Aesthetic Study on English Advertising Language

孫重陽

Abstract：With the rapid development of economy as well as science and technology， advertisements have become a part of peoples life， which can be seen at nearly every corner around the world， TV， bus， cinema， shop， or even the clothes we wear， from which we can see a variety of advertisements. Advertisements are adopted to attract customers attention to a certain product， aiming to convince consumers and persuade them to spend their money on the goods. Advertisers are trying to gain more profits from customers， so they create some forms of advertising， like sound， video， and even in the movie or inviting some celebrity to do advertising through his or her influence on the public. Thus， there is no doubt that advertising is an essential factor for sales promotion in the modern society. So far， there have been a number of studies on advertising， such as， the cooperative principle in advertising， the perspective of semiotics in advertising， etc. However， this thesis focuses on the study of aesthetics on English advertising language.

Key words：English advertising； Aesthetics； The principle of language use

1. Introduction

With the improvement of peoples living conditions， the advertisement plays a very important role in their daily life. It has exerted a great effect on almost every field of the society， for example， when we watch TV， listen to the radio， read newspapers or magazines， go shopping and look at the advertising board in the transport station， advertising can be seen everywhere. The research on advertisements has always been undertaking in that advertisements have been closely related to our lives.

It is generally considered that advertising， as an excellent way of sales promotion， is a special way of inducing， with the purpose of persuading customers to pay for the goods. To do this， advertisers often adopt a series of strategic measures or innovation in the advertisements to draw the consumers interests， from which it can be inferred that the language in advertising is undoubtedly the key section in advertisements. In order to fulfill the purpose， to use aesthetics that was mentioned byAlexander Gottlieb Baumgarten to advertising language is essential， which can become the theoretical foundation of this study. There is a question about aesthetics， “What is beauty”. As for the question， many factors should be taken into consideration. Therefore， the thesis will study the theory of aesthetics about advertising language to solve the complex issue.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Definition of Aesthetics

Terry Eagleton（1990） provides a clear definition of Aesthetics， which may be defined as the concept of beauty in the narrow way， or the philosophy of art in the broad way. Aesthetics of philosophy is generally considered to concentrate on the developments of the latter day. Therefore， after the research on the ideas of beauty as well as some related definitions and questions about the aesthetic value， the various attitudes of aesthetics will be dealt with. That will definitely account for the research about some major definitions concerning art that have already been suggested.

Thus， aesthetics， as an academic theory， can be judged from two important ways， one is the broad way， as well as one is the narrow way. For the broad way， it is a concept of the appreciation of beauty， beauty of everything in nature. For the narrow way， it can be applied into a variety of areas or aspects in life and can link them together， giving aesthetics and its objects a new form of meaning， context and situation. For instance， when aesthetics is adopted in the advertising slogan， the slogan is sure to be enriched and polished， so the advertising slogan is meaningful， vivid， thought-provoking and attractive. In this way， the advertiser can get more and more target consumers to buy the products of the company. As we all know， the advertising slogans for Coca cola and Pepsi cola have used the method for sales promotion. For example， the theme of the advertising slogan for Coca cola is to bring love to home， which is really a moving advertisement， and the theme just meets the desire of the wide consumers in the modern busy and panic society. And the slogan for Pepsi Cola is very original and encouraging， which inspires people to follow their dreams and never say die. So the slogan itself has some power to convince its consumers to by the product with its unique power of appeal. At the same time， with the improvement and change of our life， the definition of aesthetics is successively given to the new ideas. As we all know， things will change and life will step forward. The effective use of aesthetics in distinctive fields will be continually given to new styles.

2.2 Aesthetic Value

Aesthetics is worthwhile for people to study， because it has its own value. Barry Hartley Slater once mentioned the aesthetic value in The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy （IEP）. Besides， in the fields of art， the fields of science， the fields of music， the fields of politics， the fields of architecture， as well as language study， such theories and ideas of aesthetic value can also be taken into consideration.

In addition， due to the different cultures and backgrounds， the understanding of aesthetic value is various form each person. All in all， it is necessary for learners to analyze and research the implications of aesthetics， which can be studied in different angles because of the different surroundings.

Aesthetics， in different times， has different standards for appreciating beauty， but the philosophic meaning of aesthetics is to the pursuit of its enlightenment to the people. Here， it is necessary to emphasize that aesthetics is not equal to the subject about art， but it is the study of aesthetic problems of fundamentality and universality. So don't think that aesthetics is to teach people how to appreciate music or how to enjoy the paintings.

It can help people understand beauty and its appreciation of thing， which improves people's aesthetic appreciation ability and adapts them to the society. Through the aesthetic experience to study and research activities on beauty， aesthetics has the same feature with humanitarianism of Marxism， which is based on the common principles： they are walking a common road to freedom； therefore， they regard people's liberation degree as a symbol of the level of realization of human nature. They all think that the realization of freedom， that is， the existence of the people and the sanctions of unity， the unity of the individual and the whole， limited and infinite unity， social and natural unity， thinking and the existence of unity. And this unity is beauty in the state of experience， so the beauty can express the unity of art and human （Hegel G.W.F， 1955）.

Aesthetics can let us understand the root of the beauty so as to better pursue the beauty， experience the beauty and create the beauty. Every day of our life is a constant process of pursuing the beauty as well as creating the beauty unconsciously.

Besides， aesthetics can enable us to establish the correct aesthetic view and can enable us to look at the world in a unique vision.

Last but not least， aesthetics can help people to master the law of aesthetic activity and improve the ability of appreciating and creating.

3. The Exploration of Aesthetics in English Advertising Language

3.1 The Beauty of Lexis in Advertising Language

Lexis plays an important part in advertising language and meanwhile， it can also reflect the ideas of the advertisers indirectly.

So， it is clear that the lexis is the core in advertising language， just like the body of human beings. Take the following sentence as the example.

Example 4：

Feast your eyes.

（Ponds Cucumber Eye Treatment）

This is the advertising slogan of Ponds Cucumber Eye Treatment， a company for eyes protection. The language it uses is proper and artful， because it can be translated as the version： “feast” means moisturizing， and “eyes” means the window of heart. So， the slogan means “moisturizing the window of heart”. It is beautiful in its language use， which quotes the appropriate words to explain the slogan. The advertising language looks veritable and meaningful， which arouses consumers imagination and curiosity， so that it reaches the purpose of attracting them to buy the goods.

3.2 The Beauty of Syntax in Advertising Language

As public is the consuming group of advertising， so， everyone in the community may be consumers. Therefore， the sentence used in advertising language should be popular， easy to accept and understood by the consumers. Meanwhile， it is also necessary for advertisers to consider the psychological feelings of consumers. The tedious advertising language will give people a sense of boredom， so it is a must to strive to use advertising slogan to seize the consumer s sight. Besides， let the slogan unfold the advantages of products， which will cause the consumer s interest and arouse their desire to purchase. In the use of advertising language， it is essential to fully grasp the original sentence structure， so that the lauguage can show the similar aesthetic effects， and play the best role in the sales promotion.

Example 5：

Live well， snack well

（SnackWells）

The advertising slogan is intended for consumers living happily as well as enjoying the delicious cookies. The slogan is simple and convincing. Besides， it uses a short pun to let the slogan smooth， concise， and easy for people to read， remember and understand. On the one hand， it shows concern from advertisers to consumers； on the other hand， it implies a kind of sales strategy by using “snack well”， which in other words indicates that consumers should eat this brand of snack as much as possible. Besides， the words “snack well” stand for the company， and the advertisers adopt the technique of pun to express that the company has the power to let people eat tasty cookies and make their life better.

3.3 The Beauty of Rhetoric in Advertising Language

Rhetorical devices can make the advertising language more artistic. Rhetoric is the artistic use of language with the use of various image means and expressional methods， making the discourse lively， and fully expresses their feelings and ideas. Good advertising often enhances its appeal through a certain modification， gathering emotion and aesthetics as a whole.

So， the advertising language should show the connotation and charm of the central text with the vivid and powerful emotional effect to overwhelm people.

So as we can summarize from the perspective that in the practical use of rhetoric in advertisement， different rhetoric devices should be used to enhance its appeal and artistic ability. This can decorate the advertising slogan and achieve the purpose of its commercial intention. It is also called a figure of speech.

The following is the example.

Example 6：

Sweet， Smart &Sassy

（Sunkist Orange Company）

These three adjective words all begin with the letter “s”， and the whole advertising slogan looks precise with alliteration and easy to remember. Plus， the slogan for advertising is full of imagination and innovation so that it can reach the goal of fostering the potential clients to feel interested in this company. This is the first step and the most important step for making the company well known. It is a good helper for consumers to know about the company through the original advertising slogan. And it is also a good way to learn the running style of the company as well as its culture.

Alliteration can be applied to many aspects. It is good for sound rhyme， musical effect and significant emphasis. Using proper alliteration can add vividness to the language. In addition， it can help to highlight the main point and deepen the impression on readers.

4. Conclusion

The thesis presents some basic information of aesthetics， which can cultivate the readers ability of appreciation， so that they can know how to taste the beauty of things in life and nature. It is known that the advertising is important for humans life， so the thesis shows the related knowledge about the advertisement and its principles of language application， and meanwhile， some examples are listed. From the above content， it can be easily grasped the way for appreciation of English advertising language and some cautions for the usage.

【References】

[1] Baumgarten， A.G. （1983）. Aesthetica， Germany： Meiner Press.

[2] Cook， G. （1992）. The Discourse of Advertising， London &New York： Routledge.

[3] Chernyshevsky N. G. （1855）. Life and Aesthetics， Russia： Moscow University Press.

[4] Eagleton，T.（1990）. The Ideology of the Aesthetic， Blackwell： Oxford University Press.

[5] 范亞剛（Fan，Yagang）. 廣告語言與信息[M]. 北京： 軍事譯文出版社， 2000.

[6] 方 薇（Fang，Wei）. 現代英語廣告教程[M]. 南京： 南京大學出版社， 1997.