Catchphrases in Advertisements: A Semiotic Perspective

ABSTRACT Lisandy, Yohana Anggi. 2010. Catchphrases in Advertisements: A Semiotic Perspective. English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Drs. A. Effendi Kadarisman, M.A., Ph.D. Keywords: Semiotics, Semiotics in Advertisements, Advertisement Catchphrases Nowadays, there is no country without advertising agency, no company can live without using advertisement to advertise their product, and nobody have not seen advertisement in their life. Advertisements cannot be separated from any society. Catchphrase as an integral part of an advertisement is the main focus of the study in this research. This research aims to find out the linguistics structures of catchphrases in advertisements and to find out the use of catchphrases in commercial advertisements as seen from a Semiotic perspective. The data were collected through categorizing them based on the theme of the product, e.g. Cigarette, Food, Drink, coding each of the data, and classify them based on research problem. Data analysis was done by using three types of verbal sign's meaning of Semiotic theory, i.e. (a) Designative meaning which indicates the relationship between verbal signs and their referents, (b) Linguistic meaning which indicates the relationship between signs, and (c) Pragmatic meaning which indicates the relationship between verbal signs and interpretants, and by the aids of Barthean and Peircean semiotic. The last were discussing and summarizing the findings. There are two results of the analysis. The first result shows that the catchphrases' linguistic structures can be found under 12 classification of catchphrases based on their common pattern which once formerly proposed by Rowse-Nolan (1969). They are Product or Firm Name, Command, Exclamation, Question, Comparative Superlative quality, Conversational, Personalized Statements, Balanced and Rhythmic Statements, Statement of Fact, Selling Points, Dramatic or figurative statements which tie in with the text or illustration, and Blind Headlines. The second result of the analysis concerns with the use of catchphrases in advertisements, which can actually be seen from the appeal each catchphrase wants to show to the public. From the data collected, there are 15 appeals which can be found. They are Economy, Recommendation, Guarantee, Comfort, Elegance, Service, Loyalty, Healthfulness, Pleasure, Possession, Superiority, Safety, Hospitality, Affection, Social Prestige, and Sex appeal. The Appeals, as the researcher has observed, make a pattern of occurrence depending on the advertisement theme, e.g. hotel or residence advertising will prefer to use "hospitality" and "comfort" as the appeals. Catchphrases are always written creatively and purposively. The employment of linguistic devices and appeals in catchphrases are inseparable act of copywriter to make the catchphrases become more attractive and persuasive. Thus, the results of this thesis will give useful reference for those who are working in advertising agency and also for future researchers who want to conduct research of similar topic.