CAIE A-Level English Language

Advertisements, brochures and leaflets are persuasive and informative texts built around a short, designed message. They are written to be skimmed, so their conventions come from how a reader's attention is caught and held on a page or screen. ## Advertisements An advertisement aims to make a reader notice a product, service, cause or idea, and then act: buy, donate, visit, sign up. Most combine several parts, each doing a separate job. - A headline or slogan, usually short and often playing on sound or meaning. A plain strapline such as *Fresh from the hill* relies on a simple, concrete image, while a pun like *Tea for two, two for tea* depends on a familiar phrase being turned. - Body copy, which gives the reasoning or the details. It can be a single sentence or several paragraphs, and long copy suits expensive or technical products where the reader expects to be convinced. - A logo, brand name and contact details, which close the text and give the reader somewhere to go. - A call to action, usually an imperative: *Book today*, *Find your nearest shop*. Imperatives work because they are brief and direct, and they are rarely felt as commands since the reader is free to ignore them. - Image and layout, which belong to the language of the text. Colour, font, white space and the position of the product all carry meaning, and in analysis they are described as part of the text's graphology. ### Persuasive techniques Advertisers use direct address (*you*, *your*), which makes a…