Humor as Monotony Breaker in Funny Ads: A Multi-Modal Discourse Analysis of Ads of Pakistani Ufone & Jazz Cellular Companies


  •  Fatima Zafar Baig    
  •  Saima Umer    
  •  Muhammad Zammad Aslam    
  •  Muhammad Shehzad Razaq    
  •  Samina Khan    
  •  Tauseef Ahmad    

Abstract

The present study explores and analyzes the role of humor in the advertisement as the message in advertisements keeps a pivotal value constructing and promoting the idea of promotional activity by any company. So, the companies and promoters of products utilize and employ various distinctive and discursive strategies to promote their products focusing on the interests of their consumers. The research concludes that Pakistan is the one amongst other countries, in which, advertisers and promotors utilize humor as an important feature in advertainments at a huge level. Along with entertainment, the promoters promote the text and its discourse through humor which influences the decision-buying process of consumers. However, they often try to utilize humor neutralizing the social or personal values. Recent studies prove that intelligent and sensible use of humor by the companies can lead them to success if it is more relevant to the products’ nature and function. A Multi-Modal Approach, employing Fairclough’s (1989) 3D model along with Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996) grammar of visual design, is employed to analyze data. The findings of the study suggest that the humor if handled properly, can play a vital role in captivating consumers’ interest towards the product as it takes them away from the tensions of life and makes the product more appealing. Moreover, humor as a monotony breaker makes the ad more attractive that ultimately adds to the promotion of the product.



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
  • ISSN(Print): 1923-869X
  • ISSN(Online): 1923-8703
  • Started: 2011
  • Frequency: bimonthly

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