Analysis of Doublespeak in Computer Product Advertisements.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………… i
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………… ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study………………………………………………………… 1
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………….. 5
Purpose of the Study…………………………………………………………….. 5
Method of Research……………………………………………………………… 5
Organisation of the Thesis………………………………………………………. 6
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Doublespeak in General………………………………………………………… 7
Advertorial Doublespeak………………………………………………………… 9
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF DOUBLESPEAK IN COMPUTER
PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS
Data 1......................................................................................................... 12
Data 2......................................................................................................... 15
Data 3......................................................................................................... 19
Data 4......................................................................................................... 22
Data 5......................................................................................................... 25
Data 6......................................................................................................... 29
Data 7......................................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION………………………………………………….. 36
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….41
APPENDIX
Data 1…………………………………………………………………............... 44
Data 2......................................................................................................... 45
Data 3......................................................................................................... 46
Data 4......................................................................................................... 47
Data 5......................................................................................................... 48
Data 6......................................................................................................... 49
Data 7......................................................................................................... 50
Table of Words/Phrases Containing Doublespeak..................................... 51
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ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini membahas tentang penggunaan doublespeak dalam iklan-iklan
yang mempromosikan komputer portabel, atau yang disebut juga dengan laptop.
Dalam skripsi ini saya menganalisa iklan yang diambil dari majalah PCMedia,
sebuah majalah yang membahas tentang perkembangan teknologi informasi
masa kini dan produk-produk yang dihasilkan sebagai hasil dari perkembangan
tersebut. Sebagai basis teori, saya menggunakan karya Willian Lutz yang
berjudul Doublespeak dalam menganalisa iklan-iklan tersebut.
Doublespeak adalah suatu teknik bahasa di mana arti dari sebuah kata
atau frase dibelokkan. Teknik ini bertujuan untuk membuat pembaca menangkap
arti seperti yang dimaksud oleh pengguna teknik ini, sehingga arti kata atau frase
yang sebenarnya diabaikan. Berdasarkan buku Doublespeak, ada berbagai
macam doublespeak, tetapi dalam skripsi ini, penggunaan weasel word dan
jargon adalah yang paling sering, dan dapat ditemukan di hampir setiap iklan
yang saya gunakan. Weasel word adalah suatu kata atau frase yang seakanakan menawarkan sesuatu, tetapi sebenarnya tidak menawarkan apa-apa sama
sekali, sedangkan jargon adalah istilah-istilah khusus yang biasanya digunakan
dalam komunitas tertentu, yang akan menjadi doublespeak bila digunakan di luar
komunitas tersebut.
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Dalam iklan-iklan yang saya analisa, keberadaan doublespeak yang
sangat kentara membuktikan bahwa penggunaan doublespeak sangatlah krusial
dalam membantu promosi produk yang diiklankan, khususnya produk laptop.
Dengan pembahasan ini, saya berharap pembaca dapat mengenali dan
memahami apa doublespeak itu, yang selanjutnya akan membantu pembaca
dalam mengidentifikasi keberadaan doublespeak di dalam iklan.
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APPENDIX
Data 1
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Data 2
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Data 3
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Data 4
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Data 5
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Data 6
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Data 7
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Table of Words/Phrases Containing Doublespeak
Data
1.
Word/Phrase
Type of Doublespeak
1. X-tra
Unfinished word
2. Power
Weasel word
3. New
Weasel word
4. Up to Seven Hours Twenty Minutes
Up to claim
Long Life Battery
5. Chipset, LED, SATA, DDR2, GHz,
Jargon
and GB
2.
1. Sleekest
Weasel word/parity claim
2. Now
Weasel word
3. Super Slim External DVD-RW
Parity claim
4. Super
Puffing
5. Slim
Weasel word
6. As Good as They Perform
Weasel word
7. Smart Performance
Weasel word
8. More
Unfinished word
9. Help
Weasel word
10. Longer
Unfinished word
11. ULV, LCD, VVD, HDD, HDMI, and
Jargon
LAN
3.
1. Irresistible
Puffing
2. Things
Weasel word
3. Latest
Weasel word
4. Expandable Memory
Can claim
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5. Up to 8GB DDR3
Up to Claim
6. GB, DDR3, HD, GHz, LCD, RAM
Jargon
and Wi-Fi
4.
1. Now
Weasel word
2. Faster and Smarter
Unfinished word
3. Big Capacity
Weasel word
4. Efficiency
Weasel word
5. Effectivity
Weasel word
6. Balanced
Weasel word
7. DDR3, GHz, LED, GB, SATA, Wi-Fi,
Jargon
HDMI and Free DOS
5.
1.Smarter
Unfinished word
2.Faster
Unfinished word
3.Thinner
Unfinished word
4. Now
Weasel word
5. Futuristic
Weasel word
6. Informative
Weasel word
7. Slim
Weasel word
8. Elegant
Weasel word
9. Revolutionary
Weasel word
10. New
Weasel word
11. Huge
Weasel word
12. Slim
Weasel word
13. Intelligent
Weasel word
14. Superb
Puffing
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15. DVD-RW, USB, Gigabit LAN,
Jargon
Kensington Lock, Analog Monitor Port,
HDMI Port and e-SATA Port
6.
1. Stay connected
Weasel word
2. Stylish
Weasel word
3. Turbo Boost
Weasel word
4. Up to 2.8 GHz and up to 3.46 GHz
Up to claim
5. Up to 278 minutes
Up to claim
6. Exclusive
Puffing
7. Latest
Weasel word
8. Fashionable
Weasel word
9. Perfect
Puffing
10. GHz, GB, DDR3, RAM, HDD, LCD,
Jargon
eSATA, HDMI, Wi-Fi, DVD-RW and
LED
7.
1. More
Unfinished word
2. Smart
Weasel word
3. Boost
Weasel word
4. Amazing
Puffing
5. Energy-efficient
Weasel Word
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
The topic of my thesis is Analysis of Doublespeak in Computer Product
Advertisements, in which I will discuss the elements of doublespeak in some
advertisements of the computer products. Before moving on, I will first state the
background of the study, which will contribute to the significance of the thesis.
I choose to discuss this topic mainly because of my interest in advertising,
which presents skilful use of words to attract people, and in the advances in
information technology, which plays a significant role in the world of advertising
itself. These two aspects benefit from each other; technology is helped by being
promoted by advertisements, and advertising, in return, gains more medium in
which to publish it. This makes it interesting for me to study the relation between
advertising and technological advances.
Advertising, simply put, is an act of calling the public’s attention to a
product or service without person-to-person selling; a form of salesmanship that
distributes a selling message to many people at a time (Strouse 27). Particularly
in the world of marketing, nothing is as indispensible as an advertisement in
promoting a product. Without advertisement, no one would know that a product
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exists, and accordingly, no one would buy it. Yet, the function of advertisement is
not restricted only to letting everyone know that a product exists. By informing
people of a product, it also persuades them to buy the product being advertised.
Advertisement is very old, and has been known to exist for as long as
there is trade and the medium in which to publish it. In ancient Greece, Rome,
Babylonia, and Egypt, there were signs on walls, along roads, and over shops as
a form of advertisement for promoting wares, services, circuses, and gladiatorial
combats (Lusk 79). Moreover, walls or rock paintings as a form of ancient
commercial advertising can be found in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South
America (Taylor). These findings show just how prominent the role of advertising
in civilization is, and this role is further heightened in this age of globalization.
The effectiveness of advertisement is due to the very nature of the
consumers themselves. Logically speaking, rather than trying to find the
information about a product themselves, consumers tend to like it better if the
information is fed to them, in this case, through the advertisements. This fact
enables advertisers to post any information about a product as they see fit. This
liberty of information is, of course, regulated by law governing the place where
the product is being advertised (Lusk). Yet, even the law cannot outwit the more
subtle trick that advertisers use to promote their products.
The other, and apparently more precise, reason for the effectiveness of
an advertisement in persuading people lies in the word play within the
advertisement. Instead of promoting its product by using the product’s raw
description and direct persuasion, an advertiser employs the use of a technique
called doublespeak, the art of bending a word meaning so much so that it would
mislead people’s thinking without actually deceiving them. Doublespeak is so
effective, not to mention it is so commonly used, that even in one advertisement
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alone, we can find its multiple uses in the various kinds of doublespeak such as
jargon, parity claim, weasel words, and up to claim that make the advertisement
even more convincing (Lutz 2-7).
As I have stated before, we are now in the state of globalization which
almost entirely eliminates the boundaries between many people from across the
globe. This elimination of boundaries occurs because of the invention of a
medium that makes such feat possible: the Internet. The Internet is now so
advanced that we can even connect with other people without physical presence,
by means of a device called computer. Such capability inevitably leads computer
to its popularity as we see nowadays, and this popularity causes the emergence
of the many brands of computer products that compete with one another to sell
their products the most. This, of course, inevitably leads them to use
doublespeak in their advertisements in order to achieve this goal. This use of
doublespeak, coupled together with people’s enthusiasm over information
technology and computer products, makes this data source interesting for me to
work on. Moreover, with the inventions of technology, along with the products that
use them, occurring literally in days, the supply of data that can be found and
analysed is virtually limitless.
Moreover, the Internet is, in my opinion, the most effective medium that
publishes advertisements. The Internet is very versatile and accessible; it can be
used for many purposes, and can be accessed virtually by anyone at any time.
The Internet is also future-proof; many devices, such as laptop computers and
cellular phones, support the use of the Internet access, and the number of people
who can afford one is increasing with each passing time (Wahyudi and Wahono).
The significance of this analysis lies in the fact that the majority of people
in Indonesia, even those living in major cities such as Jakarta and Bandung, are
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not computer literate. With the bombardment of many computer brands which
employ doublespeak in almost all of their advertisements, the people of Indonesia
are prone to being misled. Thus, this thesis can help them to identify
doublespeak in advertisements and understand what doublespeak is.
The general benefit of being able to identify doublespeak remains the
same among similar researches. By identifying the doublespeak in computer
product advertisements, we can also gain knowledge about the development of
the computer technology itself, and the market it is targeted for. For example, by
identifying jargon in the technical specification of a computer product, we will
know the state of technological development that a product has if compared to
other products that are also being analysed. It is also important to note that
despite the numerous kinds of laptops out there in the market, based on my
observation, there are roughly only two segmentations of laptop market; the
general use and the enthusiast laptops. The general use laptops, which I will be
discussing, are what we call “average” laptops, the use of which is mostly limited
to everyday computing such as typing, browsing, watching videos, and so on.
The enthusiast laptops, on the other hand, are high-performance machine with
the capability of doing heavy tasks such as media editing and processing,
transcoding (converting one kind of media into another), playing high-end games,
and other tasks with high requirements.
By today’s standard, what determines whether a notebook is good or not
is its processing power, battery lifetime, and portability, and all those aspects are
important for a notebook to be successful. However, one product cannot have all
those advantages, not only because of the restrictions of the current technology,
but also because of marketing strategy that limits the advantages of one product
at a time. As such, one manufacturer will have to compromise between
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processing power and battery life, between portability and features, or between
any of them. Because of this, doublespeak will have to come to play to divert the
reader’s attention from the product’s demerits.
Word count: 1.182 words
1.2. Statement of the Problem
In doing the analysis there are three problems that I would like to solve:
1. Which words or phrases in the advertisements contain doublespeak?
2. What kind of doublespeak do those words or phrases use?
3. How does doublespeak mislead the readers?
1.3. Purpose of the Study
By solving the problems above, I would like to accomplish these
purposes:
1. to identify which words or phrases in the advertisements contain
doublespeak.
2. to identify what kind of doublespeak those words or phrases use.
3. to show how doublespeak misleads the readers.
1.4. Method of Research
The first step in doing this research was to understand the meaning of
doublespeak itself. The theory that I used was derived from William Lutz’
Doublespeak as the most comprehensive source that I could find. Next, I looked
for the data that best represented the subjects in which I was most interested, in
this case, computer advertisements. After that, I analysed the data based on the
main theory that I used. The final step was writing the research report.
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1.5. Organisation of the Thesis
This thesis is comprised of four chapters. The first chapter, Introduction,
consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problems, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research, and Organisation of the Thesis. After the introduction
is Chapter Two, Theoretical Framework, which consists of the theories of General
Doublespeak and Advertorial Doublespeak. Chapter Three, the analysis, follows
this chapter, and then there is Chapter Four, the conclusion. The last two parts
are Bibliography and Appendix.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
Looking back at the analysis that I have done so far, we could see that
every advertisement that I have used as data contains various kinds of
doublespeak. There we could find unfinished word, weasel word, up to claim,
could claim, puffing, and jargon, and among these kinds of doublespeak, the
use of weasel word is the most frequent. Every single advertisement uses various
kinds of this doublespeak. The examples are the word new and its variations,
which are now, latest, and revolutionary. This weasel word is found in every
advertisement that I use except in the last data for a reason: this weasel word
gives the illusion that a product has a new feature.
These supposedly new features are unfortunately faux, because the
features in question are actually something very common being shrouded in the
tagline “new”. Take the word latest in “latest Axioo Neon Series and latest design
and Core I technology” from data 3, for example. This word makes the product
look refreshed and fast by making a claim that the product has a “new” design
and technology. Yet, this claim does not guarantee a better product than those of
its competitors, because the things that are considered to be new features are
actually ordinary things that most other laptops have. They are considered
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“latest” simply because the manufacturer have just released the features on their
own product.
Another frequently-used weasel word in these advertisements is the one
that employs the use of subjective words. This works by using words that
normally have different effects among readers, that is, the reader may have
different opinion regarding the word. The word stylish in “Stay connected to my
friends with my stylish notebook” in data 6 is an example of subjective word.
What people consider stylish varies according to their tastes. Thus, using this
word to describe a product would not be representative of its overall quality. Yet,
this word is used anyway in the hope that regardless of people’s standards on
being stylish, they would think that the product is stylish because the
advertisement says so. A similar effect could be found in the fashion world; by
showing certain kinds of clothing and advertising those as stylish, people are
expected to also regard it as such and follow the trend.
Besides weasel words, the other kind of doublespeak that I find to be
heavily employed in the advertisements is jargon. In the Theoretical Framework
section of this thesis I have mentioned that according to Willian Lutz, jargon is a
specialized language within a particular community that is used as verbal
shorthand that allows members of that community to communicate quickly,
efficiently, and clearly (3). This means that except for the people who belong to a
particular community, the words and terms which are considered to be jargon of
the community would usually be unintelligible for most other people outside the
community. In the data that I analyse, the use of jargon is especially apparent in
the specification of the products. There we could find many computer-specialized
words and terms such as LED (Light-emitting Diode), SATA (Serial Advanced
Technology Attachment), DDR (Double Data Rate), GHz (Gigahertz) and GB
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(Gigabyte). These words, as far as my observation on people is concerned, are
not readily understood by people who do not mingle in an information technology
community, especially here in Indonesia, where technological product penetration
is not very deep and widespread. It is also interesting to note that most, if not all,
of these words are presented in abbreviated forms, further decreasing their
intelligibility. Thus, by including these words in advertisements which are
intended to be given to public, who are mostly not tech-savvy, we could presume
that the advertisers hope that the public would think that the products being
advertised are rich in features.
It is also worth noting that while we could find jargon throughout data 1 to
data 6, in data 7 we could find no jargon. The reason for this is uncertain, but
based on my observation on various brands of laptop computers, this is so
because the source for data 7 is from a more established manufacturer, in this
case, Dell. If we look at the sources for data 1 to data 6, we could see that the
manufacturers of the products which are Advan, Byon, and Axioo are marginally
less known. By using jargon in their specification, in my opinion, they are trying to
be more competitive. This is done because less people know about their brand,
thus, they need to show what their product could do and have to gain people’s
trust. By contrast, Dell is a better known brand even outside Indonesia, and in my
data they do not use jargon, nor do they show any effort of presenting the details
of the specification like other manufacturers do. This phenomenon, in my opinion,
shows us the effect of brand image on the use of doublespeak in advertisements.
In the end, I could conclude that the use of doublespeak, particularly
weasel word and jargon, is overall very important in computer advertisement. In
the case of weasel word, it could be found in every data that I have collected and
the word new and its variations are especially important, because they
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supposedly present new features for the product, which are something that the
public wants in general. On the other hand, the use of jargon is surprisingly
brand-dependent. In advertisements made by lesser-known brands, jargon is
heavily used to the point that they include extremely common things such as LCD
(Liquid Crystal Display) in their specification. By contrast, bigger manufacturer
like Dell utilises no jargon to present their product. This, as I have stated before,
shows us just how influential brand image is in relation to the use of doublespeak
in advertisements.
I hope that this study will be beneficial to the future researchers hoping to
indulge in doublespeak topics, especially those who would be discussing about
information technology. As we know, today the penetration of information
technology in Indonesia is not very high (Makitan), and knowing this, the
manufacturers are bending the truth to lead people into believing what the
manufacturers say. By writing this thesis, I have gained much knowledge
regarding what advertisers are doing to win customers, which, in this case, is by
the many inclusions of doublespeak. This, I hope, will also enlighten people to
thoroughly research the computer products that they are going to purchase,
because it is not exactly a thing that just anybody is able to buy.
Finally, I would like to suggest for more researches about the significance
of advertisement techniques in computer product promotion. Other than the study
of doublespeak, which is a very important technique in advertisement itself, the
study of Semiotics on computer technology can also be a viable and interesting
study to undertake, because unlike doublespeak, which focuses mainly on the
word play, the study of Semiotics focuses predominantly on signs that the
imagery of the advertisement presents. For the study of doublespeak itself, I
would like to suggest that more researches be conducted on other products
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based on information technology such as smart phones and tablets, which seems
to be gaining more and more popularity these days. Besides, it is also important
to point out that the line which differentiates laptop computers and smart phones
and tablets is blurring; laptop computers are becoming more portable, while
conversely, smart phones and tablets are becoming more computer-like. Thus,
this phenomenon will make the study of doublespeak in information technology
products more interesting.
Word count: 1257 words
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Data Source
PCMedia August 2010: 1. Print.
PCMedia August 2010: 13. Print.
PCMedia August 2010: 25. Print.
PCMedia September 2010: 33. Print.
PCMedia October 2010: 13. Print.
PCMedia February 2011: 1. Print.
PCMedia November 2011: 25. Print.
Reference
“Exclusive”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
“Extra”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Fast”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Latest”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
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Lusk, Robert E. “Advertising”. Encyclopedia International. New York: Grolier Inc.,
1975. 79-85. Print.
Lutz, William D. Doublespeak: From "Revenue Enhancement" to "Terminal
Living": How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use
Language to Deceive You. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Print.
Makitan, Gadi. “Penetrasi Komputer Indonesia Terendah di ASEAN.” TEMPO
Bisnis. N.p. Web. 14 December 2011.
“More”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Power”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
“Revolutionary”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
“Sleek”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Smart”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
Strouse, Norman H. “Advertising”. The New Book of Knowledge. New York:
Grolier Inc., 1976. 27-34. Print.
“Stylish”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
Taylor, Carl. “Advertising is Dead. Long Live Advertising”. Jonathan MacDonald.
N.p. Web. 10 October 2008.
“Thing”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
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“Up to”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
Wahyudi, Reza and Tri Wahono. “Naik 13 Juta, Pengguna Internet Indonesia 55
Juta Orang.” Tekno KOMPAS.com. N.p. Web. 28 October 2011.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………… i
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………… ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study………………………………………………………… 1
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………….. 5
Purpose of the Study…………………………………………………………….. 5
Method of Research……………………………………………………………… 5
Organisation of the Thesis………………………………………………………. 6
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Doublespeak in General………………………………………………………… 7
Advertorial Doublespeak………………………………………………………… 9
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF DOUBLESPEAK IN COMPUTER
PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS
Data 1......................................................................................................... 12
Data 2......................................................................................................... 15
Data 3......................................................................................................... 19
Data 4......................................................................................................... 22
Data 5......................................................................................................... 25
Data 6......................................................................................................... 29
Data 7......................................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION………………………………………………….. 36
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….41
APPENDIX
Data 1…………………………………………………………………............... 44
Data 2......................................................................................................... 45
Data 3......................................................................................................... 46
Data 4......................................................................................................... 47
Data 5......................................................................................................... 48
Data 6......................................................................................................... 49
Data 7......................................................................................................... 50
Table of Words/Phrases Containing Doublespeak..................................... 51
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ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini membahas tentang penggunaan doublespeak dalam iklan-iklan
yang mempromosikan komputer portabel, atau yang disebut juga dengan laptop.
Dalam skripsi ini saya menganalisa iklan yang diambil dari majalah PCMedia,
sebuah majalah yang membahas tentang perkembangan teknologi informasi
masa kini dan produk-produk yang dihasilkan sebagai hasil dari perkembangan
tersebut. Sebagai basis teori, saya menggunakan karya Willian Lutz yang
berjudul Doublespeak dalam menganalisa iklan-iklan tersebut.
Doublespeak adalah suatu teknik bahasa di mana arti dari sebuah kata
atau frase dibelokkan. Teknik ini bertujuan untuk membuat pembaca menangkap
arti seperti yang dimaksud oleh pengguna teknik ini, sehingga arti kata atau frase
yang sebenarnya diabaikan. Berdasarkan buku Doublespeak, ada berbagai
macam doublespeak, tetapi dalam skripsi ini, penggunaan weasel word dan
jargon adalah yang paling sering, dan dapat ditemukan di hampir setiap iklan
yang saya gunakan. Weasel word adalah suatu kata atau frase yang seakanakan menawarkan sesuatu, tetapi sebenarnya tidak menawarkan apa-apa sama
sekali, sedangkan jargon adalah istilah-istilah khusus yang biasanya digunakan
dalam komunitas tertentu, yang akan menjadi doublespeak bila digunakan di luar
komunitas tersebut.
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Dalam iklan-iklan yang saya analisa, keberadaan doublespeak yang
sangat kentara membuktikan bahwa penggunaan doublespeak sangatlah krusial
dalam membantu promosi produk yang diiklankan, khususnya produk laptop.
Dengan pembahasan ini, saya berharap pembaca dapat mengenali dan
memahami apa doublespeak itu, yang selanjutnya akan membantu pembaca
dalam mengidentifikasi keberadaan doublespeak di dalam iklan.
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APPENDIX
Data 1
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Data 2
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Data 3
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Data 4
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Data 5
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Data 6
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Data 7
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Table of Words/Phrases Containing Doublespeak
Data
1.
Word/Phrase
Type of Doublespeak
1. X-tra
Unfinished word
2. Power
Weasel word
3. New
Weasel word
4. Up to Seven Hours Twenty Minutes
Up to claim
Long Life Battery
5. Chipset, LED, SATA, DDR2, GHz,
Jargon
and GB
2.
1. Sleekest
Weasel word/parity claim
2. Now
Weasel word
3. Super Slim External DVD-RW
Parity claim
4. Super
Puffing
5. Slim
Weasel word
6. As Good as They Perform
Weasel word
7. Smart Performance
Weasel word
8. More
Unfinished word
9. Help
Weasel word
10. Longer
Unfinished word
11. ULV, LCD, VVD, HDD, HDMI, and
Jargon
LAN
3.
1. Irresistible
Puffing
2. Things
Weasel word
3. Latest
Weasel word
4. Expandable Memory
Can claim
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5. Up to 8GB DDR3
Up to Claim
6. GB, DDR3, HD, GHz, LCD, RAM
Jargon
and Wi-Fi
4.
1. Now
Weasel word
2. Faster and Smarter
Unfinished word
3. Big Capacity
Weasel word
4. Efficiency
Weasel word
5. Effectivity
Weasel word
6. Balanced
Weasel word
7. DDR3, GHz, LED, GB, SATA, Wi-Fi,
Jargon
HDMI and Free DOS
5.
1.Smarter
Unfinished word
2.Faster
Unfinished word
3.Thinner
Unfinished word
4. Now
Weasel word
5. Futuristic
Weasel word
6. Informative
Weasel word
7. Slim
Weasel word
8. Elegant
Weasel word
9. Revolutionary
Weasel word
10. New
Weasel word
11. Huge
Weasel word
12. Slim
Weasel word
13. Intelligent
Weasel word
14. Superb
Puffing
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15. DVD-RW, USB, Gigabit LAN,
Jargon
Kensington Lock, Analog Monitor Port,
HDMI Port and e-SATA Port
6.
1. Stay connected
Weasel word
2. Stylish
Weasel word
3. Turbo Boost
Weasel word
4. Up to 2.8 GHz and up to 3.46 GHz
Up to claim
5. Up to 278 minutes
Up to claim
6. Exclusive
Puffing
7. Latest
Weasel word
8. Fashionable
Weasel word
9. Perfect
Puffing
10. GHz, GB, DDR3, RAM, HDD, LCD,
Jargon
eSATA, HDMI, Wi-Fi, DVD-RW and
LED
7.
1. More
Unfinished word
2. Smart
Weasel word
3. Boost
Weasel word
4. Amazing
Puffing
5. Energy-efficient
Weasel Word
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
The topic of my thesis is Analysis of Doublespeak in Computer Product
Advertisements, in which I will discuss the elements of doublespeak in some
advertisements of the computer products. Before moving on, I will first state the
background of the study, which will contribute to the significance of the thesis.
I choose to discuss this topic mainly because of my interest in advertising,
which presents skilful use of words to attract people, and in the advances in
information technology, which plays a significant role in the world of advertising
itself. These two aspects benefit from each other; technology is helped by being
promoted by advertisements, and advertising, in return, gains more medium in
which to publish it. This makes it interesting for me to study the relation between
advertising and technological advances.
Advertising, simply put, is an act of calling the public’s attention to a
product or service without person-to-person selling; a form of salesmanship that
distributes a selling message to many people at a time (Strouse 27). Particularly
in the world of marketing, nothing is as indispensible as an advertisement in
promoting a product. Without advertisement, no one would know that a product
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exists, and accordingly, no one would buy it. Yet, the function of advertisement is
not restricted only to letting everyone know that a product exists. By informing
people of a product, it also persuades them to buy the product being advertised.
Advertisement is very old, and has been known to exist for as long as
there is trade and the medium in which to publish it. In ancient Greece, Rome,
Babylonia, and Egypt, there were signs on walls, along roads, and over shops as
a form of advertisement for promoting wares, services, circuses, and gladiatorial
combats (Lusk 79). Moreover, walls or rock paintings as a form of ancient
commercial advertising can be found in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South
America (Taylor). These findings show just how prominent the role of advertising
in civilization is, and this role is further heightened in this age of globalization.
The effectiveness of advertisement is due to the very nature of the
consumers themselves. Logically speaking, rather than trying to find the
information about a product themselves, consumers tend to like it better if the
information is fed to them, in this case, through the advertisements. This fact
enables advertisers to post any information about a product as they see fit. This
liberty of information is, of course, regulated by law governing the place where
the product is being advertised (Lusk). Yet, even the law cannot outwit the more
subtle trick that advertisers use to promote their products.
The other, and apparently more precise, reason for the effectiveness of
an advertisement in persuading people lies in the word play within the
advertisement. Instead of promoting its product by using the product’s raw
description and direct persuasion, an advertiser employs the use of a technique
called doublespeak, the art of bending a word meaning so much so that it would
mislead people’s thinking without actually deceiving them. Doublespeak is so
effective, not to mention it is so commonly used, that even in one advertisement
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alone, we can find its multiple uses in the various kinds of doublespeak such as
jargon, parity claim, weasel words, and up to claim that make the advertisement
even more convincing (Lutz 2-7).
As I have stated before, we are now in the state of globalization which
almost entirely eliminates the boundaries between many people from across the
globe. This elimination of boundaries occurs because of the invention of a
medium that makes such feat possible: the Internet. The Internet is now so
advanced that we can even connect with other people without physical presence,
by means of a device called computer. Such capability inevitably leads computer
to its popularity as we see nowadays, and this popularity causes the emergence
of the many brands of computer products that compete with one another to sell
their products the most. This, of course, inevitably leads them to use
doublespeak in their advertisements in order to achieve this goal. This use of
doublespeak, coupled together with people’s enthusiasm over information
technology and computer products, makes this data source interesting for me to
work on. Moreover, with the inventions of technology, along with the products that
use them, occurring literally in days, the supply of data that can be found and
analysed is virtually limitless.
Moreover, the Internet is, in my opinion, the most effective medium that
publishes advertisements. The Internet is very versatile and accessible; it can be
used for many purposes, and can be accessed virtually by anyone at any time.
The Internet is also future-proof; many devices, such as laptop computers and
cellular phones, support the use of the Internet access, and the number of people
who can afford one is increasing with each passing time (Wahyudi and Wahono).
The significance of this analysis lies in the fact that the majority of people
in Indonesia, even those living in major cities such as Jakarta and Bandung, are
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not computer literate. With the bombardment of many computer brands which
employ doublespeak in almost all of their advertisements, the people of Indonesia
are prone to being misled. Thus, this thesis can help them to identify
doublespeak in advertisements and understand what doublespeak is.
The general benefit of being able to identify doublespeak remains the
same among similar researches. By identifying the doublespeak in computer
product advertisements, we can also gain knowledge about the development of
the computer technology itself, and the market it is targeted for. For example, by
identifying jargon in the technical specification of a computer product, we will
know the state of technological development that a product has if compared to
other products that are also being analysed. It is also important to note that
despite the numerous kinds of laptops out there in the market, based on my
observation, there are roughly only two segmentations of laptop market; the
general use and the enthusiast laptops. The general use laptops, which I will be
discussing, are what we call “average” laptops, the use of which is mostly limited
to everyday computing such as typing, browsing, watching videos, and so on.
The enthusiast laptops, on the other hand, are high-performance machine with
the capability of doing heavy tasks such as media editing and processing,
transcoding (converting one kind of media into another), playing high-end games,
and other tasks with high requirements.
By today’s standard, what determines whether a notebook is good or not
is its processing power, battery lifetime, and portability, and all those aspects are
important for a notebook to be successful. However, one product cannot have all
those advantages, not only because of the restrictions of the current technology,
but also because of marketing strategy that limits the advantages of one product
at a time. As such, one manufacturer will have to compromise between
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processing power and battery life, between portability and features, or between
any of them. Because of this, doublespeak will have to come to play to divert the
reader’s attention from the product’s demerits.
Word count: 1.182 words
1.2. Statement of the Problem
In doing the analysis there are three problems that I would like to solve:
1. Which words or phrases in the advertisements contain doublespeak?
2. What kind of doublespeak do those words or phrases use?
3. How does doublespeak mislead the readers?
1.3. Purpose of the Study
By solving the problems above, I would like to accomplish these
purposes:
1. to identify which words or phrases in the advertisements contain
doublespeak.
2. to identify what kind of doublespeak those words or phrases use.
3. to show how doublespeak misleads the readers.
1.4. Method of Research
The first step in doing this research was to understand the meaning of
doublespeak itself. The theory that I used was derived from William Lutz’
Doublespeak as the most comprehensive source that I could find. Next, I looked
for the data that best represented the subjects in which I was most interested, in
this case, computer advertisements. After that, I analysed the data based on the
main theory that I used. The final step was writing the research report.
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1.5. Organisation of the Thesis
This thesis is comprised of four chapters. The first chapter, Introduction,
consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problems, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research, and Organisation of the Thesis. After the introduction
is Chapter Two, Theoretical Framework, which consists of the theories of General
Doublespeak and Advertorial Doublespeak. Chapter Three, the analysis, follows
this chapter, and then there is Chapter Four, the conclusion. The last two parts
are Bibliography and Appendix.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
Looking back at the analysis that I have done so far, we could see that
every advertisement that I have used as data contains various kinds of
doublespeak. There we could find unfinished word, weasel word, up to claim,
could claim, puffing, and jargon, and among these kinds of doublespeak, the
use of weasel word is the most frequent. Every single advertisement uses various
kinds of this doublespeak. The examples are the word new and its variations,
which are now, latest, and revolutionary. This weasel word is found in every
advertisement that I use except in the last data for a reason: this weasel word
gives the illusion that a product has a new feature.
These supposedly new features are unfortunately faux, because the
features in question are actually something very common being shrouded in the
tagline “new”. Take the word latest in “latest Axioo Neon Series and latest design
and Core I technology” from data 3, for example. This word makes the product
look refreshed and fast by making a claim that the product has a “new” design
and technology. Yet, this claim does not guarantee a better product than those of
its competitors, because the things that are considered to be new features are
actually ordinary things that most other laptops have. They are considered
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“latest” simply because the manufacturer have just released the features on their
own product.
Another frequently-used weasel word in these advertisements is the one
that employs the use of subjective words. This works by using words that
normally have different effects among readers, that is, the reader may have
different opinion regarding the word. The word stylish in “Stay connected to my
friends with my stylish notebook” in data 6 is an example of subjective word.
What people consider stylish varies according to their tastes. Thus, using this
word to describe a product would not be representative of its overall quality. Yet,
this word is used anyway in the hope that regardless of people’s standards on
being stylish, they would think that the product is stylish because the
advertisement says so. A similar effect could be found in the fashion world; by
showing certain kinds of clothing and advertising those as stylish, people are
expected to also regard it as such and follow the trend.
Besides weasel words, the other kind of doublespeak that I find to be
heavily employed in the advertisements is jargon. In the Theoretical Framework
section of this thesis I have mentioned that according to Willian Lutz, jargon is a
specialized language within a particular community that is used as verbal
shorthand that allows members of that community to communicate quickly,
efficiently, and clearly (3). This means that except for the people who belong to a
particular community, the words and terms which are considered to be jargon of
the community would usually be unintelligible for most other people outside the
community. In the data that I analyse, the use of jargon is especially apparent in
the specification of the products. There we could find many computer-specialized
words and terms such as LED (Light-emitting Diode), SATA (Serial Advanced
Technology Attachment), DDR (Double Data Rate), GHz (Gigahertz) and GB
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(Gigabyte). These words, as far as my observation on people is concerned, are
not readily understood by people who do not mingle in an information technology
community, especially here in Indonesia, where technological product penetration
is not very deep and widespread. It is also interesting to note that most, if not all,
of these words are presented in abbreviated forms, further decreasing their
intelligibility. Thus, by including these words in advertisements which are
intended to be given to public, who are mostly not tech-savvy, we could presume
that the advertisers hope that the public would think that the products being
advertised are rich in features.
It is also worth noting that while we could find jargon throughout data 1 to
data 6, in data 7 we could find no jargon. The reason for this is uncertain, but
based on my observation on various brands of laptop computers, this is so
because the source for data 7 is from a more established manufacturer, in this
case, Dell. If we look at the sources for data 1 to data 6, we could see that the
manufacturers of the products which are Advan, Byon, and Axioo are marginally
less known. By using jargon in their specification, in my opinion, they are trying to
be more competitive. This is done because less people know about their brand,
thus, they need to show what their product could do and have to gain people’s
trust. By contrast, Dell is a better known brand even outside Indonesia, and in my
data they do not use jargon, nor do they show any effort of presenting the details
of the specification like other manufacturers do. This phenomenon, in my opinion,
shows us the effect of brand image on the use of doublespeak in advertisements.
In the end, I could conclude that the use of doublespeak, particularly
weasel word and jargon, is overall very important in computer advertisement. In
the case of weasel word, it could be found in every data that I have collected and
the word new and its variations are especially important, because they
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supposedly present new features for the product, which are something that the
public wants in general. On the other hand, the use of jargon is surprisingly
brand-dependent. In advertisements made by lesser-known brands, jargon is
heavily used to the point that they include extremely common things such as LCD
(Liquid Crystal Display) in their specification. By contrast, bigger manufacturer
like Dell utilises no jargon to present their product. This, as I have stated before,
shows us just how influential brand image is in relation to the use of doublespeak
in advertisements.
I hope that this study will be beneficial to the future researchers hoping to
indulge in doublespeak topics, especially those who would be discussing about
information technology. As we know, today the penetration of information
technology in Indonesia is not very high (Makitan), and knowing this, the
manufacturers are bending the truth to lead people into believing what the
manufacturers say. By writing this thesis, I have gained much knowledge
regarding what advertisers are doing to win customers, which, in this case, is by
the many inclusions of doublespeak. This, I hope, will also enlighten people to
thoroughly research the computer products that they are going to purchase,
because it is not exactly a thing that just anybody is able to buy.
Finally, I would like to suggest for more researches about the significance
of advertisement techniques in computer product promotion. Other than the study
of doublespeak, which is a very important technique in advertisement itself, the
study of Semiotics on computer technology can also be a viable and interesting
study to undertake, because unlike doublespeak, which focuses mainly on the
word play, the study of Semiotics focuses predominantly on signs that the
imagery of the advertisement presents. For the study of doublespeak itself, I
would like to suggest that more researches be conducted on other products
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based on information technology such as smart phones and tablets, which seems
to be gaining more and more popularity these days. Besides, it is also important
to point out that the line which differentiates laptop computers and smart phones
and tablets is blurring; laptop computers are becoming more portable, while
conversely, smart phones and tablets are becoming more computer-like. Thus,
this phenomenon will make the study of doublespeak in information technology
products more interesting.
Word count: 1257 words
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Data Source
PCMedia August 2010: 1. Print.
PCMedia August 2010: 13. Print.
PCMedia August 2010: 25. Print.
PCMedia September 2010: 33. Print.
PCMedia October 2010: 13. Print.
PCMedia February 2011: 1. Print.
PCMedia November 2011: 25. Print.
Reference
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University Press, 2008.
“Extra”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Fast”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Latest”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
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Lusk, Robert E. “Advertising”. Encyclopedia International. New York: Grolier Inc.,
1975. 79-85. Print.
Lutz, William D. Doublespeak: From "Revenue Enhancement" to "Terminal
Living": How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use
Language to Deceive You. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Print.
Makitan, Gadi. “Penetrasi Komputer Indonesia Terendah di ASEAN.” TEMPO
Bisnis. N.p. Web. 14 December 2011.
“More”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Power”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
“Revolutionary”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
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“Sleek”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
“Smart”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
Strouse, Norman H. “Advertising”. The New Book of Knowledge. New York:
Grolier Inc., 1976. 27-34. Print.
“Stylish”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
Taylor, Carl. “Advertising is Dead. Long Live Advertising”. Jonathan MacDonald.
N.p. Web. 10 October 2008.
“Thing”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
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“Up to”. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
Wahyudi, Reza and Tri Wahono. “Naik 13 Juta, Pengguna Internet Indonesia 55
Juta Orang.” Tekno KOMPAS.com. N.p. Web. 28 October 2011.
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