Metaphors Used In Advertising

Metaphor, metonym and pun are all creative strategies and can be used verbally or visually to create an advert or poster that engages, surprises and makes the viewer of it, pause and think. Metaphors are based upon differences and familiarities of something for example “her mind is a sponge” saying that she can soak up information well, not that it is actually sponge like. Song lyrics and poems are full of metaphors as they help to create a visual image from text. Metonym is a small part of a whole thing, it allows one sign to stand for a large concept, this can be a logo, Nikes tick is an extremely well known metonym and the brand can be recognised without the slogan or any other imagery involved. For metonyms to work they must be syntagmatic for realistic effect, this is where you choose the most obvious image to get the message across, for example calling business men ‘suits’. Puns on the other hand need a signifier and a
Here the artist is trying to present how both smoking and the gun can kill you, without the use of the visual metaphor just two cigarettes and text saying ‘smoking kills’ would not be as effective. The gun imagery is hard hitting and catches the viewer’s attention, it makes you think that something as dangerous as a gun, that is widely known for killing people being compared to a cigarette must be serious. It is also simple enough for a child to understand the reference, and many adverts these days to prevent lung cancer and smoking have aspects of bright colours and cartoons in to get the attention of younger children so that they too understand that smoking is harmful and try to prevent them from starting to smoke as they get older, if they also know the dangers of smoking then the children’s worry may help with their parents stopping smoking