Analysis of Doublespeak in Advertisements of Garnier Products.

(1)

ABSTRACT

Pada tugas akhir ini dibuat suatu analisis tentang iklan dari produk Garnier

menggunakan teori Doublespeak. Tujuan dari tugas akhir ini adalah untuk

mengetahui dan memahami seberapa penting teori doublespeak apabila digunakan

untuk menganalisis suatu iklan. Tujuan lain dari tugas akhir ini adalah agar para

pembaca iklan tidak terkecoh saat membaca iklan walaupun hanya sepintas. Ada

beberapa teori doublespeak yang dibuat oleh William Lutz yang dapat digunakan

untuk menganalisis berbagai jenis iklan, tetapi dalam tugas akhir ini yang

digunakan hanya teori untuk menganalisis iklan kosmetik. Teori yang dipakai

untuk menganalisis iklan kosmetik Garnier dalam tugas akhir ini ada lima macam,

yaitu puffing, parity claim, weasel words, up to claim, dan unfinished words.

Dari kelima teori yang digunakan, dapat disimpulkan bahwa weasel words

adalah jenis doublespeak yang paling banyak digunakan dalam iklan Garnier yang

dianalisis pada tugas akhir ini. Weasel words adalah cara yang paling efektif dan

mudah digunakan dalam mempromosikan suatu produk karena weasel words

(2)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Advertising is a very important tool in product sales in order to sell well

and to earn a maximal profit. In addition, we also need advertisement in our daily

life to market our product. Almost every product that is on the market needs

advertising. Advertisements appear in various media such as magazine, television,

radio, newspaper, brochure and social media. The function of advertisement is to

make people who read it interested in the product and eager to buy it.

Advertisements of cosmetics are important to introduce the products to the

market. Many people think that cosmetics are important. As a fashion designer,

Yves Saint Laurent, says “The most beautiful makeup of woman is passion, but

cosmetics are easier to buy”. An American playwright, screenwriter and actor,

Tracy Letts, also says “All women need makeup. Don’t let anybody tell you

different.” (Goodreads 3). To look more attractive, women need makeup. When

(4)

advertisements. They can be interested in the product because of the certain words

used in the advertisements.

However, almost all advertisements are misleading. One of the critical

issues about advertisement is people usually believe what an advertisement says.

The advertisers use certain words or certain sentences to make sure that people are

interested in their products.

Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate but really does

not. An example of doublespeak used by advertisers is instant smooth skin. Many

advertisements of cosmetic products use the word instant to make people believe

that their product is good and to make people interested in getting it. The word

instant makes people think of a very fast process to change something. However,

each person may have a different perception of the word instant. The perception

of the customers about how fast the product works can be different from that of

the advertisers. The product may not work as instantly as they think. Another

example of doublespeak is beautiful skin. For one person, beautiful skin is one

that is healthy and clean, whereas for another, beautiful skin can mean something

else because beautiful skin is relative.

Commonly everyone wants to be beautiful. The concept of beauty can be

different for one person to another. Even though Sophia Loren, an artist, says

"Actually beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not

something physical” (Goodreads 1), cosmetics are the shortcut to be beautiful and

to make people feel more confident.

I choose to analyze doublespeak in cosmetic advertisements, which

(5)

deeply about the words offered by the advertisers in their advertisements in order

that I will not be deceived. Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate

something to the consumer even though it is not the same as the reality (Lutz, 1). I

analyze my data by using the theory from the book entitled Doublespeak by

William Lutz.

I use the advertisements of Garnier as my data because Garnier is one of

the companies that sell cosmetics. In addition, its products are available in many

countries including Indonesia. This brand is also easy to find in the supermarket,

or even in a stall of cosmetics. Its price is affordable so everyone from any social

class can get this product.

As informed in their website, Garnier is a worldwide company affiliated

with twenty nine other brands owned by L'Oreal since 1965. L'Oreal, based in

France and the United States, has been in operation since 1909. It now owns five

divisions, which are Consumer Products, L’Oreal Luxe, Professional Products,

Active Cosmetics, and The Body Shop. Garnier brand is part of the Consumer

Products division. The full name of the company is Laboratories Garnier. Alfred

Garnier made the first product in 1904. The product is hair tonic made from

organic ingredients. The company is committed to make products from natural

ingredients. As of 2014, Garnier is the second largest brand in the Consumer

Products division, selling products such as skincare, hair care, hair color and

styling products, which are distributed in 120 countries. Garnier continues that

mission today as all of their products are made from natural ingredients. Garnier

takes the inspiration from the nature by selecting active natural ingredients and

(6)

This study can be a useful and helpful source for the readers of the

advertisements and also for the consumers of the products so that they can

understand about doublespeak. This study is expected to be a reference for them

as they pay attention to advertisement, and it also helps them to be aware of the

fact that advertisement can be misleading.

(792 words)

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In this study I state the following problems:

1. What kind of doublespeak is used in Garnier’s advertisements?

2. How does the use of doublespeak in Garnier’s advertisements mislead people?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purposes of the study are as follows:

1. to identify what kind of doublespeak is used in each of the Garnier’s

advertisements analysed.

2. to find out how the use of doublespeak in Garnier’s advertisements misleads

people.

1.4 Method of Research

I began this research by looking for the topic for my thesis. I decided to

use doublespeak as the topic for my thesis. I read the book entitled Doublespeak

(7)

on the Internet. I prefer to get the data from the Internet than from magazines or

newspapers because I can find a lot of advertisements on the Internet, especially

those of Garnier products, which use a lot of words containing doublespeak that I

can analyze.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis starts with Chapter One, Introduction. It consists of

Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study,

Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is theoretical

framework containing the theory of Doublespeak by William Lutz, which I use for

analyzing the data. Chapter Three is Analysis of Doublespeak which appears in

Five Garnier Product Advertisements. The last chapter is Chapter Four,

Conclusion. The conclusion of the research is described in this chapter. It also

(8)

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

After some theoretical frameworks are used in the analysis of doublespeak,

conclusion of the analysis is drawn together in this chapter. Based on my analysis,

I conclude that weasel words is the most common kind of doublespeak that is used

in the advertisements. Commercial effect is one of the main purposes of the use of

so many weasel words. The use of weasel words is an easy way to attract

consumers to buy the product advertised. When the consumers glimpse at the

advertisement, they will be influenced; furthermore, they will be curious about the

product and they will desire to buy it. What’s more, the consumer will easily

spend their money on the product advertised.

For the advertisers, weasel word is an effective way to promote and

introduce the product. A weasel word is an easy choice to advertise something

because the advertisers do not need to prove what they claim in the advertisement.

For example, when they claim that the product will make the skin healthy, they do

(9)

after using the product in the advertisement.

Garnier, a company that produces cosmetic products which are good for

the consumer advertises their product by using weasel words, such as “instant”,

“brightens”, “smoothes fine lines”, “hide dark circles”, and “oil-free”. The use of

the word instant for example is an effective way to make the consumer believe

that the product can give them instant result. Busy people still want to have a good

appearance but they do not have much time and they need instant product to

improve their appearance in a short time. When they read what the advertisement

says, that it sells instant product, they will be interested in the product. When the

advertisement claims that the product can give instant result, people who read it

will think of the word instant according to their own perception. They are not

informed of how fast the product actually works.

Another effective way of the use of weasel words is found in the word

brightens in the advertisement. It makes the consumers believe that their skin will

be brightened. Since brightens itself has a positive meaning and people generally

want something positive for themselves especially for their skin, Garnier uses the

word. People have their own ideas of beautiful but many of them think that

beautiful means having fair skin, and fair skin ammounts to bright skin. Many

people like having bright skin. That is why brightens, which is a weasel word, has

a great commercial effect and the product will sell quickly because they want to

have the characteristic of beautiful.

In my opinion, the use of weasel word in general is also related to the

impression that people get, the fact, and the relativity or perceptions. On the one

(10)

product but on other hand, the fact that they get is not as good as the impression

that they have had. Also it can be related to the relativity or perception because

when people listen or see one word, they will have different standard and different

perception of the word.

In my opinion, the first target market of Garnier is young-adult females,

who usually have oily skin and acne problems. Acne problems happen because the

skin that has too much oil. Because of that, Garnier makes products for oily skin

and acne problems that many young adults need for their skin. When the

advertiser uses the word oil-free which is a weasel word, even though the

young-adult females only glimpse at the advertisements, they will be interested in the

product and eager to buy it. Although the first target market is young-adult

females, Garnier also makes products for adult females who usually have ageing

problem such as wrinkles or fine lines and dark circles under the eyes. A lot of

adult females want to look younger than their actual age, so Garnier makes the

anti-ageing product in order to make the adult females curious and eager to try the

product personally.

In my data , I find that the number of up to claim and unfinished words

are the same. The advertiser uses up to claim in the advertisement to give the

impression on the potential consumers that they will get the result as has been

decided by the advertiser. Up to claim in the advertisement expresses the ideal

situation. In my opinion, the ideal situation is the situation which the consumers

get the ideal result after using the product. The advertiser also uses unfinished

words to make the consumers have their own perception about finishing the

(11)

result is not as good as they have expected.

The use of up to claim and unfinished words in the advertisements that I

analyze is fewer than the use of weasel words because up to claim and unfinished

words are rarely used in the advertisement. In my opinion, the advertiser uses up

to claim as a complement to weasel words. The advertiser also uses unfinished

words if he does not want to be responsible to the consumers for the way each

consumer finishes the sentence. An example of up to claim as a complement to

weasel words is in the phrase “up to two tones fairer”. The word tones here is a

weasel word. The sense of the word tones can be stronger when it is combined

with up to claim. The word tones does not refer to any specific standard, but if we

combine the word tones with up to claim, the standard will be clearer. The phrase

“up to two tones fairer” can also be used as an example of unfinished words

because in using this kind of doublespeak the advertisers do not want to be

responsible while being tricky. The advertiser purposely leaves the word fairer in

comparative form because they want the consumer to create her own claim.

Consequently, if the result that the consumer gets is different from the consumer’s

claim, she cannot blame the advertiser because the advertisement does not make

any claim.

According to doublespeak theory, there are five kinds of doublespeak, but

in my analysis, I do not find two kind of doublespeak. The first one is puffing and

the second one is parity claim.

In this chapter, I would also like to make some suggestions for the readers

of this study and the consumers who expect to improve their knowledge and

(12)

deceived and so that they can be more carefully in choosing a product they will

use. There are two suggestions I would offer to those interested in analyzing

Garnier product advertisements. Firstly, they can use doublespeak theory by

William Lutz, which is a part of pragmatics as what I have done in this thesis.

Another suggestion is to analyze Garnier product advertisements by using

semiotics. When using semiotics, the readers can use the theory by Ferdinand de

Saussure. They can see the pictures and the pictures can be analyzed by means of

semiotics. Besides the pictures, they can also analyze the advertisement that

contains words and symbols. Analysing the use of doublespeak in advertisement

may help the readers to not be deceived, while the use of Ferdinand de Saussure’s

theory of semiotics may help the readers to understand the intention of the

advertiser.

(13)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

About Garnier. Ehow. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 September 2014.

“Brighten.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010.

Print.

“Cool.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Cushion.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010. Print.}

“Eliminate.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010.}

Print.

“Even.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Fresh.” Def.8. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

Garnier BB Cream. Advertisement. Passionforsavings. Web. 24 September 2013.

Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector. Advertisement. Projectsjugaad. Web.

24 September 2013.

(14)

Garnier Moisture Rescue. Advertisement. The Freebiejunkie. Web. 30 December

2013.

“Good Reads.” Good Reads. 1, n.d. Web. 16 September 2014.

“Good Reads.” Good Reads. 3, n.d.Web. 16 September 2014.

“Hide.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010. Print.}

“Hydrate.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Immediate.” Def.5. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010.

Print.

“Incredible.” Def.2. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010.

Print.

“Instant.”Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Intense.” Def. 2. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Lightweight.” Def. 1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010.}

Print.

Lutz, William. Doublespeak. New York: Harper Perennial Publishers. 1990. Print.

“Miracle.” Def. 1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“New.” Def.1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Perfect.” Def. 1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010. Print.}

(15)

“Quench.” Def. 2. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Reduce.” Def. 1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Refreshing.” Def. 2. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010.

Print.

“Renew.” Def. 4. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010. Print.}

“Secret.” Def. 1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Smooth.” Def. 2. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.

“Soft.” Def. 1. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th_{ed. 2010. Print.}

Analysis of Doublespeak in Advertisements of Garnier Products.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY