Analysis of the Rhetorical Figures in Revlon Advertisements.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis penggunaan Rhetorical Figures yang tanpa kita sadari sering dijumpai dalam iklan. Pada umumnya, Rhetorical Figuresdalam konteks komersial dapat ditemukan di berbagai media, baik media cetak, media elektronik, hingga Internet.

Saya membatasi fokus studi saya pada satu merek dagang, yakni Revlon, yang menawarkan berbagai produk kecantikan. Saya mengambil data iklan dari beberapa situs. Pada praktiknya, Revlon bereksplorasi dalam penggunaan gaya bahasa dan kata-kata menarik dalam infomasi tekstual maupun visual dari deskripsi produk-produknya sehingga dapat menarik perhatian pembaca.

Dalam menganalisis data, saya menggunakan pendekatanStylistics, yang mengkaji gaya bahasa dan penulisan sebuah teks.Stylisticsmencakup beberapa bidang kajian, termasuk di dalamnyaRhetorical Figures. Salah satu temuan yang saya peroleh adalah bentuk pengulangan (repetition) yang merupakan salah satu operasi dari Rhetorical Figures dan merupakan jenis operasi yang paling sering digunakan oleh Revlon.

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PREFACE ... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ii

ABSTRACT... iv

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem... 4

1.3 Purpose of the Study ... 4

1.4 Method of Research ... 4

1.5 Organization of the Thesis ... 4

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 McQuarrie and Mick’s Model of Rhetorical Figures ... 6

2.2 Rhetorical Operation of Repetition ... 8

2.3 Rhetorical Operation of Reversal ... 9

2.4 Rhetorical Operation of Substitution ... 10

2.5 Rhetorical Operation of Destabilization... 11

CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE RHETORICAL FIGURES IN REVLON ADVERTISEMENT 3.1 Repetition operation 3.1.1 Rhyme ... 13

3.1.2 Alliteration ... 13

3.1.3 Assonance ... 16

3.1.4 Anaphora ... 19

3.1.5 Epistrophe ... 20

3.1.6 Parison ... 21

3.2 Reversal operation: Antithesis ... 22

3.3 Destabilization operation: Allusion ... 23

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION... 24

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APPENDICES

Revlon advertisements ... 32

Table 1. Complete Data ... 42

Table 2. Data of Rhetorical Figures of Repetition Operation ... 47

Table 3. Data of Rhetorical Figures of Reversal Operation ... 49

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Advertisement is an inevitable part of modern life. We can easily find any advertisements in the Internet, radio, television, or in printed media like magazines or newspapers.

From the etymological point of view, the root of the term advertisement is the Latin verbadvertere, meaning ‘to turn towards’ (Goddard, 1996). Furthermore, Dyer (1982) also states that advertising means drawing the attention to something and notifying or informing somebody about something. However, the most concise and all-inclusive definition is offered by Arens, “Advertising is a paid form of communicating a message by the use of various media. It is persuasive, informative, and designed to influence purchasing behaviour or thought patterns.” (Arens, 2002, p. 8)

When we simplify the quotation above, we get the following key information: an advertisement ought to be informative, persuasive, and influential. In doing so, advertisement affects our purchasing behavior and thought patterns. Although we do not often admit that, advertising manages to form our life significantly. As advertisement is the most visible and accessible form of public announcement,

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it is also capable of influencing a vast number of people in a very little time and construct their mind to achieve the ultimate goal of triggering their action. Thus, advertisers seek for attention-attracting strategies, one of which is by applying a distinctive style of language.

Good advertisement comes from the technique of using advertising language. Some researchers refer advertising language to the language of persuasion. It is a technique of using words such as adjectives or compound words, the unique structure of sentences and the use of figurative language. It is the creative relationship of language and thoughts. The technique of combining rhetorical figures such as repetition, metaphor, pun or hyperbole into the advertising message is one of the most creative techniques. Rhetorical figures bring out the limitless flexibility of the language itself. Advertisers can play with words, break the rules of syntax or semantics and create animated expressions by applying the figures of rhetoric. In addition, it can also create more imaginative aspects in advertising and it is able to gain a consumer’s attention and build the product interest; therefore, advertisers tend to use this technique in their advertisement.

According to Verdonk in his book Stylistics, “... style in language can be defined as a distinctive linguistic expression.” (Verdonk, 2002, p. 4). He adds further that Stylistics is defined as the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect (Verdonk, 2002).

Rhetoric is one of the topics in Stylistics. It concerns with the “artful deviations” from the typical, expected communication structure (McQuarrie and Mick, 1996). Additionally, they claim that there is “a wide range of figures appearing in advertisements” (McQuarrie and Mick, 1996). The use of rhetorical figures is one of the ways of how to add to the persuasiveness of the message.

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“The central concern of rhetoric has always been method and manner: how to discover the most effective way to express a thought in a given situation, and how to alter its expression to suit different situations” (McQuarrie and Mick, 1996, p. 424).

I am interested in analyzing the use of rhetorical figures in Revlon advertisements as the topic of my thesis. Revlon is a global company for cosmetic product. Since 1932, Revlon has developed a long-standing reputation as the trendsetter in the world. Their products are sold in over 100 countries across six continents (Revlon, 2016). In order to support the promotional campaign, Revlon also uses digital advertising. They provide websites which feature current products and promotional information. Based on the data I get from the Internet, I find there are special forms of rhetorical figures used in their advertisements.

This thesis is written with the concern of giving informative inputs to readers about rhetorical figures that are used in advertisement and how it helps the advertisements in persuading their potential consumers. Besides, for language learners, this is beneficial to expand their linguistic knowledge, especially on stylistics, by giving a broader understanding in analyzing rhetorical figures used in advertisement. Furthermore, by reading this thesis, readers are encouraged to be more open-minded toward the distinctive style of writing especially in the way language is used in advertising work. Hopefully, this thesis inspires other researchers to develop or to conduct other researches in the same field.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

The problems in this study are formulated as follows: 1. What rhetorical figures are used in Revlon advertisements? 2. What is the function of the rhetorical figures?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

Based on the statement of the problem, I would like to accomplish these purposes:

1. To reveal the rhetorical figures used in Revlon advertisements 2. To show the function of rhetorical figures

1.4 Method of Research

I take the following steps in conducting this research. The first step is looking for advertisements which contain rhetorical figures from the Internet; I use Revlon advertisements as the data. The second step is gathering and classifying the kinds of rhetorical figures. The third step is analyzing the data. The final step is writing a research report.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One is Introduction; it consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains Theoretical Framework, which consists of the theory of rhetorical figure which is used in advertisement. Chapter Three contains the analysis of the data. Chapter Four contains Conclusion, which is followed by Bibliography and Appendices.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In this chapter I would like to draw some conclusions regarding the rhetorical figures found in Revlon advertisements. Using McQuarrie and Mick’s model of levels of operation, I find that the rhetorical figures belong to three levels of operation, namely repetition, reversal, and destabilization.

Repetition is the most excessively rhetorical figure used in Revlon advertisements. There are six figures of repetition which are rhyme, alliteration, assonance, anaphora, epistrophe, and parison. The result of this analysis shows 26 data out of 30 data or 87% use repetition. In my opinion, it is due to the fact that repetition can simply and obviously give an emphatic effect of the meaning. Giving an emphasis to the advertisement message is really very important so that repetition is a very strong and effective tool. While repeating certain words, phrases or sentences, the advertiser also reminds the readers of the importance of these linguistic units, making them key words, phrases or sentences of the text. Repetition operation covers three major aspects, which are sounds (rhyme, alliteration, and assonance), words (anaphora and epistrophe), and phrase structure (parison). Based on my finding, I notice that in repetition operation, sound repetition is more dominant rather than word or phrase structure repetition.

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There are 9 out of 26 data that belong sound repetition (73%), whereas in word repetition there are 5 data (19%) and in phrase structure repetition there are 2 data (8%). In my opinion, this is because sound repetition can bring more powerful impact to attention grabbing. Rhyme, alliteration and assonance are meant to build the connection among the sounds of the words, so that it can create sentence that are easier to catch which will help the reader to understand the meaning of the advertisement message. Besides achieving a particular effect of euphony, sound repetition also allows better memorization of the advertisement message, as it resonates in one’s mind. In addition, most of Revlon online advertisements were also made in TVC (television commercial) with voice over; therefore, it will be effective too if the advertisement messages also contain sound-play.

The other two operations show minor use. There is only one figure for each level; antithesis in the reversal operation and allusion in the destabilization operation. Only 3 data found that use antithesis (10%) and 1 data for allusion (3%). This is a very small percentage compared to repetition operation (87%). The minor use is understandable since the figures in reversal and destabilization operation are not quite easy enough to understand and it is most probably more difficult to convey the messages through them. Since antithesis involves the contradiction of ideas, it may contain double meanings due to the use of two ideas within one sentence. Whereas allusion requires readers’ background knowledge in order to understand the meaning. This, I believe, makes these two figure rarely appear in Revlon advertisements.

The outcome of the analysis also shows zero use of any figures from the substitution operation, such as rhetorical question, ellipsis or metonymy. This is, in my opinion, due to the similar reason stated above that it is more difficult to

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understand. Those figures are not only used for stylistic effects but also designed to force the audience to think and reflect more on the advertisement messages. Those figures are based on the close connection between words; one concept substitutes several words. It also requires the audience’s background of knowledge about the whole concept to understand the meaning of the advertisement message.

The other significant thing about the rhetorical figures used in Revlon advertisement is the functions. Almost all of the data have at least one function. The outcome of the analysis shows that the majority of the data of rhetorical figures to serve the function of emphasizing the good point of the product. There are 17 data out of 30 data that serve this function (57%). Through this finding, it is also revealed that rhetorical figures can be employed to improve the effectiveness, clarity and persuasiveness of the advertisement, so that most probably the potential consumers may remember the advertisements better.

Besides for emphasizing the good point of a product, rhetorical figure can also be used to make the advertisements message sound nice and pleasing. There are 6 data that use rhetorical figure to serve this function (20%). Since this function deals more with sound, the figures with this function are those in sound repetition, such as rhyme, alliteration or assonance. A rhyme plays with the same ending sound, while alliteration and assonance deal with the same consonant and vowel sounds. These three figures allow the advertiser to play with the sounds within the advertisement message to create euphony in order to make the slogans more noticeable. Besides, sound repetition also plays an essential role in memorization. The more the advertiser uses words with similar sounds in their advertisement slogan or key phrase, the more memorable they becomes.

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From the corpus data, I find out that there are also seven data (23%) that serve both functions of emphasizing the good point and making a nice and pleasant sound in it. Considering this finding, I believe that by combining both functions, it can help to achieve the goal of persuading potential consumers better. This technique can make the advertisement messages more effective and efficient at the same time. Furthermore, since it is also quite a challenging work to produce an advertisement that serves two functions all at once, in my opinion, by putting several forms of sound play that can also be used to highlight the best feature of a product will add an remarkably enticing style of writing to the advertisement.

Finally, I would like to propose some suggestions. Since this thesis is written with the concern of giving informative inputs to readers about rhetorical figures that are used in advertisements and how it helps the advertisements in persuading their potential consumers, it is expected that the readers can perceive the advertisements not as something that people commonly take for granted in printed media or the Internet, but also it can be a very interesting thing with so many complexities in its linguistic aspects, especially in the distinctive style of writing used in a commercial context. Besides, the topic of this thesis can still be extended. There are still many other figures of rhetoric or linguistic features that are interesting to be explored and worth investigating especially in advertisement media.

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BCBLCOGRAPHY

Primary sources

BWGRAYSCALE. (2016). Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg1m/adv_7517.JPG

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Emmn Stone - Revlon Colorstns [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/emma-stone/images/emma-stone-revlon-colorsta y.jpg

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Emmn Stone - Super LustrousTM _Lipgloss

[Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsement ads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/emma-stone/images/emma-sto ne-revlon-superlustrous-lipgloss.jpg

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Emmn Stone - Revlon Nnil Ennmel [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/emma-stone/images/emma-stone-revlon-nail-ena mel.jpg

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Hnlle Berrs - Revlon Photorends Primer, Shndo- + Spnrkle[Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsement ads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/halle-berry/revlon-photoready-p rimer-shadow.jpg

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Celebriy Endorsement Ads. (2011). Jessicn Albn Colorburst [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/ celebrities/ jessica-alba-colorburst.jpg

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Olivin Wilde - Revlon Colorstns Ultimnte Suede Lipstick [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrity endorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/olivia-wilde/revlon -colorstay-ultimate-suede-lipstick.jpg

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Olivin Wilde - Revlon Nnil Polish [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/olivia-wilde/revlon-nail-polish.jpg

Coolspotter. (n.d). Emmn Stone Revlon Photorends Airbrush Mousse Mnkeup [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.coolspotters.com/ actresses/emma-stone/and/health-beauty/revlon-photoready-airbrush-mous se-makeup/ media /2487997#medium-2487997

Fansshare. (n.d). Emmn Stone Revlon Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.fansshare.com/gallery/photos/16208121/emma-stone-wallpaper-photo-zombieland/?displaying

Global Customer. (n.d). Revlon PhotorendsTM _Mnkeup _Ads.

http://www.global-customer.com/revlon/revlon-photoready.html

Just Jared Jr. (n.d). Emmn Stone: Ne- Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.justjaredjr.com/photo-gallery/47mm21/emma-stone-new-revlon-ad s-01/

Magxone. (2011). Jessicn Albn Cosmetic Colorstns [Image]. Retrieved from

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Magxone. (2011). Jessicn Biel Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.magxone.com/uploads/2011/06/Jessica-Biel-Revlon-Eye-Shado w.jpg

Magxone. (2012). Hnlle Berrs Revlon Mnkeup Spring 2012 [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.magxone.com/uploads/2012/01/Halle-Berry-Revlon.jpg Pennstate. (2015). Culturnl Aspects Of Mnss Medin [Image]. Retrieved from

http://sites.psu.edu/comm411spring2015/2015/01/27/167/

People Style. (2012). Olivin Wilde, Emmn Stone Stun in Lntest Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2012/ 05/17/ revlon-new-ads-olivia-wilde-emma-stone/

Revlon Australia. (2012).Revlon Austrnlin: Ne- Revlon Photorends 3D VolumeTM

Mnscnrn [Image]. Retrieved from http://products.revlon. com.au/new-revlon-photoready-md-volumn-mascara/

Stylepinner. (n.d). List of Top Age Defsing Imnges [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.stylepinner.com/age-defying-ads/YWdlLWRlZnlpbmctYWRz/ Yahoo. (2014).It’s On: Revlon Debuts A Brnnd Ne- Look[Image]. Retrieved from

https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/its-on-revlon-debuts-a-brand-new-look-revlon-10291117968m.html

References

Arens, W. F. (2002). Contempornrs ndvertising. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Dyer, G. (1982).Advertising ns communicntion. London: Routledge.

Goddard, A. (1998).The lnngunge of ndvertising. London: Routledge, 1998. Print. Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford ndvnnced lenrner’s dictionnrs. (8th _{ed). Oxford:}

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Leech, G. N. & Short, M. H. (1981).Stsle in Fiction. London: Longman.

McQuarrie, E. F. & Mick, D. G. (1996). Figures of rhetoric in advertising language. The Journnl of Consumer Resenrch, 22(4):424-4m8. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1086/mm8211. pdf?seq=1#

Revlon. (2016). Revlon Fnct Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.revlon.com/ about/fact-sheet.

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Maranatha Christian University 28

BCBLCOGRAPHY

Primary sources

BWGRAYSCALE. (2016). Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg1m/adv_7517.JPG

Celebrity Endorsement Ads. (201m). Emmn Stone - Super LustrousTM _Lipgloss

[Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsement ads.com/celebrity-endorsements/celebrities/emma-stone/images/emma-sto ne-revlon-superlustrous-lipgloss.jpg

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Celebriy Endorsement Ads. (2011). Jessicn Albn Colorburst [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/ celebrities/ jessica-alba-colorburst.jpg

Coolspotter. (n.d). Emmn Stone Revlon Photorends Airbrush Mousse Mnkeup

[Image]. Retrieved from http://www.coolspotters.com/ actresses/emma-stone/and/health-beauty/revlon-photoready-airbrush-mous se-makeup/ media /2487997#medium-2487997

Fansshare. (n.d). Emmn Stone Revlon Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.fansshare.com/gallery/photos/16208121/emma-stone-wallpaper-photo-zombieland/?displaying

Global Customer. (n.d). Revlon PhotorendsTM _Mnkeup _Ads_.

http://www.global-customer.com/revlon/revlon-photoready.html

Just Jared Jr. (n.d). Emmn Stone: Ne- Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.justjaredjr.com/photo-gallery/47mm21/emma-stone-new-revlon-ad s-01/

Magxone. (2011). Jessicn Albn Cosmetic Colorstns [Image]. Retrieved from

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Maranatha Christian University m0

Magxone. (2011). Jessicn Biel Revlon Ads [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.magxone.com/uploads/2011/06/Jessica-Biel-Revlon-Eye-Shado w.jpg

http://sites.psu.edu/comm411spring2015/2015/01/27/167/

People Style. (2012). Olivin Wilde, Emmn Stone Stun in Lntest Revlon Ads

[Image]. Retrieved from http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2012/ 05/17/ revlon-new-ads-olivia-wilde-emma-stone/

Revlon Australia. (2012).Revlon Austrnlin: Ne- Revlon Photorends 3D VolumeTM

Mnscnrn [Image]. Retrieved from http://products.revlon. com.au/new-revlon-photoready-md-volumn-mascara/

https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/its-on-revlon-debuts-a-brand-new-look-revlon-10291117968m.html

References

Arens, W. F. (2002). Contempornrs ndvertising. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Dyer, G. (1982).Advertising ns communicntion. London: Routledge.

Goddard, A. (1998).The lnngunge of ndvertising. London: Routledge, 1998. Print. Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford ndvnnced lenrner’s dictionnrs. (8th _{ed). Oxford:}

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Leech, G. N. & Short, M. H. (1981).Stsle in Fiction. London: Longman.

McQuarrie, E. F. & Mick, D. G. (1996). Figures of rhetoric in advertising language.

The Journnl of Consumer Resenrch, 22(4):424-4m8. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1086/mm8211. pdf?seq=1#

Revlon. (2016). Revlon Fnct Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.revlon.com/ about/fact-sheet.

Analysis of the Rhetorical Figures in Revlon Advertisements.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

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BCBLCOGRAPHY

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Analysis of the Rhetorical Figures in Revlon Advertisements.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

BCBLCOGRAPHY

BCBLCOGRAPHY

Parts

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