ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY – LEBANON
You B Lovin' it: Language Analysis of Mc Donald’s advertisement
RESEARCH SUBMITTED TO
DR HAYAT AL-KHATIB
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF
UNITED KINGDOM OPEN UNIVERSITY/ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY
BACHELOR DEGREE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Alissar Wajdi Salha
May 2010
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Introduction ----------------------------------------- p. 4
Chapter 2: Literature review ------------------------------------ p. 6
Chapter 3: Data collection --------------------------------------
p. 10
Chapter 4: Methodology ---------------------------------------- p. 11
4.1 Data Presentation
4.2 Ethical issues
4.3 Data Analysis
Chapter 5: Findings and Interpretation ------------------------------------ p.13
Chapter 6: Conclusion ----------------------------------------- p.26
References ---------------------------------------------------------- p. 27
Appendix
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Acknowledgments
Sincere thanks go to Dr. Hayat Al-Khatib for her insightful guidance and earnest help
through the searching, analysis and paper-writing stages.
Special thanks to my parent for love and support.
I would like to thank my friends Rami and Maya for their help and for encouraging me
and giving useful advice.
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Introduction
Advertisement is mostly done in English. Advertisement has unique features; simple
language and immense attraction. The success of advertisement can be identified by
assessing the effectiveness of these components in transmitting the messages.
Advertising has different functions. First, to provide information;
Second to attract consumers; third to exploit the market; finally to guarantee the
quality in the product. Hence, advertisement must pay attention to its
language.
Advertising language is different from common language .It has its
own features in morphology, syntax, and rhetorical devices .There are
different types of advertisements , they vary according to their target audience , the
product or other aspects.
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Aim of investigation
The aim is to analyze the features of different kinds of advertisements, to
find out the characteristics that make advertisements successful:
*The types of language the advertisers use to promote their product.
*What is the effect of language forms and language structures in specific advertisements.
*How do advertisers in Mc Donald’s use language structures and features to convince
consumers to buy their product?
*Analysis and explanation of language forms and structures and features and their
relationship to textual purpose.
*Understanding advertisement analysis of the features ad compositional structures of
visual images.
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Literature Review
Advertisement can be approached through semiotic. In semiotics, the
basic unit of communication is the sign, which is made up of a signifier (for
our purposes here, the linguistic or visual representation) and a signified (the
concept it represents).
Signs are culturally situated – they mean different things to members of a language
community or wider society. For Peirce, the sign also comprises signifier and signified,
but he divides signs themselves into three types. Symbolic signs are those where the
signifier does not resemble the signified – meaning is arbitrary and culturally learnt and
understood (such as the use of the color red for a Stop sign, or a linguistic sign – the word
‘cat’ for the animal). Iconic signs are those where a resemblance can be perceived, such
as a portrait of someone. Indexical signs often have some kind of causal relationship
between signifier and signified: smoke is an index of fire.
The semiotics analysis of images and other nonverbal signs is made much more
effective by some of Peirce’s distinctions. Although language is the most striking form of
human sign production, the whole of our social world is pervaded by messages which
contain visual as well as linguistic signs, or which are exclusively visual. There is a
material signifier expressing sign, and a mental concept, a signified, which immediately
accompanies it. Visual signs also belong to coder, are arranged in syntagms, and selected
from paradigms.
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Such words can stimulate envy, dreams and desires by evoking looks, touch, taste,
smell, and sounds without actually misrepresenting a product. Among the adjectives,
“new” is probably the favorite one. According to the research of choice of words in
advertising by linguist G. N. Leech, the most frequently used 20 words are:
1. New 2.good/best
3.free 4.fresh 5.delicious 6.full 7.sure 8.clean 9.wonderful
10.special 11.crisp 12.fine 13.big
14.great 15.real 16.easy 17.bright 18.extra
19.safe 20.rich
The interrogative sentence is very favorable in advertising copy writing. According to
statistics, there is an interrogative sentence among every 30 sentences. In the explanation
of the high frequency of the use of interrogative sentences, Linguist G.N. Leech , (1997)
discusses two main functions of interrogative sentences.
From Critical Discourse Analysis perspective , Fairclough (1992)regards “discourse”
as language use ,a form of social practice rather than an individual activity or a reflex of
situational variables. This implies that discourse is a mode of social action and
representation, and relates to social structure dialectically” (Fairclough 1992:63-64).From
this view, discourse isn’t only shaped by social structure , but also socially constitutive of
“social identities”, “social relationships” and “system of knowledge and belief”
.According to Fairclough (1992:64-65), this conception social construction in discourse
can be realized in Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics ,in which “social identities”
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and “system of knowledge and belief ”correspond to “ideational” function and “social
relation” to interpersonal “function”.
Halliday (1994) agrees with the social aspects of discourse in Faircloughs CDA
mentioning that a text is created by its context , the semiotic environment of people and
their activities that we have construed via the concepts of field ,tenor and mode ;it also
creates that context .In more detail ,Halliday sees language as” a complex semiotic
system , having various levels, or strata” ,particularly , broadly three levels: Semantics
lexico grammar. In particular, in relation take content level, language helps us make
sense of our experience and carry out our interactions with other people: the experience
and interpersonal relationships are transformed into meaning, then the meaning is
transformed into wording- these could be the way around from the point of view of a
speaker (writer) or listener (reader). In this regard, a text is modeled as the simultaneous
exchange of 3 types of meaning or metafunction _ ideational meaning about construction
and representation of the experience in the worlds ,interpersonal meanings(meaning
about the enactment of social relations and the construction of social identities )and
textual meanings (meaning about the message, the specifically semiotic-textual form of
productive practice). The meanings are realized by clauses(or rather clauses as part of
clause complexes )and every clause is displayed as constitution of grammatical systems,
such as transitivity, mood and modality, and theme, corresponding to the 3 Meta
functions above respectively. As a consequence, according to fairclaugh “the social is
built into the grammatical tissue of language so that the semiotic constitution by the
social and the social is constantly at issue in language analysis”.
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Among these 3 Meta functions, transitivity and appraisal which correspond to
ideational and interpersonal Meta functions respectively will be used for analysis through
the study. Transitivity is represented a configuration of a process, participants and
circumstances (Halliday 1994). In particular, this is ‘the grammar of processes’
(Halliday) the process types, which correspond to verbal groups in clauses, determines
the experiential configuration in the system of transitivity. Appraisal analysis examines
attitudinal meanings, encoding feelings, attitudes and judgments through the lexical
choices such as verbal groups, nominal groups, adjectival and adverbial groups.
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The collected data:
My data based on pictures I found to show how the picture interacts with verbal data
to transmit the message. The data of my project are advertisements of MC Donald’s.
Each advertisement represents a specific ideology through the language used as the text
in association to the visual element as the picture.
Since in working with printed material that is intended for public display there will be
no need for privacy and approval from the advertising department of MAC Donald’s. The
participant names in the questionnaire will not be acknowledged in order to keep their
views anonymous.
Ethical issue
Our analysis the text both visually and grammatically .Visually by analyzing the
themes behind pictures and what message they are trying to convey. From the
Grammatical perspective I will analysis the syntax of the advertisements. How the
message works with the picture to unify the theme of the advertisement.
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Methodology
Every approach to studying language is coupled with a different methodology that is
appropriate for its aims and purpose. first ,Ferdinand De Sessuare model of
communication in order to convey the messages that are put in the advertisement. Second
through Micheal Halliday model and finally, Fairclough model.
A first research strategy is Semiotics relies on an understanding of social and cultural
connotations to find the meaning of the linguistic or visual sign in the text.
De Saussure organized signs into codes: paradigms and syntagms. The dimensions of
paradigms and syntagms are often presented as axes, where the vertical axis is
paradigmatic and the horizontal axis syntagmatic. Advertising discourse can also be
presented on two axes: that of text and of context.
We equate context with a paradigm, and text with a syntagm.
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Fairclough (1992:87) insists that ideologies are “signification / constructions of
reality (the physical world, social relations ,social identities ) ,which are built into
various dimensions of the form/meanings of discursive practices , which contributes to
the production , reproduction or transformation of relations of domination”. As a
consequence, meanings and linguistically formal features of text s maybe ideologically
invested.
The change in Mac Donald’s discourse will be discussed in relation to ideological
aspects , since ideology may influence in building formal linguistic features and meaning
in discourse.
There are two major methodologies which are the quantitative and qualitative
methodologies. Quantitative research, draw conclusions that are based on evidence taken
from data .While, the corpus linguistic is quantitative methodology its depends on
linguistic statistical data. A researcher use of the findings to conjure up reasons why we
use the language in the way we do.
Functional grammar is qualitative strategy it focuses how language works. In
structural grammar, there are basic structural labels for parts of speech such as a noun,
verb, adjective…
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Findings and Interpretation
The first step is to use popular and oral language to make it easy to memorize and
understand. Advertising English must be compact, vivid , visual ,emotional and
attractive. Therefore, morphology in advertising is quite different from common English.
Where people prefer to eat at?
31 50.00%
Mc Donald’s
KFC
17 27.42%
Pizza Hut
10 16.13%
These are bad for you! Health
foods all the way!!!
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Does people like logo”M"?
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6.45%
Questionnaire shows that Mc Donald’s they use language to sell their product, words
used in ads of Mc Donald’s should be clear, and true. Language could be used to affect
people and make advertisement more attractive .In addition to that, advertisements in
should use the right and the right act. Finally, the language is affecting our cultural
believes so, it should be more studied
A study of vocabulary used in advertising listed the most common adjectives and verbs in
order of frequency. They are:
Adjectives
Verbs
1.
new
1.
make
2.
good/better/best
2.
get
3.
free
3.
give
4.
fresh
4.
have
5.
delicious
5.
see
6.
full
6.
buy
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7.
sure
7.
come
8.
clean
8.
go
9.
wonderful
9.
know
10.
special
10.
keep
11.
crisp
11.
look
12.
fine
12.
need
13.
big
13.
love
14.
great
14.
use
15.
real
15.
feel
16.
easy
16.
like
17.
bright
17.
choose
18.
extra
18.
take
19.
safe
19.
start
20.
rich
20.
taste
Good and new were over twice as popular as any other adjective.
-Lexical feature of Mc Donald’s advertising Language
Use of First and Second Personal Pronouns
Pronouns of the first and second person: “we”, “I” and “you” outnumber the other
pronouns in advertisements. It is because that “you”, “we” and “I” help create a friendlike intimate atmosphere to move and persuade the audience. Advertisements with lots of
pronouns of the first and second person are called gossip advertisements .The use of
second person addressee “you” tends to shorten the distance between the product or the
producer and consumers, as if the producer or the advertiser is speaking to you face to
face, making sincere promises, honest recommendations. In addition to that, the
advertising slogans stand a better chance to move the receiver or customers to action,
because the receiver feels that he is being thought of and taken care of and he is the
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center point of the producers.
Use of Emotive or Evaluative Adjectives
As an example: New Big Meal…..
Among these words, “new” is the most common one, which shows people’s desire for
original idea and fresh concept. An American advertising expert once said, “The most
powerful words you can use in a headline are free and new.”
Use of Compound Words
A compound word can be composed of all parts of speech and the arranging of words is
very flexible, therefore admen can fully take the advantage of it and make the
advertisement copy more creative. A compound word in ad can be a. + n.; adv. + n.; v +
ing + a; n + v + ed; adv + v. + ing.
Use of Coined Words
Coined words are both new and memorable. Coined words are kind of smart words
that have special meaning in the specified context. They can raise the interests of the
advertisement headline receivers, make them ponder upon the meaning and marvel at the
smart idea of the admen. They recognize the brand.
For example: Food: What could be dilisher than fisher?
Frequent Use of Simple Sentences
Advertisers often use simple sentences to make a message more striking. The
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advertising readers would not give too much time on advertisement reading and they are
often impatient to read long and complex sentences. In addition, short and simple
sentences can bring succinct and confident feeling to the reader.
All the sentences in advertisement of Mc Donald’s are very simple and oral. And the
longest sentence in it has no more than 27 words while on average there are only 8 words
in one sentence. Moreover, the sentences are easy to understand and read natural and
friendly.
As an example: I’m love in it
Interrogative Sentences
Interrogative sentences decrease the grammatical difficulty, because they are usually
short in advertisements.
Imperative Sentences
Imperative sentences give a command or make a request. And they are usually short
and powerful sentences. Although it’s just a few words, the admen don’t let it go at that.
They use every opportunity to exhort the potential customers to act, to buy and to
consume. It is the most direct way to achieve the ideal effect. So come into McDonald's
and enjoy a Big Mac Sandwich (-Mac Sandwich)Imperative sentence.
Use of the Active Voice
Admen are fond of the active voice instead of the passive voice. Passive voice is
usually avoided because it gives the audience an indirect and unnatural feeling. In daily
communication, passive voice is seldom used; so is in advertisements.
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There are two problems with the passive voice. Sentences often become dense and
clumsy when they’re filled with passive constructions. The more serious danger of the
passive voice, though, is that it lets the writer shirk the responsibility of providing a
subject for the verb.
Use of the Present Tense
The present tense prevails in most advertisements because it implies a universal
timelessness. On the occasions where the present tense or the present perfect tense is
used, it stresses the long traditions associated with a product
A rhetorical approach to advertising language will rest on three premises:
1) that variations in the style of advertising language, in particular the presence of
rhetorical figures, can be expected to have important consequences for how the ad is
processed.
2) that these consequences can in turn be derived from the formal properties of the
rhetorical figures them-selves.
3) that these formal properties are systematically interrelated.
Let discuss the example below:
1. Well make hotter, fresher food that’s better tasting.
2. Well serve customers faster, make sure they get what they ordered and be
friendlier while doing it.
3. This has many facets an important one is food tastes.
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4. So, were looking a tour menu to make sure it has the taste you want at a price you
want to pay.
5. Make customers happy with everyday low prices and outstanding restaurant
operation.
Example one food is evaluate as “hotter”, “fresher”and better tasting ,example 5
describes emotions of (customers) as “happy” by the means of appreciated( food).In the
lexical items “the taste u want at a price you want to pay”(attribute)in example 4,interm
of transitivity ,”the taste” is qualified by “you want at a price you want to pay” as an
embedded clause, and again “a price” is also qualified by “u want to pay”. Here, the taste
and the price of food are depending on the happiness from (customers).In example 5”with
every low price” circumstances: manner means is represented as food, to be used to cause
happiness of customers. As a consequence , Mc Donald’s as attributor makes food and
customers very closely connected by the embedding or the circum stances .Furthermore
,particularly ,in relation to taste. In example 3interm of transitivity Mc Donald’s
identifies “food tastes” token as” important one “(value) with thematizing “important
one”. It doesn’t simply mean the “food tastes” is important , but mean that food tastes is
the key element to make the value gap which is the second priority in Mc Donald’s
business .Also importantly ,Mc Donald’s its self senses food and consumers wants and
likes, realized by high probability of modality in 2 clauses complexes(example 2,3).
In example 1 and 2 workers is represented as a plural pronoun ‘we’. This inevitably
collapses the massive differences between employer and employee or between boss and
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workers and in doing so creates an ideological relation between customers and workers
and also food and workers.
Mc Donald’s focuses on its ‘taste’ to attract more customers into the restaurant. In this
relation, a customer is construed as a key factor to make decision on food to increase
McDonald’s market share.
1. Keep your eye on the fries when we refer to the first challenge.
2. Clearly, we are keeping our eyes on our fries.
In example 1, the clausal expression “Keep your eye on the fries” leads the readers
to implicitly evaluate food with is the core business of Mc Donald’s as in moral aspects
(judgment, propriety). In eg.2, the moral evaluation on food is more focused and
convinced by the lexical item ‘Clearly’ graduation (focus) which means that Mc Donald’s
keeps, focusing on its care business to ensure that it makes more profits.
In constructing the relationships, it has used different ideological strategies with
turning its attention from mainly its products and customers into new social and cultural
matter and issues.
The choice of vocabulary in a persuasive advertisement would give the people certain
information when having to know the advertisement into another language and culture.
Semiotics is a well-established approach to the study of language and other forms of
communication which are socially and culturally meaningful. Its fundamental premise is
that we use signs – words (both spoken and written), images, clothing, gesture – to
communicate meaning. Formalism focused on the form and structure of language, the
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message for its own sake, and evolved into structuralism. A semiotic framework is
applicable to language, images, photographs, diagrams – any aspect of the text which
can be seen to carry meaning. Semiotics also helps to account for meaning created by
letterforms, typeface and page layout – often highly creative elements of the text which
lie outside what linguists often admit as ‘language’.
Signs in an advertisement
The arches were a design to be used in a building and that has created the unique
nature of the “M”. It does rely on colour, in that you might not recognize it as
McDonald’s if it was not yellow and red
The psychology of the colours used is another widely discussed topic, especially when
it comes to advertising. The red is believed to be the colour of aggressiveness, passion,
vitality, and strength. Furthermore, it is known to raise blood pressure and evoke hunger.
The McDonald’s logo is using a loosely analogous colour palette with a dominant
yellow. “Yellow, much like red, can have conflicting messages. It can represent sunshine
and happiness or caution and cowardice. Yellow is bright and highly visible which is why
it can often be found on caution and other road signs. Yellow is often used in logo design
to get attention, create happiness and warmth.” May be that is why most of McDonald’s
road signs are lighted in bright yellow, while the interior of the restaurants is usually
accompanied by red couches and accessories.(EXTRACT 1)
Baby McFry is a photograph of a toddler. On the level of denotation, then, we
could say it denotes that particular child, wearing those particular clothes, at the
particular time the photograph was taken. On the connotative level, though, the image
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is complex. It is made up of component signs. Connotations evoked by signs are not
universal – different people may read any image in different ways. Images also require
some interpretative effort on the part of the reader: the more time you spend looking at
them, the more you will probably see. For example, you may look at Baby McFry and
immediately recognize the McDonald's corporate logo (known as the ‘Golden Arches’,
due to the shape of the letter M). It is one of the best known logos in the world. You
might then decide that the bib and hat are significant – for you, these may connote
pleasure, distaste, or neither, but quite possibly a feeling you associate with a trip to
McDonald's.
Bignell also discusses codes in his reading, a discussion which relates to the
principle of selection and combination .Signs are selected from a paradigm – a set
of possible signs in a given category, such as nouns, jackets, colures. Here we have
a white (not Asian or Black for example) child (not a man, not an adolescent, not a
grandfather), with a McDonald's bib (not a different bib), and so on. These are
combined along the syntagm – in a sentence, this would be the linear order of the
words, but in an image it is the spatial arrangement. Because on the paradigmatic
and syntagmatic axes elements have been selected and combined, it is often
illuminating to consider what elements were not selected, and how a different
combination would have changed the meaning.
All the advertisement actually shows (denotes) is a fairly plump-looking baby,
probably between 12 and 18 months old, wearing a McDonald's bib and a paper hat
with an image of chips printed on it. So it would be quite possible to read this as an
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advertisement for McDonald's itself, or as a children's party invitation, or a family
snap.
McDonald's is a global brand; many people know that it has been targeted by anticapitalism activists, who raise concerns about the environmental damage they
believe stems from the production of ‘fast food’; by those who want to replace what
have been termed ‘Mc Jobs’ with better long-term career options and pay for young
people; by health professionals concerned with the projected rise in obesity
attributable, in part, to excessive consumption of fast food; and by those concerned
that the global expansion of McDonald's rides roughshod over local cultural
traditions. When viewing this advertisement, you may or may not have access to all
of this background information. Your interpretation of this spoof advertisement
therefore depends on your recognition (or not) of at least some of the current
controversies, your attitudes towards them, and perhaps your attitudes to advertising
in general. Your experience of such texts (and indeed any other text) is dependent
also on your cultural context, and social and political factors: you may be fully
aware of the opposition to McDonald's but think it entirely unreasonable. We return
later to this point in Reading B, where the meanings of the words and images in
postcolonial picture books are discussed.(EXTRACT 2)
McDonalds’ wish to all Islamic nations including Morocco “Aid Mubarak”:(Extract
3).
Very important aspect of the globalization of McDonalds in Morocco is the
certification of Halal meat. Actually, religion is taken into consideration by the
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corporation in order to make people eat in its restaurants. Culinary specialties proposed
by McDonalds are definitely respecting the culture, the religion and the expectations of
Moroccans. Eating Halal meat is primordial within Moroccan society. Thus, McDonalds
Morocco is offering and promoting for its 100% Halal meat by writing it clearly in all
advertisements and restaurants. The selection of suppliers is made in respect of these
values, based on the advice of experts in agriculture, microbiologists, nutritionists and
specialists in the food industry as clarified by Adam Wade in Aujourd’hui le Maroc. The
regular audits are conducted in the centers of production and distribution in which
McDonald's Morocco purchase. Hygiene is an essential aspect for the group. Strict rules
concerning restaurants and kitchens are designed to be regularly cleaned and sanitized
according to severe procedures. In fine, Moroccans would appreciate how McDonalds is
strictly following home’s values and traditions.
One example that illustrates strongly that McDonalds try to connect local tastes and
needs to its base products is offering the Mc Arabia to Moroccan consumers. The Mc
Arabia describes “as a new sandwich added to its well-loved menu in the Arabic region”.
Actually, it is described that Mc Arabia Grilled Kofta ad Chicken is another fruit of
customers' demands for a sandwich that is rich in local taste. The new sandwich is made
of two patties of grilled Kofta dressed with tahina sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and onions; all
wrapped in Arabic bread explains the McDonalds Arabia website. Concerning its
advertisement, its name in Moroccan billboards is written in Arabic; in fact, that word is
a transliteration of the English word "Arabia" rendering it as: ‫أراﺑﻴﺎ‬, as opposed to maybe
using the Arabic word ‫ﻋﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬.
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McDonald’s advertizes by globalizing the way in which its restaurants are used.
McDonalds is adapting the architecture, the design, and the decoration of the restaurant to
local culture. Inspired by local architecture, Mc Donald's Fez has a terrace with views
over the Medina and is decorated with polychrome zelliges, carved wood… which
characterizes the Moroccan city. In Morocco, the menu of McDonalds is not totally
different from the one in the USA or European countries, but the restaurants are
presented as local places to linger, often for hours, over a snack. It organizes children's
birthday parties and employs female receptionists who deal with children and talk to
parents. McDonalds Morocco advertizing is based on the local culture by using local
decorations in its restaurants.(Extract 4)
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Conclusion
Education is the key of successful advertisement .Through knowing skills of language
which are linguistics and functional grammar analysis of language then language become
persuade and clear to people to understand the ideas and words or realize how an
ideology held.
Language has a powerful influence over people and their behavior. This is especially
true in the fields of marketing and advertising. The choice of language to convey specific
messages with the intention of influencing people is vitally important. Visual content and
design in advertising have a very great impact on the consumer, but it is language that
helps people to identify a product and remember it.
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Reference:
Halliday, M.A.K, An Introduction to Functional Grammar.(second edition).London:
Arnold .1994(1995)
http://www.fask.unimainz.de/inst/iaa/anglophonie/second/biblio/Language%20and%20Power.pdf
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.html
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discovers and Social change. Cambridge Polity press.
Halliday. M.A.K. (1994). Introduction of functional grammar. London Edward Arnold
Halliday. M.A.K. and Mattniessen, C.(2004) .An introduction to functional grammar, 3rd
edition. New York: Oxford University Press
Text (Data):
•
Later to Share holders(2006)
•
http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/invest/pub/2006-Annual-Report.html
•
Later to Share holders(2006)
•
http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/invest/pub/annual-rpt-archives/1997-annval
•
Tutorial Reference: Al-khatib, H., 2010, E300.Book U210b.
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Extract 1
28
29
Extract 3
Extract 4
30