HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES



VISUAL METAPHOR IN ADVERTISING

FL 3220 Lexicology

Class 124106

Student: Nguyễn Thị Giang 20183061

Hanoi, August 2021

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My assignment cannot be successfully completed without the support of these

following people. Firstly, I want to express our deepest appreciation to our teacher, Ms.
Pham Thanh Tam. Her practical suggestions contributing to the whole topic have helped
me a lot during the process of accomplishing my final essay. Besides, I would like to
extend my sincere thanks to my friends for their precious comments, it would be a
deficiency of my essay without their backup.

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 Table of Contents
List of figures.......................................................................................................................

Introduction..........................................................................................................................

I. The theoretical framework.............................................................................................

1. Metaphor.................................................................................................................

2. Visual metaphor......................................................................................................

2.1. What is visual metaphor?......................................................................................

2.1. Types of visual metaphor......................................................................................

II. The application of visual metaphor in advertising.....................................................

Conclusion............................................................................................................................

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 List of figures

Figure 1: An example of mono-model metaphor

Figure 2: An example of multi-model metaphor

Figure 3: An advertisement of JBL headphones

Figure 4: An advertisement of Sunsilk shampoo

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 Introduction

The study of metaphor has been a great allure to researchers. According to Youguo
(2013), metaphor is a new branch in linguistic studies that provides people an innovative
way to observe and understand abstract things. Metaphor has warmly employed in various
different fields such as literature, politics, entertainment, advertisement, etc… However, in
this essay I only focus on analyzing the useful application of metaphor in advertising,
especially visual metaphor in advertising.

I. The theoretical framework

1. Metaphor

The book English lexicology (2018) explained that “a metaphor is a transfer of

name based on the association of similarity and thus of actually a hidden comparison” (p
73). Using metaphor is an effective way to express our abstract thought briefly and clearly.
As Youguo (2013) mentioned that metaphor plays a key role in creating new meaning. It
uses different ways to bestow old things new meanings. Grey (2000) referred in his
research that metaphor is a vital resource to provide a framework for comprehending
concrete and abstract things.

A metaphor is made up of two elements: the first one is about the subject of
discussion. According to Richard (1936), it is called “tenor” or the “target” of metaphor
(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). Another element is considered as “vehicle” which is used to
express something about the target. For instance, a metaphor “woman like flowers”. In this
example, woman, about whom is the target and flowers, a thing which is used to described
woman.

Using metaphor in advertising is a new approach of the modern consumer society. It

creates a novel phenomenon in spreading the image of products to consumers. Besides,
metaphor helps the advertising to be catchy and easy to remember by making implicit or
explicit meanings.

2. Visual metaphor
2.1. What is visual metaphor?

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 There are various kinds of metaphors that are great tools to make sense of
unfamiliar situations. However, the main goal of this essay is to find out the use of a special
type of metaphor in advertising. It is visual metaphor. As reported by Nordquist (2018),
visual metaphor is basically structured by images. It is the illustration of people, things,
ideas by means of images that have particular association or similarities. Visual metaphor is
also considered as pictorial metaphor. Compared with linguistic metaphor, visual metaphor
is comparatively new to research. As Ohja (2013) mentioned that visual metaphor is a
visual expression of conceptual metaphor, one of the source or target must be depicted as
an image.

2.1. Types of visual metaphor

The concepts in visual metaphors are represented in two different ways: mono-
modal and multi- modal metaphors. With mono-modal metaphor, both concepts of the
metaphor are described by images. Both the source domain and the target domain are
represented with the same mode. On the other hand, multi- modal metaphor is that only one
concept is rendered exclusively in image and the other is illustrated mostly in text (Ortiz,
2019).

Figure 1: An example of mono-modal metaphor

The figure is an example of visual mono-modal metaphor, it is an advertisement of

Mitsubishi motor in which the new car is compared with a wild animal, rhino. Notice that
both concepts new car (the target) and rhino (the source) are illustrated in images.

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 Figure 2: An example of multi-modal metaphor

It is an example used in the research of Alsadi (2016). The above picture depicts a
man in the sea with a snorkeling apparatus for breathing. It implies that he has financial
problems. This example includes multi-modal metaphor in which the source “sea and man”
is expressed by image. On the other hand, the target “loan” is expressed verbally. From this
typical example, it can be referred a basic metaphor “having loan is like sink in the sea”.

In short, visual metaphor is a productive tool to represent effectively our ideas,

things… The source and the target of visual metaphor can be presented in two different
ways. They include mono-modal and multi-modal metaphors.

II. The application of visual metaphor in advertising

As Cao, et al, (2018) states that with the rapid development of the economy today
that leads to the flourishment of advertising industry. And modern advertising more and
more rely heavily on metaphors. Through the use of visual metaphor, it helps advertisers
attract customer’s concern on their products, increase the believability of an advertisement
(Phillips et al., 2005), and give consumers a deep impression on products (Cao, et al.,
2018).

Consider the following examples to understand more about the application of visual
metaphor in advertising.

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 Figure 3: An advertisement of JBL headphones

This advertisement makes a great impression on me because of its attractive image.

It is an advertisement about the JBT headphones. The tenor is the headphone worn by the
woman. The vehicle is used to describe the headphone is that two babies shout loudly into
her ears. Walpuski (2010) mentioned in his research that visual metaphors in advertisement
are used to present the valuable benefits of products, and this is proved in this advertising.
It is obvious that this advertising uses visual mono-modal metaphor because both the target
and the source are represented visually. Although the two whiny kids cream into the ears of
their mother, she can keep calm on her face. She is not disturbed by the noise out of her
ears. By using visual metaphor in this situation, advertiser can attract people’s attention,
demonstrate the uniqueness of their products, and persuade consumers to buy products
advertised.

Figure 4: An advertisement of Sunsilk shampoo

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 In this example, the tenor is the Sunsilk shampoo, the vehicle is hair that is passed
through the eyelets of shoe as a replacement of a shoelace. The caption on the advertising
says “for stronger hair”. This example is multi-modal metaphor because the source is
represented visually and the target is expressed verbally. It can be referred that the Sunsilk
shampoo is the good choice for your hair. It helps your hair grow healthy and can be strong
like a shoe lace.

Overall, by using visual metaphor in advertising, advertisers can create the

uniqueness of their products, arouse the interests of the buyers to act on the products.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are various different types of metaphors, but visual metaphor is
valuable tool for modern advertising. This paper has discussed on the definition of visual
metaphor which includes two types: mono-modal and multi-modal metaphor. Some typical
examples of visual metaphor have been analyzed. The power of visual metaphor is
indisputable. It helps to create unforgettable advertising through attractive images.

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 References

Alsadi, M.W. (2016). I see what is said: The interaction between multimodal metaphors
and intertextuality in cartoons. School of languages, Literatures and cultures,
Applied Linguistics Programme.

Cao, S., Wang, H., & Zou, X. (2018). The Effect of Visual Structure of Pictorial Metaphors
on Advertisement Attitudes. International of Journal Marketing Studies, 10 (4).
Canadian of Center of Science and Education.

English lexicology (2018). Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Grey, W. (2000). Metaphor and meaning. Retrieved from August 9, 2021, from
shorturl.at/hnAD0 https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2002.10673681

Lakoff, G & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphor We Live By. London: The University of
Chicago Press.

Nordquist, R. (2018). Visual Metaphor. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from August 9. 2018, from
https://www.thoughtco.com/visual-metaphor-1692595.

Ojha, A. (2013). An Experimental Study on Visual Metaphor (Doctor of Philosophy in

Cognitive Science, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad).

Ortiz, J. M. (2009). Primary metaphors and mono- modal visual metaphors. Journal of
Pragmatics. Spain: Department of Communication and Social Psychology,
University of Alicante.

Phillips, B. J., & McQuanrrie, E. (2003). The development, change and transformation of
rhetorical style in magazine advertisements 1954-1999. Journal of Advertising,
31(4), 1-3. http://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2002.10673681.

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Richards, “Metaphor,” in The Philosophy of Rhetoric (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1936, renewed 1964; Galaxy 1965) 89.

Walpuski, S. (2010). The influence of functional and symbolic metaphors on product

perception. The influence of functional and symbolic metaphors on product
perception. 1 (1), 4.

Youguo, D. (2013). Study on The Essence of Metaphor. International Academic Workshop

on Social Science. China: Department of Freshmen Education, Yangtze University.

Hello teacher, can you hear my voice. Now I will present briefly about my final
assignment. Our group choose the topic metaphor in advertisng. There are various types of
metaphor, however, to apply in advertising, there are two common types: visual metaphor-
uses images to express ideas, and conceptual metaphor- mostly uses text to represent the
product. I am responsible for the first type: visual metaphor. Before referring to visual
metaphor, I want to give definition of metaphor. According to the book English lexicology
published by Hanoi university of science and technology. A metaphor is a transfer of name
based on the association of similarity and present a hidden comparison. About the
definition of visual metaphor, Visual metaphor is basically structured by images. It is the
illustration of people, things, ideas by means of images that have particular association or
similarities. The concepts in visual metaphors are represented in two different ways: mono-
modal and multi- modal metaphors. With mono-modal metaphor, both concepts of the
metaphor are described by images. Both the source domain and the target domain are
represented with the same mode. On the other hand, multi- modal metaphor is that only one
concept is rendered exclusively in image and the other is illustrated mostly in text.

Using metaphor in advertising is a new approach of the modern consumer society. It

creates a novel phenomenon in spreading the image of products to consumers. Besides,
metaphor helps the advertising to be catchy and easy to remember by making implicit or
explicit meanings.

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