Miss-interpretation – The Language of Women’s Adverts

By Martha Williamson.

 

All adverts have similar purposes – to persuade and inform. These adverts have specific target audiences which influence the language used in them. One main audience is women.

One thing you might expect in an advert directed at women is the lexical field of beauty as there is a higher pressure for women than men to be beautiful above all other things. Another device incorporated into these adverts is sexual implications which fit into the idea that women have to be attractive and sexually desirable. Furthermore, these adverts use lots of adjectives to add detail into them and to entice the female viewer into buying their product.

Gile's accommodation theory suggests that we converge our way of speaking to fit in with whoever we are talking to. That can be applied to these adverts as the language used in them uses gender specific lexis and topics.

I took a look at the language of three adverts aimed at women. The first was Garnier BB Cream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAoRivMDdfM

This advert definitely tries to converge its way of speaking with the audience as the speaker says "getting the kids dressed" and "if only everything in the morning was as easy!" which is aimed at the most popular female archetype – the mother. A mother will have no trouble relating to trying to organise their children, get them to school on time, etc. The more the audience can relate to the advert, the more credible it is to them.

It also uses contractions and abbreviations such as "what's" and "wanna" to converge the way of speaking to that of a working class woman or to sound friendly and build a relationship with the viewer.

 

The second advert I looked at was Venus Razors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmQzkNoJt2Q

This uses basic advertising methods such as repetition. The speaker repeats the phrases "perfect match" and "For (adjective) you there's Venus…" which helps these ideas resonate with the consumer and stay in their heads. There's lots of adjectives used with feminine connotations such as "glam", "delicate" and "gorgeous". These also are a part of the lexical field of beauty. This lexical field is a main factor in women's adverts because they want to make their viewers doubt themselves and believe that their product can fix their problems.

 

The third advert I looked at was Herbal Essences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUtS5QKfpRk

This advert shamelessly uses sex to sell their product. Half the advert is filled with moaning from the female lead as she washes her hair. At the end they say "share your first time using herbal essences" which is a very transparent euphemism for sex. Sex sells – especially when it's a beautiful woman selling it. This leads the consumers to associate the shampoo with being sexually desirable and conventionally attractive.

The advert also uses imperatives such as "say yes", "share your first time" and rhetorical questions such as "have you heard?". These are classic persuasive features used to encourage the reader that their product is worth buying.

It also uses adjectives with positive connotations such as "smooth" and "irresistible" to sell you the product and the idea of beauty that comes with it.

 

In conclusion, many adverts aimed at women focus on beauty and covering imperfections. They include lots of details and adjectives that are perceived to be feminine and they're not afraid to use sex to sell their products.