Analysis of The Use of Doublespeak in 'Clinique' Beauty Product Advertisements.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya membahas mengenai penggunaan doublespeak

yang tanpa kita sadari sering dijumpai dalam iklan. Penggunaan doublespeak pada periklanan dapat ditemukan pada poster-poster iklan produk kecantikan, misalnya

Clinique, yang saya dapatkan dari situs resmi internet produk tersebut. Pada umumnya, doublespeak dalam periklanan dapat dijumpai di berbagai media, seperti media elektronik, televisi dan internet.

Saya menemukan tiga jenis doublesepeak di dalam iklan-iklan tersebut, yaitu weasel word, unfinished word dan combining weasel word. Pada dasarnya, para pengiklan menggunakan doublespeak untuk menarik perhatian para pembaca atau pelanggannya. Penggunaan doubelspeak juga menjadi suatu cara yang mudah bagi pengiklan untuk meningkatkan penjualan produk mereka.

Jenis doublespeak yang paling sering digunakan oleh pengiklan dalam pembahasan ini adalah weasel word. Dalam mempromosikan suatu produk, Penggunaan weasel word adalah cara yang paling mudah bagi pengiklan untuk mengecoh para pembaca atau pelanggan. Pembahasan permasalahan doublespeak

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Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

This thesis is a study of the use of doublespeak in taglines and expressions of some Internet or online advertisements of Clinique beauty products. The definition of advertisement in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition is “a notice, picture or film telling people about a product, job or service” (“Advertisement def.1"). Selling a product is the main purpose why advertisements are made. Advertisements can be the best way for the manufacturers to introduce the products that they want to sell to the market. Advertisers utilize online media to make their advertisements find anywhere, for example, on the Internet or online advertisements.

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Maranatha Christian University the advertisements offer. Lutz in his book Doublepeak explains that, “Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate but really does not. It is language that makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear attractive or at least tolerable” (1). Misleading is also one of the tricks that advertisers use in advertising to make their product seem attractive and interesting to buy.

I would like to take the words from Clinique beauty products to analyze because I see frequent occurance of doublespeak in beauty product advertisements. Clinique is one of the cosmetic companies founded by Dr. Orentriech and born with the idea that “Great skin can be created” in the United States in 1968. Simple ideas about beauty bring Clinique to become a world-famous cosmetic company. One year later Clinique opened its first counter in the United Kingdom. A daily cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing routine is 3-Step Skin Care System from Clinique that have been very famous until now (“Our History”).

The reason why I analyze beauty product advertisements is because I see most of beauty products offer the same efficacy, and of course it could be an interesting discussion. Almost all beauty product manufacturers say that their products are better than the others. The words that the advertisements use to attract consumers are what I am going to analyze. Using words to mislead the consumers and also promising any kind of efficacies are some efforts that advertisers use to sell their products.

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advertisements on the Internet. Many beauty advertisements can attract the attention of consumers because beauty products are one of the most important things for women to take care of their skin, face, and even their weight. The advertisements have pictures and words which are used to attract the attention of the consumers to buy their products, and women are often easily deceived by something interesting to them.

Most advertisements have taglines and expressions which have the same meaning as slogans. The definition of slogan according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition is “a word or phrase that is easy to remember, use for example by a political party or in advertising to attract people’s attention or to suggest an idea quickly”. In my analysis, I use the theory of Lutz to help me analyze and discuss this topic. According to Lutz (1), doublespeak is used when the advertisers want to convince the consumers by using another meaning rather than the real one. Lutz also states that “Doublespeak is not a matter of subjects and verbs agreeing; it is matter of words and facts agreeing” (1).

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Maranatha Christian University On the one hand, consumers try not to be misled by any promises from advertisements. On the other hand, they are curious to try the products they see in advertisements. Sometimes, they just ignore their belief that the advertisements make the words more attractive to get their attention and then they finally try the products. Lutz also states, “Doublespeak has become so common in everyday living that many people fail to notice it. Even worse, when they do notice doublespeak being used on them, they don’t react, they don’t protest” (19).

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Statement of the Problem

Based on the Background of the Study, the problems are formulated as follows: 1. Which part of the advertisement contains doublespeak?

2. What kinds of doublespeak do the taglines and expressions belong to? 3. How do they mislead the readers or consumers?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this thesis are as follow:

1. To identify the taglines and expressions of Clinique advertisements which contain doublespeak.

2. To classify different kinds of doublespeak in the advertisement taglines and expressions.

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Method of the Research

Firstly, I collected the Clinique beauty product advertisements from the Internet and observed the taglines and expressions which are considered doublespeak. Secondly, I analyze all expressions and classified the doublespeak into several types. Thirdly, I gave the reason how the expressions lure and mislead the reader or consumers. Finally, I wrote a report about the doublespeak found in the Clinique beauty product advertisements.

Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

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The result shows that weasel word is the most popular doublespeak used by the advertisers. In my opinion, it is so obvious that the advertisers use weasel word because it is the easiest way for them to promote their products. The consumers are easy to mislead by potential promises. Potential promises are the ones that the advertisers put in the expressions of the advertisements; for example, the words smooth in the first data and new in the second data. The words smooth

and new are used to mislead the consumers. As we know, smooth is one of the effects that women as the consumers look for in the beauty products. Besides, based on the analysis in my thesis, women like to try something new, so they are very easy to accept the word new without really thinking about the proof. As a result, weasel word is categorized as the easiest doublespeak to use by the advertisers to avoid any laws or legal implications. It is the consumers who must be aware of the fact, because the advertisers are not responsible for anything.

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Maranatha Christian University In my thesis, combining weasel word is the least doublespeak that is used by the advertisers. There is only one combining weasel word that I find in the three advertisements I analyze. In my opinion, the advertisers do not use this kind of doublespeak for their advertisements because they have used weasel word as the easiest way to promote the products, and it is more readily accepted by the consumers. In this case, the consumers should also be aware of and suspicious of combining weasel word in the advertisements. It is because the advertisers have no responsibility to prove the truth of what they state in their advertisements even though they actually use those kinds of doublespeak to cover up the weaknesses of their products.

Two kinds of doublespeak that are not used in the advertisements are parity claim and up to claim. From my point of view, the advertisers do not use parity claim in the advertisements because they only focus on the results and effects of the products to the consumers than comparing their products to others. Besides, in my opinion, they want to use the elegant way by not comparing their products to others. On the other hand, they do not use up to claim because they do not want the consumers to see so many misleading expressions make them suspicious of them. They strengthen the expressions by using weasel word to mislead the consumers. Therefore, we should think twice before buying something essential.

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concerned with women and it is very commercial to sell beauty skin products because every woman needs them. The advertisers offer many promises to the consumers by using doublespeak in the advertisements. From the analysis of my data, most of the words the advertisers promise are about making the consumers’ skin better than before using the products. Thus, it is very easy to believe what the advertisers promise, but it is the problem that the consumers must be aware of their promises.

Analyzing any linguistic features in advertisements is actually very interesting, especially doublespeak in advertising like what I choose in my thesis. Supported by Lutz’s theory, the purpose and the real meaning of any advertisements can be discovered clearly. Actually, I hope there is going to be another absolute theory about doublespeak in advertising, so we can strengthen the statements that doublespeak is often used in advertisements.

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Maranatha Christian University If the consumers are critical to really know the meaning of the words the advertisers use in the advertisements, they can find the doublespeak easily. Yet, the consumers’ consciousness basically cannot always be controlled, if it will become quite difficult for the consumers to avoid promises the advertisers make. The use of doublespeak in Clinique beauty product advertisements is often encountered in our daily lives. Without realizing it, we might be affected by their promises. We, as the consumers, may believe it and we are no longer aware of understanding the advertisers’ promises. Therefore, the consumers should change their thought of believing what the advertisements state and be more alert of the promises that the advertisements make.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Data Sources

Clinique. Advertisement. Clinique UK. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. Clinique. Advertisement. Clinique UK. 2013. Web. 3 Aug. 2013. Clinique. Advertisement. Clinique MY. 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.

References

Lutz, William. Doublespeak. New York: Harper Perennial, 1990. Print. “Our History.” Clinique.Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

Schrank, Jeffrey. “The Weasel Claim.” The Language of Advertising Claims. Web. 7 May. 2013.

“Second Chance.” Idiom Quest “Empowering Advanced Learner of English in Business and Academia – TOEFL / ESL / EFL”. Web. 13 July. 2014. Tyagi, Kavita, and Padma Misra. “Information Technology and the Internet.”

Professional Communication. PHI Learning Private Limited. 2011. Web. 6 May. 2013.

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Dictionary References

“Advertisement.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print. “Bond.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

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