The Use of Nigerian Pidgin English in Print Advertising: Deviation from Standard Orthography and Effectiveness

This paper presents the content analysis of randomly selected print advertising copies partially written in Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE), and used for the promotion of services and products made in Nigeria. It is equally based on a focus group discussion with 15 literate and semi literate users (readers) of these copies. It attempts to show how the writing of advertising copy is complex due to the prevalence of different and personalized spelling systems in the representation of NPE words. It illustrates how most Nigerian advertising copywriters artfully deviate from the standard orthography developed by the Naija Languej Akademi (NLA) in preference to relatively individualized/personalized orthographies. The paper equally shows how effective the use of NPE may be in catching the attention of readers. It argues that while the use of pidgin may be relatively unnoticed in cases where its use is not dominant in the body of the advertising copy, the language has the potential of triggering the curiosity and interest of the consumer to know more about the product. It equally has the potential of creating fun, and increasing the entertaining qualities of the print advert. All these characteristics may motivate consumers to go for the product or service on promotion