Linguistics and Advertising - They know that we know that they know, shittttttt.

Pretty interesting linguistics material that we have been covering. The Cooperative Principles (CP) are the basic structures describing how people relate and converse with each other. There are four maxims that Paul Grice states that must be obeyed by both parties for a conversation to be cooperative. The maxims are: Maxim of Quality (say the truth), Maxim of Quantity (say enough but not too much), Maxim of Relation (context should be consistent) and Maxim of Manner (be clear in what you say).

We as the listener assume that the speaker is observing these maxims and we assume that the listener understands these maxims and with that knowledge the speaker is allowed to play with phenomenon such as implicature, implied meanings between the lines and blatant flouting of these maxims, obvious violations.

Advertisers understand these common maxims in conversations and can use them very creatively in their ads to attempt to amuse, mislead or imply other meanings. An example would be an ad for 3 Musketeers candy bar where they state: 45% Less Fat. (Paul Justice, SDSU 2009).

It's obvious to assume that it's 45% less fat than a leading candy bar product, less fat than a previous version of 3 Musketeers, but this is where the maxim of quantity (say enough but not too much) is being quietly violated by the advertiser and is intentionally misleading. Since they didn't say enough, the rule has been violated, therefore the conversation is not cooperative.

The implied meaning behind this ad is that it's better for you than other candy bars. However, by not supplying enough information to back up this claim and by leaving the sentence ambiguous, it creates an incomplete comparative. 45% less fat than a hamburger? 45% less fat than an apple? Who knows?

Advertisers use these quite violation as a legal way to imply meanings without stepping over ethical advertising boundaries. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, it's true and here to stay. So, when you see advertisements that setup claims that make you finish the sentence for them, using your imagination and without facts, then you know, that they know how you think and could mislead you.Crazy, huh?

Another Example of quite violations by advertisers:
Olympia Beer: "It's the water." (Paul Justice, SDSU 2009).

Can you recognize the implied meaning behind this ad?