13.2. Phraseological units in commercial advertising

Advertisements for consumer goods, technical devices, investments, and services tend to make use of idioms and

phrases. The headings of such texts may have the function of advertising slogans, as is borne out by the following excerpt

from a student dissertation:

(13) Big is beautiful; Blended to your taste; Britain at its best ( England having the top position in a certain

field); Safety first (Safety devices at work); Time is money; Too good to be true; The bottom line is excellence

(the firm's basic principle is excellent quality). (Polzer 1989: 53)

Examples from a monograph by Bürli-Storz ( 1980) highlight deliberate ambiguity in advertising. Oil's well that ends up in

an Avis car (an advertisement for an oil company) involves modification of the proverb All's Well that Ends Well; while

Familiarity breeds content (an advertisement for Swan Vesta Matches) involves modification and semantic conversion of

the proverb Familiarity breeds contempt. In the given context, a match, as an indispensible aid to daily living in the

household, is associated with familiarity in a favourable sense. Thus, the well-known product gives the user satisfaction. In modification of the proverbial saying out of the frying pan into the fire, whose meaning ('from a bad situation to one that is

worse') has been completely reversed. Emphasis is placed on the easy passage from the plane into the reception area of

the airport, with air-conditioning and all modern conveniences. The phonetic pattern is of particular interest (Bürli-Storz

1980: 29).

The following example (from the Sunday Times Magazine of 25 September 1983: 124-5) is the entire text of an

advertisement containing several idioms:

(14) You've heard of the BAKER'S DOZEN Well, Tesco Didn't Just Stop There.

Many bakers would have called it a day after coming up with all our white and brown breads: crusty, uncut,

sliced, wheatgerm, bran and wholemeal.

Most would certainly have rested on their laurels after baking all of our buns (burger, bath, fruit, iced, Belgian,

Chelsea), and all of our rolls (snack, finger, morning, bran and muesli).

But at Tesco we then went on (and on) to include crumpets, muffins, fruited batch, floured baps, sultana

scones, syrup pancakes, pitta bread and croissants.

In all we've introduced well over sixty different bakery lines, and we're not at the end of the line yet.

Why not give some a try?

Though we feel we should warn you, once you've started you'll probably find it very difficult to stop.

We couldn't.

Today's TESCO

The stylistic effect of this advertisement for the bakery line originates not only from the cumulative enumeration of the

whole assortment (which in fact constitutes a commercial nomenclature), but also from the skilful application of idioms.

The idiom a baker's dozen has historical associations: 'Formerly bakers were punished if they sold loaves of bread below a

lawful weight. To each dozen (12) loaves that were sold, therefore, an extra loaf was added free, to keep the weight above

the lawful standard' ( LDEI).

The verbal idioms to call it a day ( ODEI (informal), 'decide or agree to stop (doing sth.), either temporarily or for good')

and to rest on one's laurels ( LDEI, coll., 'to be content with successes already gained and not attempt to increase them')

are contextual synonyms and form a logical antithesis to the restless endeavours of the TESCO bakery line

(note went on and on -- a phrasal verb). The last idiom in this text is the paraphrasal verb to give (something) a try,

another indicator of the colloquial level of the whole advertising text. The substitution test -replacing idioms by

non-idiomatic vocabulary -- would result in a substantial loss of stylistic colour.

An advertisement for an insurance company, the National Provident Institution (NPI), contains a modification of the

proverbial saying to keep up with the Joneses:

(15) The Joneses kept up with each other until they retired.

(The accompanying illustration shows two different couples at different garden gates with different facial

expressions: No. 50 dejected vs. No. 52 amused and happy).

Numerical data: £2,732 p.a. state pension vs., £8,320 p.a. NPI pension.

The text reads:

They were earning the same salaries. With identical houses. Comparable cars. And matching lifestyles. But the

similarities stopped when they stopped work.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones at number 50 found themselves struggling to scrape by.

While the Joneses at number 52 carried on as before, living happier ever after.

Not surprisingly, the difference between a retirement dream and a pensioner's nightmare is:

money.

Or, more accurately, the lack of it. . . .

Ask your broker, bank manager or other adviser about NIP.

Or clip the coupon.

After all, which of the Joneses would you rather keep up with?

The idiom to keep up with the Joneses ( LDEI, coll., 'to compete with other people for a better social position, e.g. to buy more or better material things than one's neighbours') and the phrase which finishes English fairy-tales, and they lived

happily ever after (here in the modified form of the comparative), add to the stylistic effect of this advertisement.