition for certain
purposes. Presupposition can be used to deliver the message of the advertisement to make “the reader to consider the existence of objects, propositions, and
culturally defined behavioral properties” Sells and Gonzalez, 2002. Such function is found in advertisements using existential presupposition, for example:
i MICHAEL SCHUMACHER. MY CHOICE. OMEGA January, p. 68
The quotation, which may be the slogan, “my choice”, presupposes that the person shown in the ad who is the famous F1 racer, Michael Schumacher, has
a choice among many choices. The choices discussed here are related to watches since the ad features a picture of a watch; and Michael Schumacher’s choice of
watch among many watches is Omega. Thus, the ad brings the information that there exists an Omega watch, which a celebrity like Schumacher chooses it as his
time-teller. ii
Revive the significance of the holy month of Ramadan with loved ones and business associates as you dine in our “Iftar” break-fasting menu.
September, p. 23 iiiMoisturize your skin with the herbal way… November, p. 17
In ad ii, the statement presupposes that NOMI INC., the firm, has “Iftar” break-fasting menu in the holy month of Ramadan. The ad also brings out the idea
that the behavior of break-fasting with loved ones and business associates is Moslem’s normal break-fasting practice and perhaps even of the culture. This idea
cannot be directly asserted since there is restriction by law. Therefore, the advertisement presupposes instead of directly asserts. Ad iii also goes with the
same explanation. The ad presupposes that you have skin and the skin needs to be moisturized. Moisturizing the skin with the herbal way is the ideology that the ad
wants to share; and Himalaya Herbal Healthcare is the herbal way the ad mentioned. Thus, the public should be persuaded to consume Himalaya Herbal
Healthcare, and to increase its sale. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2 Implicit competition
Another function of presupposition is for the sake of implicit competition among advertisers. There is regulation that says “the intent and connotation of the
ad should be to inform and never to discredit or unfairly attack competitors” O’Guinn, et al., 2003: 131. Thus, in order to avoid breaking the law,
presupposition can be used as comparative device to set implicit competition without directly discredit or unfairly attack competitors. This is reflected in the
following ads: iv
Get your free flights faster than ever. September, p. 3 v
Introducing Saving Plus+, the new breed of savings account that gives you so much more: November, p. 9
vi Celebrate the enchanment of Christmas or revel in the joy of the New
Year in the elegant surroundings of the Sriwijaya where only the finest foods, premium wines and champagnes are served with our hallmark
of quality and perfection. December, pg. 9 In iv, the tagline of American Express’ ad – a credit card company –
presupposes you the card holders have free flights faster than ever. The comparison is to the other credit card company. As required by the law, the
advertisements cannot directly assert that their product or service is better than competitors’ product or service, so they presuppose the message. Regarding the
American Express’ text above, the advertisement cannot directly assert, “American Express’ service giving the free flights is better than X – anything
you can name it – card’s service”, for example, otherwise American Express PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
would probably get into legal disputes. Therefore, the advertisement presupposing American Express’ service is better than the other competitors by simply stating
“get your free flights faster than ever” without explicitly comparing them with others to persuade potential card holders. For the matter of how the card holders
can get their free flights faster than ever, it is already explained in the ad, such as the need to spend Rp 50 million during the festive season. The strategy was also
applied to ad v, Saving Plus+ Standard Chartered, and ad vi, The Dharmawangsa Sriwijaya and Jakarta Restaurant.
3 Making short and memorable message
Bovee and Arens also state “effective slogans are short, easy to understand, memorable, and easy to repeat” 1986: 262-274. Instead of making a
long statement listing, advertiser can make a short and memorable statement via presupposition. This strategy will make the message more effective. This is
reflected in the following ads: vii
YOU.C1000, with 1000 mg of Vitamin C from natural ingredients for the most refreshing taste. April, p. 34
viii Elegance is an attitude. January, p. 23
ix Uptown Downtown July, p. 3
Instead of making a long statement listing what exactly the ingredients of YOU.C1000’s are, like in “YOU.C1000 is a 1000 mg Vitamin C drink with 0
protein, fat-free, low sugar, carbohydrate, vitamin B1, vitamin E, and… for the most refreshing taste”, the advertiser made the statement simpler via
presupposition in order that it would be more memorable for the readers. The PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
statement presupposes that the health drink contains natural ingredients that bring different quality of refreshing taste, though what exactly is left open for the
readers to think about and to find out by buying the product. Presupposition also helps to shorten the message that YOU.C1000 is nutritional. For listing all the
nutrients would be lengthy and dull, thus, in order to deliver the message presupposition is used. For ad ix, Tiffany Co. sets the slogan Uptown
Downtown to presuppose there are two areas in society, uptown and downtown. If we try to define uptown and downtown by the location, especially in New York,
the origin of Tiffany, we can see them by the street numbers. The center of a city begins at 1st street, 2nd street, and so on. As cities developed, a secondary central
district developed on one of the higher streets, such as 20th street. The original central district in the low street numbers was downtown, and the secondary
district in the higher street numbers was uptown. However, Uptown and downtown usually have more to do with the characteristics of the district than
with their strict location. Uptown is classier and more expensive and more white- collar businesses; downtown is a little grittier and more active and poorer and
where the real action happens. By using the slogan, Tiffany tries to encode that they are reaching their customers even closer.
4 Establishing a virtual poetic world
Goddard states “adverts sometimes come very close to the way concrete poetry works” 2003:9-21. Presupposition, as a vital device to express more than
what is uttered literally, can play the role of establishing a virtual poetic world. It is represented in some idioms the ads use.
x Early birds do catch the hottest fares in winter. September, p. 5
xi Be anything but obvious September, p. 68
In ix, KLM airline in Malaysia used a metaphor to set the dramatic effect of the ad in the readers mind. The slogan “early birds do catch the hottest fares in
winter” comes from the idiom “the early bird catches the worm”. The idiom has a meaning that the person who gets up early to work will be successful. The
metaphor of “early birds” in the ad represents those people who respond earlier to the ad, which is booking as the ad wish. Thus, “early birds do catch the hottest
fares in winter” presupposes there are hottest fares in winter, which carries an understanding that only those people who book KLM airline’s tickets earlier will
get the most special fares in winter as the ad promotes. In x, TUDOR ad uses a saying “be anything but obvious” to set a paradigm that TUDOR watch is
obvious. This paradigm is drawn from the slogan’s presupposition. “Be anything but obvious” means that you can be everything but that everything will not be
complete without obviousness. Thus, the presupposition is obviousness is very important, and one aspect that gives you obviousness is punctuality. When you
chase for punctuality, you need a watch to organize it for you, and TUDOR watch is the right choice.
Those advertisers largely rely on presuppositions to set up an economic emphatic poetic text, thus to build an aesthetic language of advertising. Readers,
sequentially, also count on presuppositions to interpret the embedded implicit schemas and reach the poetic effects of the drama those ads present.
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