The Contextual Meaning Of Block Language In Advertisement Slogans.

(1)

ABSTRACT

Tujuan dari penulisan tugas akhir ini adalah untuk mencari ciri khas yang ada pada slogan iklan dan menganalisis fungsi konteks dalam memahami Block Language yang banyak terdapat dalam slogan iklan. Data yang saya ambil adalah slogan iklan yang mengandung Block Language didalamnya. Sumber data yang saya ambil berasal dari slogan iklan di berbagai majalah.

Dasar teori yang saya gunakan adalah Pragmatik. Pragmatik adalah ilmu yang lebih yang terfokus pada arti sebuah kalimat. Ilmu ini menekankan bahwa konteks dibutuhkan untuk mengartikan sesuatu, termasuk slogan iklan.

Saya menganalisis ciri khas masalah tiap-tiap slogan iklan tersebut. Saya juga menganalisis bagaimana konteks dapat mendukung ketika kita menginterpretasikan sebuah slogan iklan. Untuk menginterpretasikan slogan iklan dibutuhkan konteks. Konteks bisa merupakan gambar (gambar produk tersebut, botol, model dll.) at situasi keseluruhan dalam sebuah iklan.

(2)

Maranatha Christian University ii

APPENDICES

Major characteristics of Block Language in

advertisement slogans Advertisement Slogan

Containing Block Language

Subject Verb

1. Shaping your baby’s best future

2. Bubbles of fun for beautiful skin

3. New impulse ICO. Refreshingly

glacial

(4)

4. Easy breezy beautiful Cover

Girl

6. For the seductress within

7. Star Light Star Bright

8. Smooth legs, mighty fast

9. Golden. Sexy. Night-Bright.

Miami Glow by JLO

10. Less spots, more brightness:

twice perfect

11. Diamond shower at your

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The topic of my thesis is Contextual Meaning of Block Language in

Advertisement Slogans. I choose this topic because I am really interested in examining advertisement slogans. Advertisement slogans are made to be eye-catching and they make me curious to know their meaning.

Advertisements have already become part of our daily life. When we watch TV, read magazines, newspapers, or browse the Internet, we always see

advertisements. In the past, people were not really aware of advertisements. But now advertisements are better made, and naturally well-designed advertisements give impressive effects to consumers. It is believed that advertisements are very influential

in our daily life. Advertisements influence people’s life and they give certain benefits. Through advertisements, people are helped to get information about certain things

(16)

Maranatha Christian University 2 “Advertising is the commercial promotion of goods, services, ideas and company

usually performed by an identified sponsored, and performed through a variety of media” (http:/www.Advertising-Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia.htm). Within an advertisement, some parts form the unity of the advertisement itself. Those parts are

hooks, image, logo, symbol, slogan etc. “Hooks are some texts that contrast the way words sound with the way they are written, in order to engage the reader in

code-breaking exercise. Image is some kind like picture or model to make clear advertisements. Logo is a design or mark used as a company’s permanent trademark. and Symbol is a non-literal representation of an idea.” (Goddard 76-128).

Actually, one of the most interesting things from advertisements is slogan. Advertisement slogans make people feel attracted to read advertisements and

subsequently they are expected to buy the product being advertised. “Slogan is a memorable phrase used in political, commercial, religious and other contexts as recur expression of an idea or purposes” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slogan). But

“advertising slogans are claimed to be, and often are proven to be, the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product or products”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_slogan). In this thesis, I try to examine advertisement slogans, because it is commonly believed that people can get many kinds of significant thing from advertisement slogans. Furthermore, I think my thesis

(17)

think advertisement slogans have the power to make the consumer understand more

about advertisements and easily remember the product.

Referring to the topic of my thesis, the kind of advertisement slogans that I analyze is the one which contains Block Language. “Block Language messages are

most often nonsentences, consisting of a noun or noun phrase or nominal clause in isolation; no verb is needed, because all else necessary to the understanding of the

message is furnished by the context.” (Quirk 845) ; and the context itself is a word or passage in a text appears and helps to comprehend the meaning or the meaning of an event can clarify the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or

settings. From the above explanation, we can see that context here is essential in understanding the Block Language used in advertisements. Without the context,

advertisements will be vague in the eyes of the readers because they are a mere compilation of words.

My research will be significant for people who work in an advertising agency.

These people will be more aware of the language used in advertisements. Hopefully, their knowledge will be wider by the fact that there are some ways to make

advertisements more effective, in this case through Block Language. This thesis will also be useful for consumers in general when reading or watching advertisements, whether in magazines, newspapers, on televison or the Internet. As a result, they will

understand the meaning of advertisement slogans and how they are related to the products. With sufficient knowledge in Linguistics, we can better understand the

(18)

Maranatha Christian University 4 My data are advertisement slogans in magazines, newspapers, television and

the Internet. I choose these particular data because those data are easily available in advertisements, especially in advertisement slogans. I find Block Language most of all in advertisement slogans. As I have already mentioned in the first paragraph,

advertisement slogans are actually exciting to analyze.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1. What are the major characteristics of Block Language found in the advertisement slogans?

2. How does context help interpret the message of advertisement slogans presented in Block Language?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

1. To know what the major characteristics of Block Language found in the

advertisement slogans

2. To know how context helps interpret the message of advertisement slogans

presented in Block Language

1.4 Method of Research

(19)

kinds of problem they have. Fourth, I analyze the problem and finally write a

report on them.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

The thesis, starting with the Abstract, consists of four chapters, which are organized as follows. Chapter One, the Introduction, expresses the reason for

choosing the topic. This chapter contains Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two presents the theoretical framework used in analyzing the

data. Chapter Three contains the analysis of my data. The last chapter, Chapter Four, provides the conclusion of the analysis. The thesis ends with the

(20)

(21)

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

After analyzing some advertisement slogans, I find that there are many

problems in advertisement slogans. Based on the twelve data above, I can get the

problems in advertisement slogans. From my analysis, I can find that an advertiser

sometimes does not think of the detail of the slogan. Therefore, there are slogans that

have no subjects, no verbs or no conjunctions. Data 1 and 2 have no subject. Data 3-7

have no subject and no verb. Data 8-12 have no subject, no verb and no conjunction.

However, the readers can understand the meaning of the message because the

readers can see the advertisements. The readers can see the pictures of the product,

models and additional information known as context. As a result, I find that the

advertisement slogans which contain Block Language can be well understood because of the presence of context. The context clarifies the meaning of the slogan. Therefore,

even without subjects, verbs, or conjunctions, the slogans can still be understood as

(22)

Maranatha Christian University 22 2 In my opinion, it is not easy to understand the actual meaning of

advertisement slogans. When we see an advertisement, we just look at the

advertisement itself. It is inevitable that the readers have different interpretations. It is

also possible that they have a wrong interpretation concerning the meaning of a

particular advertisement slogan. Then, it is advisable that the readers know the

context of the advertisement.

In understanding the meaning of a slogan, we must know the context of the

advertisement. Before we get the first impression of the advertisement, it is important

to read the advertisement carefully. It is done in such a way that we know what the

advertisers mean to say to the readers. In this way, we will be able to understand the

message clearly. Accordingly, it is essential for the readers to grasp the meaning of

advertisement slogans by considering the context.

Actually, in understanding advertisement slogans which contain Block Language, we cannot just rely on the context. A context has a sub-division which is known as features of context. Features of context that I notice in my data are picture,

situation, additional information and function. All of the context features contribute

to each other to make advertisements clearer to the readers.

One of the context features is picture. It can be a bottle of the product, model and the product itself. After analyzing the data, I find that a picture is important in

understanding advertisement slogans. Picture is needed to make an advertisement

fascinating and clear for the readers. I think that without pictures, the readers might

(23)

Furthermore, I find out another feature of context that we need to know,

namely situation. The situation plays an important role in advertisements. I find that we need to look at the entire advertisement to make us understand more about the

significance of the advertisement. Thus, the readers need to look at the situation of

the advertisements to understand the message of the advertisement slogans.

The entire context features have a function to make the readers understand the message of the slogan. In other words, context has a function to connect all the

words and get the meaning of the slogan. As a result, context has an important role to

make the readers realize the meaning of the slogan.

Besides, in understanding the advertisement slogans, I also notice that

additional information is helpful to make the readers understand the meaning of the message. Additional information explains more about the product. It helps the readers

to know the advertisement more and understand the meaning of the slogan.

After doing my analysis, I find out many interesting things concerning

advertisement slogans. Therefore, I want to give my opinion about my analysis. In

my opinion using Block Language will be effective if it is supported by context. Besides, without the existence of the context the readers might not be able to know

the meaning of the slogan. Context is really crucial in understanding Block Language. Besides, I notice that Block Language can economize the use of words. As a result, it will be profitable for advertisers because sometimes advertisements should

be made more eye-catching to the readers. Thus, the readers feel attracted to read

(24)

Maranatha Christian University 24 2 some advertisements, advertisers are very cost-consious. Therefore, Block Language

helps the advertisers to minimize their budget.

Moreover, I observe that nowadays advertisers are more creative in creating

slogans. They are creative in using Block language for the advertisement slogans.

Block Language makes the slogan advertisement more attractive. Advertisers also put features of context such as picture, model, and additional information. They can

manipulate Block Language with features of context and make advertisements more fascinating to read. Therefore, we can get abundant information from advertisements.

I feel fortunate in writing this thesis because with my knowledge of

Linguistics I can analyze advertisement slogans. My background knowledge of

Linguistics can be useful for people who do not understand Block Language. Block Language is also a new knowledge for the readers. In my opinion, their background knowledge is necessary to interpret the meaning of Block Language in advertisement slogans. Obviously, background knowledge is one of the important parts to help the

readers to interpret the meaning of slogans which contain Block Language.

From my analysis, I notice that slogan is part of an advertisement which is

essential in delivering a message. A good advertiser can make the slogan as

interesting and entertaining with the consideration that readers first notice the

advertisement slogans.

I have some suggestions for readers who are aware of the existence of the

advertisement slogans. First, the readers are recommended not to always trust

(25)

Second, the readers not only should look at the slogan itself but also at the context

that supports it. Therefore, the readers should be more careful in reading

advertisement slogans, so that they will not have wrong interpretations.

(26)

Maranatha Christian University 26

BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:

Cristal, David. Dictionary of Language and Languages. Harmonsworth Penguin

Books, 1994.

Goddard, Angela . The Language of Advertising. Routledge Taylor & Francis

Group: London and New York, 2001.

Leech, Geoffrey. Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman, 1983

Quirk, Radolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. A

Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, 1985.

Yule, George. Pragmatics, 1990

Internet Website:

Hindalgo, Laura. “Text World Creation Advertising Discourse.” 13/2003. 2006

<http://www.ucm.es/info/circulo/no13/hidalgo.htm/>

Van Djik. “Towards a Theory of Context and Experience Models in Discourse

Processing.” Fourth version January (1998). 2006

(27)

Wikipedia, 2006.

<http://www.Advertising - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.htm/>

Wikipedia, 2006.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slogan/>

Wikipedia, 2006.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_slogan/>

Wikipedia, 2006.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context/>

Wikipedia, 2006.

The Contextual Meaning Of Block Language In Advertisement Slogans.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDICES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY