A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANLAYSIS OF THE ADVERTISING

LANGUAGE OF THE OVER THE COUNTER (OTC) DRUGS

Assist. Prof. Moldovan Raluca Emilia1, PhD, Dimitrie Cantemir
University of Tirgu Mures, Romania, e-mail:
ralucaemiliamoldovan@yahoo.com

Abstract. The promotion of over-the-counter (OCT) drugs, or different supplements,

has become part of TV and radio advertising. By the language they use, the OCT
advertisements generate strong patient demands, and at the same time attempt to
increases the sales of newer and more expensive pharmaceutical products. By being
constantly advertised, the consumers are led to think that they are safer and better
than they actually are, when in fact, it is only a marketing strategy meant to
generate profit. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the situation of OCT
advertisements in our country, in order to see what linguistic techniques are used to
attract potential customers.
Key words: OTC drugs, advertising, linguistic techniques

INTRODUCTION

The present paper encompasses three research fields, which although

might seem different, complement each other: linguistics, advertising and
medicine (in particular OTC drugs). The above mentioned fields go hand in
hand, due to the fact that the medical industry, in general, and the
pharmaceutical industry, in particular, relies heavily on the impact that
advertisements have on their consumers. On the one hand, by the fact that
they are frequently broadcasted on TV and radio, these OTC drugs are made
available to a broader audience; on the other hand their publicity enables
them to focus only on the positive aspects (very few warnings and risks
presented).
In spite of the fact that this has been a rather thorny issue, with a lot of
pros and cons, everyone has taken at least once in their lifetime some
medicines without the doctors prescription. As far as our country is
concerned, this seems to be quite a delicate problem because of the fact that
a lot of people take different drugs without thinking about the risks they are
being exposed to. According to some recent studies, about 67% of the
Romanian population buys medicines, especially antibiotics, without a
medical prescription. This is mainly caused by the lack of time, the long
queues at the doctors, peoples shallowness in dealing with medical
problems but also by the abundance of the medical advertisements which
have proved to be highly influential and manipulative.
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze some Romanian OTC
drugs advertisements in order to establish their morphological, lexical
and syntactical patterns. Furthermore, it is also intended to locate and

1 Assistant Prof, PhD at Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bodoni Sandor 3-5, Trgu Mure, Mure,
Romnia.

explain the presence of conceptual metaphors and to determine whether

these ads change peoples mental representation of the effects of a medicine,
by shaping positive expectations and miraculous cures. The analysis was
restricted to a number of 73 ads, frequently broadcasted on TV and also
available on the internet. They advertise different types of OTC drugs, from
pills for cold, to supplements, antibiotics or anti-inflammatory gels.
Therefore, medicines are turned into commodities for sale, disregarding the
risks that the customers are subjected to.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Advertising received a lot of definitions and interpretations; the

simplest one was given by Dyer who defined it as a concept which means
drawing attention to something, or notifying or informing somebody of
something (1982: 2). Therefore, if we take this definition word by word, we
can say that we are daily notified or informed about something, whether in
written form, online or on TV or radio. As it is so pervasive, advertising is
sometimes attacking our privacy, being at the same time an active element
of our consumerist modern society:
In contemporary society advertising is everywhere. We cannot walk down the
street, shop, watch television, go through our mail, log on the internet, read a
newspaper or take a train without encountering it. Whether we are alone, with
our friends or family, or in a crowd, advertising is always with us, if only on the
label of something we are using (Cook 1992:1).

Advertising turns everything into commodities for sale, the ultimate

goal being the profit. It is so well developed that it has a language of its own
meant to influence, persuade and sell. Williamson argues that it seems to
have a life of its own; it exists in and out of other media, and speaks to us in
a language we can recognise but a voice we can never identify (1978:1314). Therefore, although a common concept, advertising is a complex area of
research, in a continuous development and change in order to successfully
meet the most demanding and meticulous marketers and customers.
Just like any other type of advertising, medical advertising is meant to
promote and sell what it has to offer. In a highly competitive market a good
advertisement can beat competition and guarantee success, especially
nowadays when the pharmaceutical products are so varied and numerous. If
generally advertising is assigned a crucial role in the success or the failure of
a product, in the case of medical advertising, it is also important. It has to be
so convincing and trustworthy in order to determine the consumer to buy a
drug that s/he has never tasted or taken before.
Advertising has three main purposes: informational (provide useful
information about products and its features), persuasive (raise customers
attention and convince them to buy the product) and reminder (to constantly
keep in mind the product). It is primarily used not because it is good or bad,
but rather due to the fact that it is flexible; it reaches people easily and is

very efficient: The flexibility of this tool is good because it can be used to
communicate with a national audience or a particular specialised segment.
Although the costs can be extremely large, a vast number of people can be
reached with a message (Fill 2009: 14). From the pharmaceutical companies
point of view it is definitely a useful and influential marketing communication
tool, but is it the same for the consumers?
Therefore, what makes good advertising after all, especially nowadays
when we live in an advertisement-saturated environment? The fact that huge
sums of money are invested in advertising campaigns might mean, on the
one hand that the customers are dissatisfied with what they are offered, the
ads are not good enough to live up to their expectations, or on the other hand
the fact that this industry generates so much profit that is worth investing in.
However, as advertising is highly subjective, what appeals to the
pharmaceutical industry might not appeal to the consumer. In advertising it is
all a matter of personal perception and subjectivity, especially when it comes
to peoples sufferance and illnesses.
After having collected a number of 73 OTC drug ads which are
constantly broadcasted on TV and radio, the next step was to analyze their
lexical and morphological patterns in order to determine the linguistic means
used to send the right message to an audience face with a staggering variety
of OTC drugs. In doing so, the following works, which we consider of utmost
importance, were used:
English in Advertising by Geoffrey Leech (1966), which is one of the
most referential works which focuses on the specialized grammar and
vocabulary of advertising, analyzing the recurrent syntactic,
grammatical and lexical patterns present in ads (British TV ads in
particular);
Words in Ads by Greg Myers (1994) where we are offered clear
examples of how to analyze an ad in order to understand what lies
beyond it. The author starts with the most basic units (sounds and
letters) and continues with word associations, sentence structure and
types as well as the interpretation of ads in relation with their context.
( A similar approach to the one taken by Myers, is that of Guy Cook
(1992)- The Discourse of Advertising);
The Discourse of Classified Advertising by Bruthiaux, P. (1996);
Angela Goddard (1998) - The Language of Advertising: Written Texts;
Keiko Tanaka (1994) - Advertising Language: A Pragmatic Approach to
Advertisements in Britain and Japan.
The choice of words is very important when trying to advertise
something. Words need to make information accessible and clear but at the
same time they need to be convincing and catchy enough to draw the
audiences attention and finally to persuade them. Words in ads are therefore
carefully chosen because their primary role is to draw attention. Gillian Dyer

(1982) considers that sometimes the language of advertising is more

important than the visual part; Greg Myers states that ads are made up of
patterns of textual choices (1994:7) and Angela Goddard highlights the
importance of the advertising text by saying that writing is a form of imagemaking too (1998:16). Therefore the words of an ad are equally important as
the image is because they often come to peoples minds more readily than
those of novels and poems and plays, and they are often recalled with more
laughter and enthusiasm (Cook 1992: 3).

LEXICAL AND MORPOLOGICAL PATTERNS OF THE ANALYZED

ADVERTISEMNS
Although, often considered to be characterized by linguistic simplicity,
the language of advertising is more complex than it appears at first glance.
Called by Leech (1966) loaded language, the language of advertising aims
to inform, persuade, manipulate and change opinions. By choosing the
appropriate words and by using the appropriate linguistic techniques, the
language of medical advertising can create positive feelings about some
particular medicine by offering it healing powers in no time.
Noun phrases- are some of the most widely used morphological
patterns due to the fact that the message has to be short, concise and
convincing. In many situations the entire slogan does not contain any verb;
therefore nouns are of utmost importance when it comes to advertising,
being much more suggestive, meaningful and manipulative than verbs are as
well as more malleable. A feature that makes nouns so pervasive in
advertisements is the fact that they can easily be pre-modified. In most of the
cases the nouns are accompanied by clusters of three or more adjectives
which make the product advertised more appealing to the addressee.
Generally, the aim of the pre-modifiers is to highlight the qualities and
special features of the product and to place them in a positive light.
Superlatives and hyperbolic adjectives are used, sometimes in an
exaggerated and way too complex manner as Bruthiaux notices. He claims
that the advertisers have the tendency to use adjectival and nominal chains
which often consist of more elements than would be considered acceptable in
most of the registers (1996:76). This idea is also supported by Leech but in a
more compressed sentence: Complexity in the nominal group, simplicity
elsewhere (1966:120).
e.g. Nurofen, o twice faster against the pain
Voltaren Emul gel- the joy of movement.
Furazolidon- Active in the infectious diarrhea.
Ginko Prim Hot- Rapid effect, innovative product.
Urinal Akut- Quick and powerful effect.
Linex- a balanced flora, a healthy digestion.

Therefore, certain drugs are twice faster than the others, more rapid,
efficient, powerful and active, so that the addressee of the message is finally
talked into buying them.
Verb phrases- If one quickly analyzes medical advertisements and
not only, one will definitely notice that the majority of the verbs used are
either in their present tense forms or in the imperative form. According to
Leech verbal groups are of maximum simplicity consisting mostly of only one
word (1966: 121); they are mainly used in simple tenses forms or in the
imperative form, and very rarely in any past forms. He argues that this is
generally caused by the fact that the advertisements focus on the present
moment, the perfect time to take action, to buy the advertised product.
Especially in the case of pain of illness, every second counts, therefore taking
action and releasing the pain is necessary.
e.g. Max Grip Lemon- Keep your mind clean!
Parasinus brings you the cold hunters.
Vibrocil- Let the nose breathe!
Espumisan- Act against bloating!
The majority of verbs used or formed of only one syllable (see, give, take,
have, fight, put, keep) and they imply the idea of a battle between the
illness and the miraculous pills. Being dynamic verbs, they call for action and
they promise extraordinary results: your nose can breathe again, your mind
becomes clear, your heart is protected etc.
Adjectives and adverbs are also very frequent in the language of
advertising, acting as powerful modifiers. Not only do adjectives pre-modify
the nouns but they also alter the meaning of the entire phrase or sentence. In
the case of pharmaceutical advertisements, adjectives have to be expressive,
persuasive, convincing, out of the ordinary and give a clear image of the way
they are able to solve a certain medical problem. It is very important to shape
a clear outcome because patients rely solely on theses descriptions as they
cannot test or see beforehand what they will be offered. Therefore they must
offer what they have promised; otherwise the person in pain will not buy that
OTC drug a second time
e.g. Supradyn Enegry- Activate your natural energy
Mig 400 and your pain will quickly disappear
Hepatoprotect- Protect your liver naturally!
They are mostly based on the idea of natural, bio and eco products; therefore
they can never affect the human body but only help it. They are intensified by
adverbs (completely, totally, quickly, rapidly, efficiently) meant to support
their natural healing properties. Both adjectives and adverbs are used as
modifiers. Their role is to boost the message sent by the addresser by giving
further details, highlighting the positive aspects and by dramatizing the
discourse. These modifiers enable the addresser to connect emotionally with
the addressee but it has to be done truthfully.

Pronouns enable the advertisers to get closer to their addresses. A

method to get closer is make the message look like it has not been addressed
to the wide public but to each and every individual in particular. One way to
achieve this is the use of personal pronouns which is meant to break down
any boundary that may exist between the addresser and the addressee.
Although all personal pronouns are used, there seems to be a preference for
the second person form:
Ads use all three persons, but in peculiar ways. We is the manufacturer; I is
often the adviser, the expert, the relator of experiences and motives leading
to purchase of the product; he/she is very often the person who did not use
the product, distanced by this pronoun, and observed conspiratorially by you
and I; but most striking and most frequent, even in narrative, and also most
divergent from the uses of other genres, is the ubiquitous use of you (Cook
1992: 157).

By the constant use of the second person YOU, the advertisers

establish a dialogue with the readers, trying directly to persuade them that
what is being advertised is actually worth trying. These are markers of
familiarity between the producer and the possible consumer, as the former is
aimed at meeting the latters needs and desires. Therefore under the mask of
a false objectivity, the medical advertisers claim to know the patients needs
and promises to fulfill them.

CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN MEDICAL ADS

Starting form Lakoff and Johnsons premise that our ordinary
conceptual system is metaphorical in nature, the way conceptual metaphors
are used in medical adverting matters. It is something customary for
metaphors to be present in almost any type of discourse especially due to the
fact that they play a central role in the construction of social and political
reality (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 159). They are present in our daily
activities, shaping the way we think, communicate and behave. Although
sometimes they might be unnoticed, their presence both in the specialized
and non-specialized discourse influences peoples simplest choices, from
what type of water to drink, what chocolate to eat or what headache pill to
take.
Having as staring point Lakoff and Johnsons famous example
ARGUMENT IS WAR, the following conceptual metaphors have been
determined in the 73 analyzed advertisements: DISEASE IS WAR, PILLS ARE
ENTITIES, THE DISEASE IS THE ENEMY/INVADER, THE TREATMENT IS A BATTLE
STRATEGY, CURING A DISEASE IS FIGHTING A BATTLE.
Curing a disease is fighting a battle
Dicarbocalm Control- Its time to take over.
Propolis C- we protect our organism
Espumisan- Act against bloating!
Getting your health back is winning the battle
Kebene Plus and the wellbeing is back.

 The disease is an enemy/invader

Parasinus brings you the cold hunters.
The treatment is the battle strategy
Antinevralgic- Fight wisely the headache!
Cure is cleanliness
Coldrex Max Grip Lemon- Keep your mind clean

Faster is better
Nurofen, twice faster against the pain
Health is up, illness is down

CONCLUSIONS
After having analyzed the 73 OTC advertisements, the following main
conclusions can be drawn:
OTC ads are based on conceptual images with a high emotional
impact- Consumers conceptual representations are crucial in the
choice of medicines
OTC ads improve peoples mental representations of a certain
medicine by shaping a positive image
By using the right promotional tools, OTC drugs can determine the
choice of a certain product over another

REFERENCES
Batey, M. (2008). Brand Meaning. New York: Routledge.
Bruthiaux, P. (1996). The Discourse of Classified Advertising: Exploring the
Nature of Linguistic Simplicity. Oxford University Press.
Cook, G. (1992). The Discourse of Advertising. London, New York: Routledge.
Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as Communication. London: Routledge.
Fill, C . (2009). Marketing Communications. Interactivity, Communities and
Content. Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall.
Goddard, Angela (1998). The Language of Advertising. London , New York:
Routledge
Keller, K.L. (2003). Strategic Brand Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary
communication. New York, London: Routledge.
Kress, G., and T. van Leeuwen. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of
Visual Design (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Lakoff, G, &Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Leech, G. (1968). Towards a Semantic Description of English. Indiana
University Press.
Myers, G. (1994). Words in Ads .Edward Arnold: London
Tanaka, K.( 1994). Advertising Language. A pragmatic Approach to
Advertisements in Britain and Japan. London: Routledge.

Williamson, Judith (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning

in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd.