humour in british print advertisements

8/3/2019 Humour in British Print Advertisements

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GwenalleRoux:HumourinBritishprintadvertisements

GriffithWorkingPapersinPragmaticsandInterculturalCommunication1,2(2008),88105

88

Humourin

British

Print

Advertisements

GWENALLEANNEGALLEROUX*

AbstractThisstudyexploresaresearchmodelconcerninghumour inBritishprintadvertisements.Thefindingsofthisstudysuggestthathumour isarelevantmeansusedby industriestoachievecommercialeffectiveness.It isargued thathumourcanbedepictedasachallengeframework, specific to a particular culture. The paper also tries to demonstrate theimportanceandoutcomesofhumourresponseintheBritishaudience.Todoso,thepaperreviewsdifferenttypesofhumourmechanismsandtheenablingfactorsusedtodecodethehumourmirth.The aim of this study is to comprehend towhich extentmechanisms areusedtotriggerthehumorouschallenge inBritishprintadvertisements.Finally,thepaperanalysestheprimarytypeofhumourthatisrecurrentinBritishprintadvertisements.ItishopedthatthisstudywilldrawfurtherattentiontotheimportanceoftheBritishaudiencesjudgment as well asprovide a contrasting analysis between British citizens and othercitizensfromtheCommonwealth.

1.IntroductionAdvertisingstrategiesaccountforanimportantpartofthemarketingactivityofan

industry.Humour

is

arelevant

element

frequently

used

by

companies

to

sell

products (Spotts, Weinberg and Parsons 1997: 18; Weinberger and Spotts 1989).

Nevertheless, humour is not used in direct combination with the products

themselvesbutratherisrelatedtospecificclients(Newman2004:88;Weiner2006).

In spite of the ongoing process of globalisation which has led to an increasing

homogenization of advertising practices, it seems undeniable that the advertising

process of a country entails specific inferences in regards to its national

characteristics (Tungate 2007). Thus it is important to appreciate that different

countries, like different people, find different things funny, which explains why

nationalcampaignsareusuallybetterathumour thanglobalcampaigns (Newman

2004:85;

Lee

and

Johnson

2005:

2930).

Tungate

(2007),

for

instance,

argues

that

a

cleversenseofhumorisatypicallyBritishcharacteristic.HeclaimsthattheUnited

Kingdom is regarded as one of the most audacious markets in terms of

advertisements(Tungate2007).ThisstudyanalysesthewaysinwhichBritishprint

advertisements achieve humour. It also provides an understanding of the

importanceandtheoutcomesofhumourresponseintheBritishaudience.

Atthispoint,itiscrucialtomentionthatalthoughresearchhasbeenconducted

for thepast fewyears,noproper theoryofhumourhas emergedyet (Spotts etal.


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1997:1718).Thus,humourcanbroadlybeidentifiedasaformofcommunicationin

whichacreatedstimulusmayact toprovidepleasure foranaudience (GulasandWeinberger2006:95).Generally,humourissuggestedasbeingatermappliedtoall

literatureand toall informal speechorwriting inwhich theobject is toamuseor

arouselaughterinthereaderorhearer(GulasandWeinberger2006:2122).

Humour isaphenomenonthatalwaysrequiresahighlevelofmotivationfrom

theviewer,who is thenmore likely to remember it (Newman2004:88;Gulasand

Weinberger2006:57).Indeed,iftheintendedaudiencedoesnotunderstandthewit

orisannoyedbyitorisevenoffendedinsomeways,theadvertiserswillnothave

reachedtheirprimarilygoal:Itishardenoughtoraisepeoplesattentionasregards

advertising; if you annoy them, you are making a hard task even more difficult

(Viveiros2003,

cited

in

Gulas

and

Weinberger

2006:

63).

This

statement

highlights

thathumourisefficientonlywhentheadvertiserknowsthetargetaudienceandits

responsetohumour.Humourissubjectiveandisparticulartoasocietalculture.

2.LiteratureReview2.1Integratinghumour:achallengeframeworkWecananalysehumourwithinthechallengeframework,specifictoaparticular

culture,asoutlinedinGulasandWeinberg(2006).Inthismodel,thechallengeis

triggeredby

one

or

more

of

three

humour

mechanisms,

namely

incongruity,

arousal/safety,andsuperiority.Itisputintoactionthroughtheuseofdifferent

enablingfactors),includingplaysignals,familiarityreceptivity,surprise,and

arousal,whichinturnhelpthereaderindecodingthehumourresponse(mirth).

Thesephenomenahaveamajorimpactontheviewersstateofmind,resultingin

bothcognitiveandaffectivereactions(GulasandWeinberg2006:137).

2.2Humourmechanisms:Whatexactlyisitaboutasituationthatmakesitlaughable?Althoughthereisnogeneralacceptanceinclassifyinghumour,aconceptualstarting

point can be established by asserting that humour is triggered by particular

mechanisms(Spotts1987).Thesecanbegroupedintothreemaincategories;namely

thecognitivetheory,thesuperioritytheory,andtherelieftheory(Spottsetal.1997:20;Norrick2003:1333).

First of all, cognitive mechanisms are related to the structure of the message

(Spotts et al.1997:2021).According toStern (1990,cited inSpotts etal.1997:19),incongruity is the most prevalent characteristic in cognitive devices. Basedon the


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workconductedbythepioneersinthefield,KantandSchopenhauer,Morreal(1983,

citedinSpottsetal.1997:19)claimsthathumourcanbeachievedbymeresurpriseor inconsistency. Indeed, research has revealed that the pleasure derived from

incongruityisthedivergencebetweentheconceptionsthatlistenersorviewershold

intheirminds,andwhathappenstoupsettheirexpectationsinaplayfulcontextof

confusion and contrasts (Newman 2004: 91; Norrick 2004: 13341335). However,

incongruity becomes stronger only when it follows a resolution process and is

understood and accepted by its audience (Gulas and Weinberger 2006: 2326).

Through the use of incongruity, jokes produce a mirthful response based on

structuralcontrasts(Raskin1985).

Originated by Plato, the superiority theory also called the disparagement

theoryconcentrates

on

the

social

function

of

humour

(Gulas

and

Weinberger

2006:

26;Spotts et al. 1997: 19).Hobbes (1840:1909, cited in Norrick2003:1333)defineshumourasthesuddengloryarisingfromthesuddenconceptionofsomeeminency

inourselves,by comparison with the infirmity of others. This illustration canbe

explainedbyGruner (1997, cited inGulasandWeinberger2006:26),who suggests

that the superiority theory can be clarified in terms of superiority, aggression,

hostility, ridicule or even degradation. Superiority seems to be present even in

humourthatappearstobeharmless.

Lastbutnotleast,thearousal(relief/psychodynamic)theoryimpliesthatthereis

apsychologicalreleaseinthathumourhelpsventtension.Itissuggestedthatpeople

jokeabout

things

that

make

them

feel

unsure

and/or

uncomfortable

as

away

of

releasingfeelingsoftensions(GulasandWeinberger2006:28).AccordingtoFreud

(1905:1960,citedinSpottsetal.1997:19),humourisasafetyvaluewhichallowsthereliefofforbiddenfeelings.

2.3TypesofHumourIt is interesting to note that Freud (cited in Gulas and Weinberger 2006: 9899)

believed that the pleasure obtained from wit comes about either tendentiously or

nontendentiously.Tendentiouswitreferstotheexecutionofamessagethroughthe

useofaggressionorsexualforces.Ontheotherhand,nontendentiouswitrelieson

amoreplayfulmeansusingabsurdityandnonsense.

KellyandSalomon(1975,citedinGulasandWeinberger2006:100)proposefive

maincategoriesofenabling factorswhichhelp toachievehumour:(1)puns the

humoroususeofawordorphraseinawaythatsuggesttwointerpretations,(2)an

understatement representing something as less than the case, (3)jokespeaking or

action without seriousness, (4) something ludicrous that which is laughable or

ridiculous,(5)satiresarcasmusedtoexposeviceorfolly.Audrieth(1998),drawing


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fromthe literature,proposesamoreextended listofthe ludicroustypeofhumour

which is required, in this research study, to analyse more carefully the collectedBritishadvertisements.

3.MethodInthisresearchproject,onlyBritishadvertisementsthatwerejudgedasmakingan

attemptathumourwereselectedtoformthecorecorpusforanalysis(Sinclair2004:

4).Theadvertisementswereselectedfromtwopublishedbooks:Saunders(1997)

andCronin(2004).

AcorpusoffortysixBritishprintadvertisementswasanalysedinthisstudy.To

simplifythe

analysis,

the

advertisements

were

classified

into

six

main

categories

(Appendix 1). For each category, one or more advertisements were evaluated,

representing the characteristics of British humour for each type. Related theories

introduced in the literature review were applied to in analyzing the corpus, to

understandthechallengeprocessthatfollowsBritishprintadvertisements.

Theaimofthisstudywastocomprehendwhatmechanismsareusedtotrigger

thehumorouschallenge inBritishprintadvertisements.Furthermore, it isrelevant

toanalysetheenablingfactorsusedtoachievethehumorousprocessandtheextent

to which the humour is developed by tendentious or nontendentious wit. The

researchconcludesbyanalysingtheinfluenceofhumourperceptioninBritishprint

advertisements(which

is

achieved

by

humour

resolution).

4.Results:EnablingelementsusedinBritishadvertisementsOne of the Law of Humour principles in advertising mentions that when an

advertiser is searching for theshortestandsharpestway toexpressa thought, the

solution isoften found in theuseofdifferent factors,which in turnelicithumour

(Newman 2004: 86). The stimuli analysed,based on the proposed corpus, are not

claimedtobeuniversalhowever,astheyreferstrictlytotheuseandperceptionof

humourinBritishEnglish.

4.1Category1:FunnyhahaAdvertisement1Firstofall,humouristriggeredinthisadvertisementbytheuseoftheincongruity

mechanism. Viewers finds themselves in a contrasting context where their

expectations on how to illustrate the message about this campaign category are

disturbed by what is portrayed in the print advertisement. Additionally, the


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advertisingcampaignusesironyasittouchesasensitiveproblembynotreferringto

theactualissue.Inthatcase,thearousaltheoryisalsoappliedandhumourbecomesa healthy way of adaptivebehaviour (Spotts et al. 1997: 19). People laugh aboutthingsthatmakethemfeeluncomfortableasameansofreleasingfeelingsoftension.

Superiority theorycanalsobeusedtoanalysethisadvertisement,as itinducesthe

properbehaviourfortheaudiencetoadopt.Mirthisthentheresultofthesudden

conceptionofsomeeminencyintheviewerwhoalreadyadoptstheproperbehavior,

by comparison with the infirmity of others. This advertisement uses a particular

measureofpersuasionwhereahumorousappealseemstobemorepersuasivethan

a fear appeal. The advertisement does not use any explicit adviserbut draws a

relationshipbetweentheoverallimplicitmessageandtheimage,suchasthemissing

pieceof

the

puzzle

which

corresponds

to

the

inappropriate

behavior

to

adapt.

A

nontendentiousmethodisappliedtodealwithasensitiveissueandstronglyrelyon

thecognitiveperformanceofitsviewer.

Advertisement2This advertisement mostly displays a playful context of confusion and contrast

which isresolved through theacknowledgementofmirth.Sarcasm is important in

this advertisement as it is straightforwardly mocking its viewer. This is done

throughanontendentiouscomparisonbetweenthemonkeyandthehumanbeing,

as well asby the ability of the play on the word scratching. The textbeside the

illustrationtakes

the

form

of

an

adviser

and

develops

humour

by

creating

an

oppositionbetween the textand the reader.Humour is thenachieved through the

useofanoverallepigramonthehedgeofblackhumour:TheMandrillhasagood

noseforscratchingrecords,whichledtoabigcontrastinthemusicbusiness.Asyou

arenotsimilarlyequipped,youdbettersignupforatrainingcourse.Finally,thisadvertisingcampaignplaysontheludicrousandusesnontendentiouswit.

4.2Category2:ExplicitsexualinsinuationsAdvertisement3Humour ismainly triggered through incongruityand reliesonconfusionuntil the

viewer reads the text at thebottom. The message is achieved through the use of

ironywhichenablesthepromotionofthebeerwithoutmakinganyexplicitreference

to it (this is also related to advertising regulations about alcohol in the United

Kingdom;seecategory6).Nevertheless,byspecificallytargetingthemaleaudience

andleavingasidethefemaleaudience,humourcanbeseenastriggeredbytheuse

ofblackhumouras theadvertisementmaybeoffensive to someviewers.There is

also a play on words which emphasises opposition in the headline. It seems


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undeniablethattheadvertiserusesexaggerationintheadviserGiveupSexforLife,puttingforwardthepotentialcharacteristicsofthisparticularbeer.Humour isalsocreatedbytheepigramfactorwhichdealswiththefolliesofmankindthroughthe

caricature of the Church principles. Thus, the pleasure obtained from wit in this

advertisementisachievedbytendentiousmeans.

4.3Category3:BrandingAdvertisement4Asbeerpromotionhastofollowstrictregulations,advertisersneedtofinddifferent

ways toadvertise theirbrands. In thisadvertisement,humour isgeneratedby the

incongruitymechanism

where

the

viewer

is

exposed

to

acontrast

in

the

situational

advertisement. Humour is created through a situational/practicaljoke which puts

forward exaggeration regarding the Gold of the beer and its creamy feature.

Humourcomesherefromnontendentiouswit.

Advertisement5Inthisadvertisement,humour isachievedby theuseof the incongruityaswellas

thesuperioritymechanism.Theironyofthepictorialsituationmakestheviewerfeel

some superiority and comfort regarding the product. It is obviously based on

exaggeration(hyperbole),puttingforwardfeaturesofaproductthatarelikelynotto

betrue

but

that

will

attract

the

viewers

attention.

The

wisecrack

Aphreaudisiac

takestheformofanimplicitadviserinregardstothequalityoftheproduct.Sothe

epigram makes a special reference to the product and triggers the humour

mechanism.This isparticular to theBritishpopulation,whereseductivereferences

valuetendentiouswit.

4.4Category4:PunsandgamesAdvertisement6In this advertisement, arousal theory primarily triggers the challenge leading toa

humorous situation. Humour is achieved through an anecdote which intends to

portray an adviser under the shape of relief: Life begins at 40D. This epigramentailsaboneheadinthelinguisticform.Theplayonword40Ddrawsaparallel

betweenwomensageandbreastsize.Theadvertisersuseironytofocusonanissue

thatprobablymakes its targetmarket feeluncomfortable.Humour isachievedby

nontendentiouswit.


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Advertisement7Humour in this advertisement primarily arises through the anecdote Eugeneinherited his Uncle Clancys estate,but like the Murphys he wasntbitter. The

wordplay on bitter createsambiguityas it canhave twomeanings: (1)pretense

due to money (2) taste of thebeer. This is a situationaljoke wherebitter means

unpleasant, sharp and disagreeable, the complete opposite of the Murphys.

Humour is also achievedby the use of exaggeration in the caricatured graphic

proportions,themansheadandbeerwhichunderliesthecontextinwhichthejoke

occurs.Thisbeer leavesa tasteof superiority,and incongruity is important in the

eccentricity of the contrasts. Nontendentious humour is displayed in this

advertisement.

Advertisement8Incongruitytriggersthehumourchallengethroughsurprise.Nevertheless,itcanbe

argued that humour is also triggered by the disparagement theory in terms of

ridiculeandsuperiority.Moreover,thehumourappliedinthisadvertisementisalso

awaytoventtension.Acombinationofthesethreemechanismsisusedtoappealto

aspecificBritishtargetmarket.Theadvertisementstartsoffwithananecdotewhich

underliesaspecificsituationwithanillustrativepoint.Inadditiontothis,itplayson

theresemblanceof thenameofanastrologysign,Virgo, to thesigns rootword

virgininitstext:Sohesaidareyouavirgin?AndIsaidno,aScorpio.Theplay

onword

is

also

enabled,

thanks

to

the

use

of

antonyms.

Black

humour

is

based

on

irony aroused from a fools query which adds nonsense to the situation, in turn

creating a humorous situation. This slogan is using a relevant wisecrack which

createshumourthroughtendentiouswit.

4.5Category5:CruelhumourAdvertisement9This advertisement is clearly built on incongruity as there is a perfect contrast

between the product advertised and the way it is promoted. Although the

incongruity is resolved, the advertisement still relies on confusion and contrasts

which make the print material even funnier. Humour seems to be based upon

eccentricity as it refers to an unusual behaviour. It is also linked with the

exaggeration of the situation, close to the hyperbole process as we assist to an

extreme exaggeration: would you really feed your partner with dog food? This

particular humour is also achieved through nonsense as it includes some level of

absurdity.Hereisanillustrationofsomedegreeofcruelhumor.Lastbutnotleast,

humour is attained through the linguistic content: The Micra. Ask before you


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borrow it. It isawitticismshapedbyakindofhumorousadviser.Basedon this,

humour can alsobe depicted through the use of epigram, which puts forward aclever and short saying about a general group. It canbe translated as a satire of

mankind,expandingonsituationalhumourbasedonpreviousexperience.

4.6Category6:TheunexpectedSomeoftheadvertisementsunderthisrubricarepromotingtobacco.Itiscrucialto

knowthatthefirstrestrictionfortheadvertisingoftobaccointheUnitedKingdom

came in 1962, as the Royal College of Physicians highlighted the health problems

causedby tobacco (Cronin 2004: 39). Following on from this, an agreement was

signedin

1971

between

the

British

government

and

the

tobacco

industry

for

the

inclusionofhealthwarningonpackagesandalsoonprintedadvertisings (Cronin

2004:39).Inaddition,advertiserswerepreventedfromcreatingcampaignsshowing

any individualssmoking.Thus, the tobaccoadvertisementcampaign industrysaw

anincreaseinmoreindirectandabstractcampaigns,aswecanseeinthecorpusand,

moreparticularly,inthetwoadvertisementsanalysedbelow.

Advertisement10Incongruityisfoundinthedisplayofthisadvertisement.Thecontrastivesituational

witfocusesonmakingareferencetotheprestigeofthebrand,andtoitslongtime

historyand

loyalty

in

providing

the

best

tobacco.

Exaggeration

is

certainly

used

to

encourage humour and attract the target market. Humour arose from non

tendentiousmeans.

Advertisement11Thisadvertisementmainlydrawsuponinconsistencyandputsforwardacontrastive

situationaswellasambiguityand intrigue togeneratehumour. Indeed, thebody

part of the chameleon on the pack of cigarettes is yellow while the rest is dark

green/brown. Yellow reflects the colour of the pack, and is in reference to the

cigarettesbutalsotheenlightenmentonefeelswhensmokingthisspecifickindof

cigarettes.Humour isalsoportrayedby thearousal theory,where irony isused to

bypasstheregulationsonadvertisingtobacco.Onceagain,thiscampaignusesnon

tendentiouswitthroughludicroushumour.

Advertisement12Advertisers in the United Kingdom must respect regulations imposed by the

AdvertisingStandardsAuthority.Onesuchregulationisthatcampaignsshouldnot

linktheconsumptionofalcoholwithsocialorsexualsuccess,orwiththeperception


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ofphysicalattractiveness(Cronin2004:4041).Fromthatweunderstandthecontext

in which advertisers need to create nontendentious advertisements to promotealcoholic drinks. In the case of this Smirnoff advertisement, humour is depicted

through the use of incongruity as well as the relief mechanism. Incongruity

obviouslyplaysamajorpartinthisadvertisementasacontrastiscreatedbecauseof

regulations. Humour is also created through the use of the personification and

parody of emblematic figures, leading to contradiction (angel versusbikie gang

member). Inaddition to this, relief triggers thehumouras it implies thatSmirnoff

can free its target market from all the social regulations and duties, enabling the

otherpersonalitysideconstrainedbysocialstatustoshow.Smirnofftransformsand

revitalises.Thisisunderlinedbythewisecrack,SmirnoffTheotherside.Itcanalsobe

supposed

that

superiority

is

played

with,

as

this

ad

aims

at

activating

psychologicalchallenge.

Exaggerationisanimportantenablingfactorinthisadinoverstatingthefeatures

oftheproduct.Itcanbeseenasakindofpracticaljoke,inthatwitisputintoaction:

a viewer sees the printed ad and feels the practicaljoke. The trick is played on

another person and the humour comes from what happens in switching. Non

tendentiouswitisappliedtocreatehumour.

5.Discussion

Ascan

be

seen

from

this

analysis

of

acorpus

of

British

print

advertisements,

British

advertising agencies seem to encourage soft sell through the ludicrous so as to

attract theircustomersattentionaswellas influencetheirstateofmind.Although

hardselltechniqueisusedtogiveinformationabouttheproductadvertised,softsell

techniquesseemtoreoccurthroughouttheadvertisingcorpus,andsoreliesmainly

on emotionalappeal (Lee andJohnson2005:175). This technique is supportedby

humorousappealswhichhelpcreateafavourablecustomerresponse,historicallyof

highratingstohumorousadvertisingcampaigns.

Spottsetal.(1997:20)claimhumourisrelatedtothemessagetype.Theycategoriseitintwomaintypes:(1)humourdominanceor(2)messagedominance.Accordingly,itcan

beshown that theBritishadvertisementsanalysedaremainlyhumourdominant.This

meansthat

the

product

messages

are

presented

within

ahumorous

context

that

shapes

theoverallexperienceofthead.Ifthehumourisremoved,theadvertisementnolonger

makes sense. Nevertheless, a few advertisements can be categorised as message

dominantwherehumour is semanticmainly thewordplayadvertisements.Lastbut

not least, whether the ad is humour dominant or message dominant, it seems that

imagefocused humour is of great importance in understanding the advertisements

(Spottsetal.1997).


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In short, the challenge framework that represents humour in British print

advertisements is mainly triggered by a combination of the three mechanisms.Additionally,enabling factors (usuallymore thanone)areused tocreatehumour.

Most importantly, an advertisement in the British community is perceived as

humorous through the use of combinations and relationships among incongruity,

surprise,perceivedhumourandattitudetowardthead(GulasandWeinberger2006:

120).Thehumorouschallengeisthenachieved.

Undeniably,humour isverysubjectiveonbothanationalandan international

level and endangers a promotional campaign if it is not well interpretedby its

audience(Newman2004:87).Theprimaryaimofanadvertiser,inusinghumour,is

to build a bridge between customers and a specific brand (Newman 2004: 88).

Indeedthe

recognition

of

humour

in

an

advertisement

is

aphysical

responding

to

themessage (Newman2004:86;LeeandJohnson2005:217218).Asa result, the

impact thathumourhasonadvertisementeffectiveness isofmajor importance,as

Britishsurveyshaverevealedthathumour inBritishadvertisementstimulatesfour

mainfactors (GulasandWeinberger2006:112113).Firstly, ithasbeenshownthat

the British population, having already consumed a product, is more likely tobe

sensitive tohumourwhichaltersorreinforcesassociationsand recollectionsof the

specific product experience. In that sense, humour has a cognitive function, as it

servesasameansofaffective reactionhelps thecustomers todecidewhetheror

not thead isworthyof furtherprocessing.Additionally,aboringadvertisement is

likelyto

lead

to

failure

76%

of

the

time

(Gulas

and

Weinberger

2006:

107).

Thus,

humourhasbeenfoundtobeaneffectivewaytogaincustomersattention.Inturn,

humour is potentially efficient in enhancing comprehension and recognition of a

brand (Newman 2004: 89; Gulas and Weinberger 2006: 113). These phenomena,

resulting from the distraction effect of humour, will finally have a successful

influenceonpersuasion(GulasandWeinberger2006:115).

6.ConclusionUnderstanding humour in a given target market in this project, the British

audience is of great relevance, as while it is apparent that numerous

advertisements are offensive, the intention of promoting a product or service

through humorous techniques is commonly used as a defense for their

offensiveness. The weapons of mass distraction advertisement for Easyjet is a

good illustrationof thisphenomenon (seeadvertisement13,Appendix2). Indeed,

rankedasthesecondmostcomplainedaboutposterintheUnitedKingdomin2002,

the advertisement hasbeen defendedby a spokesperson of the company as the

latest in a series designed tobe topical, humorous and irrelevant (Gulas and


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Weinberger2006:187188).Thehumourdefenseisinteresting,giventhatitislikely

thatmanyofthoseoffendedbyagivenadrecognisethatthemessageexposedisanattemptathumour,eventhoughanoffensiveone.

Tosumup,Britishadvertisementcultureencouragesintimacywiththetargetedaudience achieved through humour. British humour in print advertisement has

threecharacteristicsbeingironic,laidbackanddespitefewregulations,liberatedto

sexual inferences. Understanding an advertisement is not only a matter of

understanding the wit played out in the ad,but alsobeing familiar withbroader

Britishculture.Thus,itisimportanttounderstandtheregulationssurroundingthis

area,toseethesubtleforcesshapingtheworkofadvertisingagencies.

Nevertheless, one limitation of this study arose from the established

generalisationsthat

stem

from

alimited

corpus

of

advertisements.

For

further

research,itwouldbenecessarytofocusonawidercorpusandalsotoemphasisethe

importance of the views that British customers have on the humour depicted in

Britishprintadvertisements.Moreover,itmightberelevanttocontrastopinionsand

analysisbetweenBritishviewersandpeoplefromotherculturalbackgrounds.

*AuthornotesGwenalleAnneGalleRouxisanundergraduatestudentofGriffithUniversity,currently

studyingforaBachelorofArtsinLanguagesandAppliedLinguistics,withInternational

Businessasanoption.Contactemail:[email protected]

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Appendix1:CorpusofBritishprintadvertisementsCategory1:FunnyhahaadvertisementsAdvertisement1:Mates Condoms (A) Knight Leach Delaney, London (AD) Andy Wray (CW) PaulDelaney(P)JohnWallace(Modelmaker)KentandShaw.

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Category2:ExplicitsexualinsinuationAdvertisement3:AbbotAle (A)DlaneyFletcherBozell,London (AD)DavidAdamson (CW)RichardPrentice(P)MarkPolyblank

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Category4:PunsandgamesAdvertisement6:TriumphInternational(A)DelaneyFletcherBozell,London(CDs)GregDelaney/BrianStewart(AD)BrianStewart(CW)GregDelaney(P)PamelaHanson,representedby

FionaCowan/HamiltonsPhotographersLtd


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Advertisement7:Whitbread/Murphys (A) Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London (CD) John Hegarty (AD)GrahamWatson(CW)BruceCrouch(P)MikeParsons(Illustrator)SaraHodge

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Category5:CruelhumourAdvertisement9:NissanMicra (A) TBWA, London (AD) Chris Hodgkiss (CW) Pip Bishop (P)JohnClaridge

Category6:TheunexpectedAdvertisement

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Advertisement11:Gallaher/Benson&Hedges(A)ColettDickinsonPearce,London(AD)NigelRose (P)MaxForsythe

Advertisement12:Smirnoff (A) Lowe HowardSpink, London (AD) David Christensen (CW) Simon

Carbery(P)DavidScheinman

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