Taking ADvantage
Words: Further Advertising Tricks of the Trade
Part Two of a Two Part Series
by
Richard F. Taflinger
This
page has been accessed since
29 May 1996.
This is Part Two of a discussion of the power
of words and how they are used in advertising. If you have not read Part One, I
suggest doing so first.
Argumentum ad Hominem
This is latin
for "argument to the person." In this type of argument you focus on
the person or the person's personal life rather than on whatever issues are
involved. It's particularly popular in political campaigning in which a
person's war recor d, age, religion, hometown or
state, or family (or lack thereof) is made the center of the argument rather
than the person's stand or ideas about any issue.
It is evading rather than discussing the real
issues that might make a difference to the people to whom the issues are
important. Stating that "I was born on a farm" has nothing to do with
a person's ideas about what to do about farms or trade or anything else. It
simply says "I was born on a farm" ("what have you done and
where have you lived since?" is a question that could be legitimately
asked).
Ad hominem arguments are clearly evasive.
However, it should always be borne in mind that some personal information is
clearly of importance. Drug addiction, insanity, a
criminal record that are or can be directly related to issues are of importance.
What needs to be evaluated is the degree to which such personal facets are of
importance; if they don't matter, they don't matter.
If they don't matter, when they are brought
up they are fallacious.
Argumentum ad Populum
"Argument to the
people." This is an appeal to
emotion and/or prejudice to convince people to accept what you say, and is
particularly popular in political speeches. Basically, it is telling people how
wonderful they are and how what they think (no matter what they think) is right
and proper, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot and a fool. Since most
people prefer to be considered right and proper, rather than an idiot and a
fool, they will agree with those who tell them they are right and proper.
Naturally, nobody is right about everything
all the time. But if a political candidate tells a crowd, "You people have
been telling
A popular use is in advertising that uses the
slogan "Made in
Argumentum ad populum
can be dangerous. It can be used to get crowds to lynch blacks, beat up
homosexuals, or persecute Jews. As a matter of fact, it was -- Hitler used the
argumentum ad populum in building up the attitude in
the Germans of the 193 0s that they were the master race and that blacks,
homosexuals, Jews, and handicapped people were inferior and should not be
allowed to live because they were not like the master race (there goes
14,000,000 people in the death camps).
Argumentum ad Vercundium
The argumentum ad vercundium
is an appeal to tradition or authority in support of some contention. "If
it was good enough for grandpa, it's good enough for me" is a capsule
example of the argument. "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be" is another.
Once again, no proof is given that the
contention is correct, fits the evidence, applies in the situation or under the
conditions. Politicians often evoke the spirit of Lincoln, FDR, John F.
Kennedy, or even George Washington to support what they say. (In fact, the
mentioning of
Let us take a major example. American
separatists were fond of quoting George Washington and his advice, "avoid
entangling alliances." Wonderful idea. Necessary for a weakling, virtually ignored country like the
Advertising often uses the argumentum ad vercundium. Advertising often uses famous actors, sports
figures, and even politicians to endorse products and services. They are
presented as authorities on the products as though they are experts. In fact
they usually have no expertise, knowledge, or even regard for the quality or
appropriate use of the product for the consumer -- they simply say they use it.
That is enough.
False Cause and Effect
Since I used latin
before, I'll use it here: post hoc, ergo propter hoc ("after this,
therefore because of this")(go ahead and impress
your friends).
Once again, it is a case of using jingoism to
replace thinking. "Why did it have to rain today?" "Because
you washed your car." There is no examination of inversion layers,
isobars, air convection, or humidity -- there is washing a car. This is false
cause and effect -- something occurs, and then something else happens; one must
cause the other.
Let's look at some examples of using false
cause and effect. "Permissive child rearing cause juvenile
delinquency" (as a side note for the student to examine, there is no such
thing as juvenile delinquency -- I suggest starting with a definition of the
terms). Permissive child rearing may indeed cause juvenile delinquency: so
might lack of jobs and education, drugs and the easy money it can generate,
peer pressure, boredom, and mean spiritedness. Any, all, or a combination of
the above can be the cause. Saying only one is false cause and effect.
"Pornography causes sex crimes" is
another example. There is no proof that such is the case (in fact, some studies
have shown that pornography reduces sex crimes through sublimation of the other
factors that may cause them). Such a statement is based on the idea that sex
crimes have increased since the loosening of legal restrictions on certain
types of pornography. It ignores factors such as increased awareness of sex
crimes, increased reporting of sex crimes, increased definitions of sex crimes,
changes in gender mix in the work place, the economy,
the family, fashion, and interpersonal relationships.
Political campaigns use false cause and
effect as a given: "Unemployment (taxes, war, debt, disaffection, etc.)
were all up during my opponent's administration." "Employment (less
taxes, fewer wars, lower debt, satisfaction, etc.) were up during my
administration." Again, other factors, most totally out of the control of
either administration, are ignored.
A prime example comes from the anti-nuclear
faction. After a period of nuclear tests there was a period of severe weather.
Anti-nuclear forces said that the tests caused the severe weather.
Meteorologists protested that the weather was a result of a change in the
Appeal to Ignorance (argumentum ad ignorantiam)
The appeal to ignorance is basing an argument
on the idea that a claim or theory must be correct because no one can prove
that the claim or theory is wrong. Note that last word; the argument does not
attempt to prove the claim is right, but that it must be because it can't be
proven wrong.
Often this argument uses a false or at least unprovable cause-and-effect relationship and defies a
challenger to show that the relationship is impossible.
For example, there are companies that claim
that wearing copper bracelets will bring about an improvement in those people
who suffer from arthritis, and dare medical researchers to prove they don't.
The researchers constantly state that such an effect cannot be supported by any
medical or scientific evidence, but the promoters of the bracelets say since
nobody has proved they don't work, and they have a right to say they do.
An appeal to ignorance is the basis of
religious arguments in which believers say there must be a god because nobody
can prove there isn't, and nonbelievers say there isn't a god because nobody
can prove there is. Both arguments must be considered spurious since they are
based on defying the definition of religion, a belief or lack thereof in something
that cannot be proven (if belief is not necessary, it is not a religion).
Special Pleading
Special pleading is the giving of only one
side of an argument as though it contained all of the evidence. This is not to
say that the points made are not true, or at least
supported with reasonable evidence. The fault lies in that the position is so
biased in one direction or another that it simply cannot be considered valid.
Special pleading is particularly popular in
supporting or attacking institutions or systems that are based on opinion
rather than demonstrable fact. These include political systems and religions.
For example, there have been many attacks on
Christianity, based on Biblical evidence such as Lot offering his virgin
daughters to the mob if they would leave him alone (Gen. 19), God sending two
bears to tear apart 42 children because they made fun of Elijah's bald head (2
Kings 2), or actions carried out "in the name of Christ" such as the
Crusades, the Inquisition, and the destruction of the Amerindian civilizations.
Arguments using this type of evidence are quite convincing, and also quite
biased in that they ignore evidence on the other side. For example, the caring
for people, the fact that the Church maintained and protected, and eventually
promulgated the literature, philosophy and science of
Thus any argument that focuses only on the
defects or merits of anything is open to the charge of bias and not proving
anything. Of course, such focusing on the merits and ignoring the defects of a
product is the basis of advertising.
Circular Arguments
A circular argument appears to move from a
premise to a conclusion. However, what actually happens is the the main assertion is simply repeated, not supported. A
general example is: A is proved by B is proved by C is proved by A. A specific
example: "Jones cannot be trusted because she is an unreliable
person." The premise is that Jones cannot be trusted; the support is that
she is an unreliable person. However, the only support for the idea that she is
unreliable is because she can't be trusted, which is supported by her being
unreliable, which makes her untrustworthy, which makes her unreliable, which
makes her untrustworthy, which makes her unreliable, which makes her
untrustworthy, which makes her unreliable, which makes her untrustworthy, etc.,
etc., ad nauseum.
Sometimes even those who engage in circular arguments
are not aware they are. For example, a sociological study was once conducted to
see if masculine and feminine traits appeared in young children. The test was
to put equal numbers of little boys and girls in a room full of toys and
observe which toys each sex played with. As a result of the study it was
concluded that the boys showed a preference for masculine toys, and the girls
showed a preference for feminine toys, and that therefore feminine and
masculine traits did indeed appear in young children.
There was only one problem with the
conclusion: the definition of the toys as masculine or feminine. A closer
examination of the study showed that the toys that were defined as masculine
were those that the boys played with, and those defined as feminine were those
the girls played with. From this it is easy to see that boys show masculine
traits because they play with the toys they play with (whether they are tanks
or dolls), and girls show feminine traits because they play with the toys they pla y with (whether they are tanks or dolls).
The premise is proven only by the premise.
Such is not proof. Nonetheless, circular arguments can be quite effective if
they are properly worded. For example: "The proposed gun control
legislation is a left-wing plot because only Communists would scheme to take
guns away from citizens." Such a statement could appear logical until it
is examined. When examined it shows there is no proof offered about the
legislation, only a statement that Communists are left-wing, and there is no
proof of that.
The advantage of circular arguments is that
many people don't take the time or effort to examine carefully constructed
circular arguments.
"You're Another" (tu quoque)
"You're another" arguments evade
the issues involved in the argument by attacking the person rather than the
issues. For example, if someone says, "You cheat on your expense
account," a you're another response could be,
"Who are you to talk? You cheat on your income tax." Notice there is
no response to the original charge, just a deflection to something totally
beside the point.
Euphemism
A euphemism is using a word to soften what
you are actually saying. Euphemisms are particularly used when a need or desire
arises to discuss something that is normally considered taboo, in bad taste, or
offensive to someone in your audience. Such topics include bodily functions or
facilities necessary for them (a "necessary" is a euphemism for a
bathroom, which is a euphemism for a room which is
used only 5% of the time for bathing), death, sex, money, illness, etc.
Euphemisms in themselves are not fallacious.
They only become so when they are used to cover up what you are actually
saying. This does not mean you should be vulgar; know to whom you are speaking
and don't set out to defy or offend them. Nonetheless, it is possible to
mislead an audience through using euphemisms.
The Vietnam War and press conferences about
it were fertile grounds for euphemisms. For example, there was the "free
fire zone". It sounds like giving away damaged merchandise after a store
burned down; it means blow away everything that moves in a certain area.
Another example: "resource control
program". This sounds like protecting Bambi in the forest. It actually
means remove the forest.
And yet another: "accidental delivery of
ordinance equipment". From this you can get the impression that the truck
went to the wrong address. In actuality it means, "we
just bombed the hell out of our own guys."
From the above examples it should be clear
that the use of euphemisms can soften the impact of what is being said to avoid
offending the sensibilities of the audience. They can also be used to hide what
really is meant. It is the latter case that m akes
the use of euphemisms a fallacy.
The word "euphemism" is an
interesting case in point. The translation of euphemism from Greek is "to
lie". Thus we can see that euphemism is a euphemism for euphemism (you
tell a lie to cover up the fact that telling a lie is lying).
I suppose it is only poetic justice that we should use that word for what it
stands for.
#
The above are not all of the logical
fallacies that are used in advertising, but they should allow you to perceive
them when they occur, and recognize them when you use them yourself.
The use of these tricks of the trade is not
unusual. If it was, I would have had to work much harder to come up with
examples. As it was, I had to do almost no work at all. In fact, being
fallacious is much easier than not. All that is required i
s a habit or inclination of making statements without supporting them or a lack
of concern for or desire to prove points rather than maneuver an audience into
accepting them.
This is not to say that fallacies will not
appear in the most carefully thought out and constructed ad. If you remember
that all ideas are subjective, then some fallacy is bound to appear simply
because everyone thinks that something is so axiomatic that it requires no
proof. Thus the idea could be expressed using one of the above methods by accident,
even if you're trying to avoid such accidents. Nonetheless, do not expect
perfection, either from yourself or others. If everything is subjective,
perfection is impossible.
However, if you are thinking of deliberately
using one or more of fallacies in your work, there are some caveats you should
consider.
First, there are ethical considerations.
Using fallacies makes you dishonest. After all, deception is deception, lying
is lying, even if you call it euphemism. Deliberately using fallacies is lying
to the audience, setting out to mislead them, taking advantage of them. Would
you like someone doing that to you?
However, for those of us who have no ethics, let's look at some practical considerations. First,
to use fallacies you must assume that your audience is too stupid to notice.
You are basically saying, "I'm going to lie to you, to deceive you, to take
advantage of your gullibility, and you're too dumb to notice." If you
think that, you deserve what happens to you. Audiences are not stupid; they are
often as well if not better educated and aware than you are. Thus you are
insulting them, and insulting your audience is not a good way to get them to
agree with you. If they give you the benefit of the doubt, they will consider
you a sloppy thinker; at worst they'll turn against you.
Second, you will lose your argument.
Deceiving your audience on one point will make anything else you say, no matter
how well presented or supported, suspect. The Ronald Reagan administration had
a problem when it was revealed that they were putting out a
"disinformation" (a euphemism for "lying") program to the
American people. For months thereafter no matter what information was given out
about what the administration was doing, it was considered another piece of "disinformation"
(read "lie"). It took a great deal of public relations, apologies and
promises not to do it again to repair the damage, but everyone could still see
the patches and was suspicious of the validity of the information.
When nobody believes what you say, how can
you convince anybody that what you say is correct? Thus, unless you really work
at it, using fallacies is a bad idea, if only because you want to win your
arguments.
#
One final consideration in copywriting that
has an effect on the audience that it often has little awareness of is the
language root being used in the choice of words. English has two basic roots:
Anglo-Saxon and Romance languages. Anglo-Saxon words a re those that entered
English from Teutonic and Celtic languages, including Gallic, German, Dutch,
and Scandinavian tongues. Such words are generally short and to the point
(interestingly enough, virtually all English curse words and obscenities are
Anglo-Saxon in source).
Romance language words are those that come
from languages based on Latin: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and
Romanian. Such words are generally polysyllabic, and seem to indicate a greater
intelligence and class.
Romance words contain little or no more
information than an Anglo-Saxon counterpart; they just seem to. For example,
the Romance "accelerate" doesn't mean much more than the Anglo-Saxon
"speed up," nor does "erudite" mean more than
"smart." Some examples:
When an writer wants
to says something clearly and to the point, rhe will usually use Anglo-Saxon
based words. For example, rhe may write "go" rather than
"proceed". On the other hand, if the writer wishes to obscure what
rhe's saying, rhe will often resort to Romance based words. For example, rhe
can say, "We have contended with and circumscribed recent redundancies in
the human resources area." What this means is, "We've just fired a
bunch of people." The impact is quite different. As in the example at the
beginning of the chapter, the Romance "terminate the fetus" has far
less impact than the Anglo-Saxon "kill the baby."
Summary
A major element of
advertising are the words used to
attract the reader's attention, describe the product, and persuade the reader
to buy. However, the way advertising can use words can often be described as
less than ethical. Although it is illegal for advertising to lie, the way it
can tell the truth, through the use of connotations, fuzzy rather than concrete
words, logical fallacies, and careful choice of language roots, creates
illusions, delusions, and the belief that ads are saying one thing when in fact
they are saying something totally different, if indeed they are saying anything
at all. This is neither good nor bad; it is advertising doing its job, selling
products, under extreme restrictions in time, space, and lack of immediacy.
However, knowing how advertising uses language makes it possible for the
average consumer to make better, more informed, purchase decisions.
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