Page 2 Literary Devices in Advertising

Poetic Devices in Advertising

The essay "Tricks of the Trade" on page 85 of SightLines 8, describes some of the techniques advertisers use.

You may recognize some of these techniques. They are literary devices.

You are the target of advertising.

Alliteration is the repetition of a sound, usually the beginning consonant sound.

• M & Ms, Melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
• Don't dream it. Drive it.
• Taco Bell's Breakfast Burrito

Onomatopoeia is a word making the sound it describes.

• Snap, crackle, pop: Rice Krispies
  
• Nestlé's Crunch Bar
  

Rhyme occurs when two or more words have endings that sound similar.

• When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last? Do you eat them very slowly or do you eat them very fast?
  

A simile compares two unlike items directly by using like or as.

• Almond Joy: Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't. (also pun—two meanings for "nut")
  

A metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike items, without using like or as.

• Greyhound Bus Line compares their buses to racing greyhounds to suggest their buses are fast.
  

Personification is the result of giving human characteristics to something non-human.

• The insurance company's mascot, Geicko's Gecko is an example of personification (as well as alliteration).
  

When someone says, "Don't believe the hype", they are referring to hyperbole [pronounced hi'-per-bo-lee].

Hyperbole is exaggeration.

• It just keeps going, and going, and going: the Energizer Bunny, running on Energizer batteries.
  
• There is only one place in the universe to get Dellstreak.
  

A pun is a play on words that uses the similarity in sound between two words with different meanings. (The words are homonyms or near-homonyms).

• Nothing runs like a Deere: John Deere tractors (deer/Deere)
  
• Barq's has bite: Barq's root beer. (Barq's/barks)
  
• Where's the Beef? (A beef can be a complaint as well as meat.)