International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture

2015; 2(3): 39-47

Published online June 10, 2015 (http://www.openscienceonline.com/journal/ijllc)

Persuasive Communication in Social Media

Advertising: A Case Study of Polish and English
Anna Kuzio*
Department of Humanities, Univeristy of Zielona Gora, Zielona Gora, Poland

Email address
a.kuzio@in.uz.zgora.pl

To cite this article

Anna Kuzio. Persuasive Communication in Social Media Advertising: A Case Study of Polish and English. International Journal of Language,
Literature and Culture. Vol. 2, No. 3, 2015, pp. 39-47.

Abstract
The communication of humanity has changed throughout the ages. Not only the language appears to become more and more
compact due to the lack of time in ever changing societies, but also it serves different aims than it used to serve in a remote past.
People tend to use modern technological devices which accompany them in their everyday routine as the tools enhancing their
instant communication. There appears to be a declining tendency in once popular text messaging, that has given its way to
modern means of distant communication by use of social media. These may be perceived as more convenient from the point of
view of speaker (or in this case writer), because he can exchange information not only by phone, but also with the use of
computer whomever he wants to. These appliances enable constant and rapid contact regardless the place one occupies. The
research aimed at presentation of major persuasion techniques used in online mass market cosmetics advertisements, uploaded in
the form of Page Post Ads on the social platform called Facebook. Five global skin-, hair-, and body-care brands have been
analyzed i.e. Avon, Garnier, Max Factor, Maybelline and Olay by means of persuasive rhetorical devices, functioning on
semantic, syntactic and pragmatic levels. An analysis has been inspired by theories by many linguists mentioned in the practical
part, as well as additional resources. The study was conducted in a way, to determine whether among the same number of similar
commercials in Polish and English, some analogies may be observed, and whether persuasive techniques seem to be international,
thus universal. Additionally, the research aimed at the specification of possible similarities and differences between these two
languages, categorization, exemplification, description of applied rhetorical figures, and drawing conclusions from analyzed
material.

Keywords
Deceptive Communication, Social Media, Advertising in CMC, Intercultural Communication

sharing (e.g.YouTube), voice networking (e.g. Skype),

1. Introduction
During the last decade there has been a significant
emergence of platforms on the Internet which are called
social media. This term, according to Ray Poynter (2010,
p.160), is difficult to define, but easy to recognize. Poynter
draws the distinctive line between social media and
standard types of media, describing those former as rather
paradigm based on the many-to-many model, contrary to
the one-to-many model of those latter. He states that there is
a vast range of types of this phenomena that embrace:
blogging, micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter), social networking
(e.g. Facebook, Mixi, Cyworld),Wikis (e.g.Wikipedia, the
collaborative encyclopaedia), social bookmarking (e.g.
Delicious and Digg), photo sharing (e.g. Flickr), video
music sharing (e.g. Last FM), product and service reviews
(e.g. TripAdvisor), virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life and
World of Warcraft), and multiplayer games (e.g. Farmville).
(Poynter, 2010 p. 160).
The kinds of social media listed above create an
unbelievably broad scope of possibilities for Internet users.
They can there watch videos for free, download e-books
and articles, subscribe to different channels in order to
regularly follow new posts uploaded on them, listen to the
music on-line, play games with other players without
leaving home, as well as share their own products such as
photos, works of art etc. All platforms which include the
word sharing in their name depends depend mainly on
uploading and downloading various items which have been
created by internet users. This activity gives them an
 International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture 2015; 2(3): 39-47 40

enormous opportunity to promote their skills for free, and opinions on the products/services, and thus get or receive
thus become well-known and draw financial benefits from some advice. It is believed that by the virtue of social
their work on-line. As it was stated by Varinder Taprial and interaction, through tagging and sharing links with other
Priya Kanwar (2012, p. 6) they gave rise to the all-inclusive people, the content is spread in at an unbelievable speed and
Internet in which its users are no longer silent, but have a hits a wider scope of the target audience than traditional mass
possibility to participate by creating their own content, media (ibid.). Moreover, by means of quick transfer of
share thoughts, exchange opinions and interact; thus information on the Internet, an average interlocutor may affect
communicate. Kuzio (2013, 2014) also believes that along and harm the reputation of known companies, productions (e.g.
with the birth of social media emerged also social change films, music etc.), and individuals by sharing their opinion
relating to the power obtained by people to communicate with one another. When the content is read the most often,
with the highly responsive audience on the Internet. By usually its content will be disclosed on the top of the website,
these means, people could by their own make decisions thus making it the most accessible for public view (e.g. on
upon services and products broadcasted in mass media, and Facebook, the most preferred message is honoured with so
thus share their opinions. Moreover, as the mentioned called likes, i.e. the more liked it is, the more likes it has)
authors claim, the average consumer became himself an (Picture 1).
influencer (precisely Soft Influencer) within his own
network recommending and enlisting products and services
he perceives acceptable. According to Taprial and Kanwar,
the persuasive potential of social media was not neglected
by powers (e.g. politicians, public figures, manufacturers,
media companies) who started to benefit from them, as by
the free manner of advertising (ibid.). Thus, social media
can be briefly defined as media allowing one to be social, or
get social online by sharing content, news, photos etc. with
other people (Taprial and Kanwar, 2012, p. 8).
As Taprial and Kanwar (2012, p. 23) state, they began the
era of real-time and location-based social networking
which was no longer static. With the use of smartphones
technology these may be used in any location and at any
time. Whereas Twitter is kind of a micro-blog which is
believed to be the SMS of the Internet containing mainly
short messages up to 140 characters (tweets) in length,
Facebook is more a expanded project which allows the
exposure of private pictures, sharing links, giving likes
(showing approval for some appreciated content),
discussing etc. (ibid.)

2. Persuasive Communication in
Social Media
Social media are these days used as a tool for free
promotion and advertising by so called soft influencers and
powers (Widowson, 2004, Woffitt ,2005). They both benefit
from activity on those platforms, since by use of verbal and
nonverbal means of communication, they can persuade a vast
amount of the audience for a special purpose. The world wide
web has made it possible for people and businesses to run their
companies online, advertise their goods and services, as well
as disclose their private opinions in order to not only
communicate, but also derive advantages from this.
Apart from utterly personal use benefits which may be
derived by soft influencers such as getting in touch with one
another, gossiping, sending messages and communicating, the
average Internet user may also get empowered. According to
Taprial and Kanwar (2012, p. 37), it is easy for people to see
what others are talking about, get feedback, read anothers
Picture 1. The persuasive nature of likes on Facebook. (Source:
www.facebook.pl).
Additionally, it can be assumed that the bigger amount of
likes may contribute to discovering the content by social
networkers more often, whereas those with less liked
information may be often neglected and skipped.
As Suzanne Vara (2010) believes, persuasion has
changed with since the day of establishing social media.
The audience is no longer left passively with undesirable
content broadcast without proven facts, but with wanted
information shared by interlocutors who are willing to read
it and participate in the discourse via dialogue, social
41 Anna Kuzio: Persuasive Communication in Social Media Advertising: A Case Study of Polish and English
engagement and interaction (ibid.). Vara (2010) believes
that nowadays advertisers are more keen on active rather
than passive audiences, that listen, accept, comprehend
and act as they want. She also maintains that there are
certain stages of brand perception and acceptance that
lead to accomplishment of successful persuasive
communication, i.e. unawareness (exposure of the brand on
the market), awareness (creating goals and benefits),
acceptance (ensuring the audience of being trustful), and
action (receiving the response from consumers) (ibid.).
This whole process involves a perception change that will
in the final phase make an audience to behave in a way
desired by persuaders e.g. to purchase a certain product
(ibid.).
When it comes to typology of advertisements posted on
Facebook, there is a vast range of them listed by Jennifer
Beese (2012). Beese distinguishes five main kinds which
can be further divided into smaller categories i.e. External
Website (Standard) Ads, Facebook Object (Like) Ads, Page
Post Ads, Sponsored Stories, Promoted Posts and Facebook
Offers. She claims that the most interactive and broad type
of all those mentioned are sponsored stories which may
provide valuable feedback for the advertiser when the
audience is pleased with the content he publishes (ibid.).
Among this category she distinguishes all activities which
embrace display of likes of the content, comments to
posts, filled questionnaires, shared games, events, etc.
The persuasive potential of social media could not be
also neglected by bigger businesses as they saw the
inclining tendency of people getting online and building
communities. According to Taprial and Kanwar (2012, p.
39) they set up online branding which aims at developing a
brand online i.e. familiarising an audience with their logo,
name, and colour schemes to remain visible for people.
This process embraces taking part in discussions lead by
companies, or carrying out different Q&A polls etc. (ibid.).
Moreover, as the mentioned researchers claim, such
businesses started to build a long lasting relationship with
customers via listening and answering their needs e.g.
through newsletters sent directly to their e-mail boxes
offering discounts, rewards, and sponsored events which
aim in enhancing the trust in individuals (ibid.).
3. Materials and Informants
The given research aims at presentation of major
persuasion techniques applied in online mass market
cosmetics advertisements which appear in the form of Page
Post Ads in social networking sites, i.e. Facebook. At the
times when the study has been undertaken this website
performed the role of the biggest virtual society, often
referred to as the most often visited and with one of the
highest revenues. Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard
University student, who is claimed to be the main founder
of Facebook, has been inspired by the classic book with the
pictures of students, and in 2004 he created the biggest
international social platform that allows everyone over 13
to sign on (Carlson et al., 2011). After being registered for
free, users may upload their content such as pictures, texts,
quotes and share it with their friends who may either like
it or share it further.
To establish the major persuasion techniques five global
skin-, hair-, and body- care brands will be taken into
account i.e. Avon, Garnier, Max Factor, Maybelline, and
Olay. Their Page Post Ads in Facebook accounts will be
evaluated both in Polish and English in the context of
persuasive language
4. Data Presentation and Procedure
Page Post Ads from Facebook accounts will be referred
to as the data of the given analysis. Both Polish and English
equivalents of official Avon, Garnier, Max Factor,
Maybelline, and Olay users of the mentioned social
networking website have been observed, and some
advertisements from each have been analysed for the sake
of this paper. In the result, the chapter will embrace an
analysis of thirty Polish and thirty English similar
cosmetics advertisements. Reflecting upon one branch of
marketing products, similar brands of commodities and the
exact one medium of advertising, the study aims at
specification of similarities and differences between these
two languages, categorisation, exemplification and
description of applied persuasion techniques, and finally, at
determining whether they seem to be international, thus
universal.
After the data has been collected, further division of the
formerly described persuasion techniques has been
accomplished, basing on all the mentioned sources and
theories by many linguists, in order to evaluate the
language of online advertising applied by manufacturers of
cosmetics in a social media marketing tool, i.e. Facebook.
Techniques, categories and modes have been collected and
arranged into three main groups with further subcategories
embracing frequent methods of persuasion that have been
observed during data analysis.
The first group will be entirely devoted to lexical items,
which are often called as punch words and serve the explicit
function of persuasion. To this category belong: pronoun
and connection language, weasel and trivialising words,
exaggerated and frequent adjectivalisation, intensity words,
abbreviations, suggestive names of products, wordplay
along with references, sensory language and explicit
claims.
The second group of linguistic persuasion techniques
works on a sentence structure level. Through indirect
rhetorical devices such as questions, repetitions, diversity
of tenses as well as hidden commands implied persuasion
techniques have been recognised.
4.1. Data Analysis
This analysis will be devoted to the language of
persuasion applied in Facebook Page Post Ads uploaded by
cosmetics companies. This subsection has been divided into
 International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture 2015; 2(3): 39-47 42

three main categories lexical, structural and associative b) Kochani! Spieszcie si. Loteria trwa tylko do 24
techniques which have been observed during an analysis. grudnia! ["Dearly Beloved! Hurry up. The lottery
The given categorisation has been inspired by the theories lasts only until the 24th of December! "]
of many linguists mentioned in the theoretical part hereof, c) Totalny efekt ODMODZENIA w najsilniejszej
as well as by online resources presented by the Media formule od Olay Total Effects 7 w 1 sprbujecie?
Literacy Project and Changing Minds. ['Total REJUVENATION effect in the strongest
formula of Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 will you try?"]
4.2. Semantics of Advertisements All the bolded words, or phrases belong to the group of
these, that carry negative (e.g. major skincare sin) or
positive (e.g. friends, impeccable skin, dearly
beloved, total rejuvenation) meaning for the audience.
They are supposed to indicate beliefs, values, evoke
emotions, scare, and motivate people to action, entice them
to take some steps and purchase the product. The frequent
use of the word new, and its associative equivalents such
as introducing, announcing, the latest, and first ever
aim at meeting expectations of customers who urge to have
always the newest model of any commodity, e.g. phone,
tablet and even cosmetics. Similarly to all intensifiers,
money words such as cash, save, reduced, pay, and
price, etc. work as the hook, that grabs the attention of
those greedy, thrifty ones, and poorer audiences. The above
listed advertising contents are the compilation of various
power words, that will be examined separately in a detailed
manner in the forthcoming passages.

Picture 2. Source: https://www.facebook.com/olay?ref=ts&fref=ts.

One of most used persuasion techniques are lexical items

that carry either negative, or positive associations. These
are called power, or punch words and according to
Changing Minds may be divided into the following
categorisation: God words, In words, God talk jargon,
Devil words, Devil words repulse, Non-PC words, Insults,
Euphemisms and references, Charisma words, Context
counts, Notable lists, and Political Realities. The given
subsection will deal purely with these categories, that have
been observed during the analysis, and since many of these
above mentioned categorisations overlap (e.g. Notable lists
embrace also Charisma words etc.) an analytical division of
lexical items has been created, inspired on different
references, too. The following examples will provide an
insight into the occurrence of punch words in cosmetics
advertisements:
Did you hear the news? New, lower prices on Pro-X,
Olays most effective, anti-aging regimen. Check stores
today and share this with your friends. (Picture 2.)
The buzz continues! This fall Olay is introducing the
first ever mass CC Cream that will leave your skin looking
impeccable. Check out the latest from your beauty! Picture 3. Source: https://www.facebook.com/olay?ref=ts&fref=ts.
(Picture 3.)
One can also find such phrases such as: 4.3. Pronoun and Connection Languages
(Bandwagon)
a) Falling into bed post-party with makeup on is a major
skincare sin. Well help you to take it off! Bandwagon is perceived by the Media Literacy Project
43 Anna Kuzio: Persuasive Communication in Social Media Advertising: A Case Study of Polish and English
(2013) as one of the basic persuasion techniques due to its
easy recognition, as well as its frequent application. During
an analysis many instances of this technique have been
identified both in the manner of specific pronoun language
and connection language. Bandwagon implies to the
broader audience (everyone, [or at least] cool people) i.e.
users of a service or buyers of a merchandised product, and
urging other receivers of an advertisement to jump on the
bandwagon (ibid.). Analytically, pronoun language may
be the linguistic tool that enhances the bandwagon
technique. Through I self-commitment, You/we
group-creation and He/she/they out-grouping the speaker
commits his view, shows his care of the listener, offers a
solution to a problem and creates a bond with him
(Changing Minds 2002-2013). Moreover, the so called
connection language (use of with/without, this/that and
us/them) which aims at attaching and pushing away
derives benefits from the associative way of thinking, thus
join the identities of people making them a part of
themselves, and so forgive, approve, and agree with
[themselves] (ibid.). When talking about the second
person pronoun you in English advertisements, its presence
has been observed in almost each of analysed ones contrary
to the Polish ones. For the purpose of showing the contrasts
between Polish and English applications of this pronoun,
advertisements by Garnier will now be compared.
Facebook Page Post Ads uploaded by this company often
include you in their content, due to its slogan with both the
implied you in English: Take care, and the explicit one in
Polish Take care of yourself (Dbaj o siebie):
a) Whether youre at work, at the gym, or fast asleep
youll be fighting dark spots!
b) Tuesday Tip: Always have a towelette on you... keep
them in your car, office, gym, bag, you name it.
[implied you] Be ready for anything!
c) Were thrilled to announce Garnier won FIVE Allure
magazine 2012 Best of Beauty Awards! From best
home color to face peel were here to make your hair
and skin gorgeous!
d) Kusi zapachem i byskawicznie si wchania!:) Co
dla Ciebie? [Seduces with its scent and quickly
absorbs! Something for You?]
e) Dba o Ciebie i... wszystkie kolory Twoich ubra! :)
[implied you] Zainteresowana?[Takes care of You
and... all colours of Your clothes!:)Are you
interested? ]
f) Koniec troski o przebarwienia i lady! Co Ty na to? :)
[Its the end of concern for discolorations and traces!
What do You think? :)]
The visible difference between Polish and English
applications of the pronoun you in the above mentioned
examples is the capital letter with which it is written in
Polish sentences. This manner of writing signifies the
greatest respect given to a receiver, contrary to the usual
typing with a small letter. In contrast, there is no similar
custom in English. Moreover, due to a different inflection
Polish verbs often directly address to the receiver since they
are conjugated differently for persons, and other
grammatical aspects (e.g. Zainteresowana? [Are you
interested?]). These advertisements proves the recurring
pattern of direct approach towards a listener, closeness
between the advertiser and receiver. Regardless if you is
implied, or not, this pattern may be observed in the vast
majority of the analysed advertisements.
4.4. Intensity Words
To subtly suggest what others should feel, the common
usage of amplification devices may be observed such as
intensifiers. They increase the emotional impact of the
statement to hype the advertised product, and as the Media
Literacy Project (2013) suggests, they include superlatives
(najwiksza szczoteczka [the biggest brush], luksus w
najlepszym wydaniu [the finest kind of luxury] most
effective), comparatives (younger-looking skin, as
good as gold), exaggeration, hyperbole, etc. The last one
of the named intensity words, according to Fahnestock
(2011: 118), comes from overshooting, over-the-top
exaggeration that refers to the quality, or quantity
adjectives [or adverbs], i.e. grandiose words intended to be
out of proportion. An application of exaggerated
adjectivalisation, as well as application of adverbs in
cosmetics advertisements, is immensely practiced both in
Polish, and English cases, with the use of the following
phrases: gorgeous, must-have, gently (cleanses),
perfect, favourite, fashion-fabulous,
super-glamorous look, super-wearable, autumn daze,
fabulous, revelation, byskawicznie si wchania
[rapidly absorbs], dugotrwale nawila [long-lasting
moisturising], nareszcie! [finally], profesjonalny
[professional], dla idealnie pogrubionych i rozdzielonych
rzs [for perfectly thick and separated lashes].
a) Berry-hued lips are a hot trend this season! Try
Colour Elixir on for a super- glamorous look. x.
b) Mog uywa go zawsze. Bez wzgldu na to co
zamierzam zaoy danego dnia.
c) Nareszcie! [I can apply it always. Irrespective of
what I am planning for living on a given day. At last!]
To attenuate the emotional content of adjectives, or
adverbs, and enhance their meanings, prefixes of a superior
quality, grade, or size such as super, mega, or max
are often included in the sentence to indicate the highest
degree, rank of the noun, or verb. These prefixes are the
modern intensifiers, thus once slang and informal
substitutes of the basic intensifier very. According to
Changing Minds (2002-2013) adverbs (and adjectives)
being just supplements of the sentence, contrary to the verb,
subject, or object, may past pass unnoticed, and hence
such suggestions may slip past conscious (or even
subconscious) filters.
4.5. Sensory Language
Each advertiser knows, that the effective presentation of
a product must influence any of five senses of a receiver, in
 International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture 2015; 2(3): 39-47
order to cause a cognitive, emotional and behavioral
response. Many stimuli such as evocative images, sound
effects, and fragrances enhance this reaction, controlling a
brain through created atmosphere. Similarly to vivid colors
in a logo, sweet scents spreading throughout the shopping
mall, self-service stands which offer the possibility to taste
a meal, and the softness of the textures, there are words
which carry the semantic load of sensory language.
According to Roger Dooley (2010), traditional
advertisements displayed on billboards, television, radio
are believed to reach mainly two senses - sight and sound.
The given author suggests, that focusing on all the five
senses will consequently boost sales, since it will
eventually create an engagement level which is three, or
four times higher, than the one stimulated by the pure
shopper looking at the displayed product (ibid.).
On the Page Posts from Facebook, one may observe the
written form of information accompanied with an image,
which through the use of the sensory lexicon aims at raising
the level of persuasiveness, and evoking positive emotions,
and associations. As Changing Minds (2002-2013) state,
there may be observed either an application of direct
description, or an indirect sensory metaphor. Deliberate use
of appropriate sensory words refers to various spheres of
human perception. According to Dooley (2012), sensory
vocabulary simulates different areas of the brain, being
more memorable and impactful, e.g. the textural metaphor
the rough day, is believed to have better influence on a
receiver, than the bad day which is a non-textural, and
thus neutral phrase.
Words that relate with their meanings to light and dark,
shades and hues, visible shape and appearance influence
the sphere of perceiving sight, loudness, timbre, actual
words spoken the sound, tactile and emotional feeling
are strictly connected with physical bodily experiences,
emotions and tensions, whereas gustatory senses are being
aroused by describing taste and smell (Changing Minds
2002-2013). During an analysis, only insignificant number
of adjectives which contribute to sensual stimulation have
been noticed, e.g. shimmering, vibrant shades, alluring
scent, glitzy arm candy, kusi zapachem [seduces with
its scent], berry-hued lips, and smooth finish .
4.6. Generalisation Words
Since the advertiser is willing to reach as many receivers
as it is possible, in order to achieve the maximal number of
customers, he must deal with the so called universal
audience. This means, that an advertiser should apply as
many potential advantages of one particular commodity,
that will incite as many people as achievable. For example,
a cosmetic product like facial cream has to be universal i.e.
many-in-1 at once moisturising, cleansing, smoothening,
having anti-wrinkle formula, rejuvenating, fighting facial
dark spots, preventing acne, and many others. Moreover,
regardless of the application purpose the merchandise
should be a so called multi-tasker embracing eye
shadows, lip glosses, nail polishes, blushes, powders,
44
bronzers of all colours that are acquired in a luminous,
luxury box that could also function as a gadget. Even better
when the product is sold in smaller packages than the
competition offers, or works 24 hours a week, since the
modern and fashionable woman would like to use the
commodity regardless of whether she is at work, at the
gym, or fast-asleep. As Fahnestock (2011, p. 67) reports,
the more general term in rhetorical style, the higher it is in
the system, and though the more potential referents it has;
and analogically, the less general it is, the fewer followers it
has. In the analysed posts major generalised terms refer to
all the items starting with the prefix some-, any-, and
the adjective all. The given examples are listed to present
the occurrence of the following generalisations: be ready
for anything, one product that moisturises your hair, body
and face, multi-taskers (about makeup palettes), fab
skin possible at every age even 100!, 7 w 1 [7-in-1],
wszystkie kolory [all colours], and mog uywa go
zawsze [I can use it anytime]. Additionally, to boost the
reliability and successfulness of the company, advertisers
often opt to overgeneralise with the use of the from-to
construction:
a) The awards keep coming! From Allure Magazine to
Marie Claire, women everywhere say our BB is their
fave!
b) From best home color to face peel were here to make
your hair and skin gorgeous!
The mentioned grammatical construction in the first
advertisement gives the false impression, that almost all
newspapers across the country have reported the BB cream
to be the best (even though, it could be only found in Allure
Magazine and Marie Claire).
4.7. Wordplay
According to Sara Laviosa (2005), another rhetorical
device frequently used in commercial advertising is
wordplay, that promotes a product creating a humourous
phrase, attracts the readers attention and adds persuasive
force to the message. As Laviosa believes, puns are
witticism[s] that rel[y] for [their] effect on playing with
different levels of language, i.e. phonological,
graphological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and
textual. They are culturally determined, work on meanings
of a polysemic word, literal and non-literal senses of idioms,
or bring two homonyms together in the same utterance to
produce witty remarks (ibid.). During the given analysis
three examples of wordplay by Maybelline New York have
been discovered, and thus they will be described.
Starting with an advertisement of nail polishes HEAVY
METALS - A mani that rocks , a twofold interpretation of
the polysemic word heavy metal, as well as rock may
be derived. In this context, an advertiser aims at a
fashionable presentation for the autumnal trend colours of
metals such as copper, silver, and gold, as well as rocks and
crystals. Whereby heavy metals are defined by
Dictionary.com (2014), as either any metal with a specific
gravity of 5.0 or greater, especially one that is toxic to
45 Anna Kuzio: Persuasive Communication in Social Media Advertising: A Case Study of Polish and English

organisms, as lead, mercury, copper, and cadmium, or

aggressive and heavily amplified rock music, commonly
performed by groups that wear spectacular or bizarre
costumes, one may encounter disambiguation. Moreover
the slangish use of the informal verb to rock, meaning to
be sublime or good (Urban Dictionary, 2014), that derived
from the noun a rock, meaning both a stone, as well as
the slang jewel, diamond, may also relate to rock music
i.e. any of various styles of pop music having a heavy beat,
derived from rock and roll (Dictionary.com 2014). In this
case the advertiser may not only aim at promotion of a new
line of nail polishes, but also incite subcultures such as
listeners of rock music, as well as heavy metal, and other
related genres who are not often followers of fashion and
cosmetics trends.
Another exemplary wordplay has been observed in the
sentence GOLDEN EYE A look that is as good as gold
that is also supposed to present an ongoing trend of
autumnal metallic colours, this time for eye shadows.
Regarding the phrase golden eye the culturally dependent
wordplay may be recognised, since the advertiser seems to
play with its correlation to cinematography. Being both
literally respective to a colours presented in a picture, as
well as metaphorically referring to the one of the James
Bond movies GoldenEye, an advertiser purposefully
hints such qualities as fame, money, beauty, and
many other positive traits which may be found in this movie.
Another visible correlation to those virtues (for those who
are not the filmgoers) is is the comparison as good as gold.
Picture 4. Wordplay in advertisements by Maybelline New York. (Source:
All the connotations that may be delivered from this phrase https://www.facebook.com/maybelline?ref=ts&fref=ts).
are clearly related to the luxuries such as jewellery, money,
preciousness and wealth, not only the golden colour of the
eye shadows. 5. Product, and Brand Naming
The third, thereby the last pun A KISS IN CENTRAL When developing the name of the company, there are
PARK - Fall in love with NYC (Picture 5.), works on the many requirements to be met by entrepreneurs to achieve
associative ground. An image of the Central Park covered with success with a trademark. Names like Coca-Cola, Google,
colourful leaves during the autumn (another persuasive Snickers, Nike, Yahoo, and many other worldwide known
technique which is a good timing, as all the mentioned things brands may serve an example for the future merchandisers
in this section of advertisements were released that particular that the coinage is the core element when advertising is
season), and a huge caption A KISS IN CENTRAL PARK concerned. Being easy to say aloud, memorable, evoking
with a lip print. L , looking into this image an audience may associations only with particular products (i.e. Google,
have an impression that this post bears no persuasion at all, Yahoo search engines, Snickers a chocolate bar, Nike
and there is even no advertised product. However, since sportswear, Coca-Cola a soft drink) these labels, along
Maybelline New York is known for selling and producing with their logos could now be recognized by a huge
cosmetics, the lip print may indicate the promotion of a new percentage of the world population. According to Eric
lipstick, or a lip gloss. Regarding the line Fall in love with Billingsley (2006) the name should relate to the scope of a
NYC the pun has been presented in quotation marks to make larger marketing plan, type of the company, advertised
it more visible for the audience. The word fall relates either product application, and potential customers. These tips are
to the state of experiencing feelings of love towards not only applicable regarding the brand trademark, but also
somebody being the verb phrase to fall in love with each product being released on the market. As Merriam
somebody, or to the noun representing the season illustrated Associates (2009) reports, a specific categorisation of
on the described picture (Dictionary.com 2014). In addition, styles and types of company and product names may be
NYC may be an allusion to New York City pertaining to made embracing e.g.: acronyms (M&M standing for its
Central Park, and Maybelline headquarters, as well as New cofounders F. Mars and B. Murrie), alliteration and rhyme
York Colors being the slogan included in advertising (YouTube, FAT BAT), description (General Motors),
campaigns. evocative statements (invoke vivid images alluding to the
benefits of a given product), founders name
 International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture 2015; 2(3): 39-47
(Hewlett-Packard), geography (Fuji for the tallest
mountain in Japan), humour and slang, ingredients (Pepsi
for the pepsin enzyme), neologisms (completely new
names), onomatopoeia (based on a sound system e.g.
Twitter), nickname (e.g. Adolf Dassler founder of
Adidas), mimetics (alternative spellings e.g. Kleenex) as
well as portmanteau (a combination of words of
morphemes that create a completely new word). All of the
analysed companies (apart from Avon) are owned by huge
corporations such as Procter & Gamble (now the owner of
Olay and Max Factor), LOreal (acquired both Maybelline
and Garnier), which being multi-billion dollar income
receivers have mastered the skill of successful product
naming. Though, their names have been invented long
before their purchase by global manufacturers. This
passage will not only analyse the techniques and styles of
brand naming, but also will investigate some of the
observed product names.
Formely called Oil of Olay, now Olay, has based its
name on the key ingredient lanolin, similarly to
Maybelline which constitutes the altered compound of
words Mabel (female name) and Vaseline (petrolatum,
an oily mass obtained from petroleum, often used in the
cosmetics manufacturing process) (Procter & Gamble 2013;
James Bennet, 2014; and Dictionary.com, 2014). Not only
ingredients-based naming may be observed in the
cosmetics branch, but also founders names often serve as
the stem for the trademark, e.g. Alfred Garnier was the first
to produce in 1904 a hair tonic for Laboratories Garnier,
similarly to Maksymilian Faktorowicz (aka Mr Max Factor),
a Polish make-up artist who established in the Golden Age
another famous company known even in Hollywood.
Contrary to the first one whose name serves the whole
trademark, the other company name hinges on mimetics
(the Polish spelling was altered into an English one, where
ks, and k were rewritten into x and c), as well as [1]
founder nickname that was a back clipped shortening of his
name and surname (Nowekosmetyki.pl 2009; and
DemandMedia 2014). On the other hand, the creator of the
label of Avon Products Inc. was inspired with the beauty of
the countryside surrounding Stratford-on-Avon, which is
an English town on the Avon River, also known as the
birthplace and burial place of Shakespeare (Avon Products
Inc. 2013; and Dictionary.com 2014).
Cosmetics names recognised while analysing were based
on sensory language (Miracle dry oil for hair, body and
face), professional commodities and services (Planet Spa,
Heavenly Hydration) , constituted power words evoking
the associations of beauty, luxury (Gilded Treasures
Makeup Set, Luxe) and exaggerations (False Lash
Effect). As customers mainly seek for quick effects,
producers came up with Overnight Peel, Skin Renew,
and for those urging to get a many-in-one product AVON
presents AVON FAB in 5 line, Mega Mix N Go Palette
(makeup palette), and Max Factor offers Glossfinity nail
polishes, or Lipfinity lipsticks for those who prefer
long-lasting results. The nominal phrases listed hereof
46
represent various word-formation processes, and some of
them may be categorised as follows:
GLOSSFINITY a blending of gloss and infinity
LIPFINITY - a blending of lip and infinity
SKIN RENEW a conversion of the verb to renew into
a noun, nominalisation
OVERNIGHT PEEL a conversion of the word to peel
into a noun, nominalisation
Continuing the subject of word-formation, three informal
nouns have been recognized that may often be spotted in
conversations of youths, resembling the slangy character of
an utterance. These are: fab, pic (clipped from
fabulous, and picture), goodies (suffixed with ie
for something attractive), as well as mani (back-clipped
for manicure).
6. Conclusion
This paper consisted of the research related to the
persuasive rhetorical devices working mainly on the semantic
level of the cosmetics advertisements posted in the form of
Page Post Ads on Facebook. Some sample commercials in two
languages have been analyzed in order to categorize,
exemplify and compare similarities and differences between
Polish and English techniques. Since these days brands use
social media to increase brand awareness, find new customers,
engage those existing ones, and increase their loyalty,
companies offer discounts on this type of medium, and
monitor mentions of the brand researching target audience. It
has been stated, that the majority of assessed persuasive tools
were noticed across both languages; thus they might be called
as international.
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