Advertising is any form of paid communication with the purpose of motivating a consumer to purchase a product or service; it can also be designed to influence public opinion, to win political support, to sell an idea or a cause, or to cause people to act or think and perhaps influence others in the manner desired by the client. The main goal of advertising is to motivate or persuade people to do what the client wants, usually to buy a particular product or service; among the media used to accomplish this are radio, television, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards, posters, catalogs, and brochures. Accomplishing this task requires the ability to communicate, but this communication often takes the form of manipulation of images and of language. The first task of the advertiser is to get the consumer's attention, which is often accomplished by eliciting some emotion, playing on a fear, or using humor. Television advertising often has a shock value intended to gain immediate attention and to be memorable, and print ads such as those for Benetton are using the same technique. Print advertising uses striking images, and television advertising uses special effects, both with the same end in mind -- getting attention and making the consumer remember the message.
The language chosen can be as important as the image in creating a mood, evoking a fear, or making a joke that the consumer will remember. Alan C. Harris notes that advertisers have a rhetorical purpose which can be defined as the presentation and exhibition of a product or service and the exhortation and coercion of potential buyers:
Moreover, advertisers want potential purchasers to consider what is advertised to the exclusion of all other similar products or services. They therefore attempt to construct an advertisement that will fully involve the attention of the potential purchaser and which will have a suasive effect (Harris 22).
The advertiser sets ...