Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [141]
Wordplay can involve rhyme, rhythms, puns, double meanings, or jingles. Their use can help customers organize information, as well as create favorable connotations. Wordplay has long been used by advertisers. For example, jingles1 have been around since the Middle Ages. Printed jingles have been used at least since 1820 when Warren’s Shoe Blacking used one in an ad in a London weekly.
It was common for advertisers in the mid-1800s to hire famous poets to write jingles. The popularity of jingles in the United States decreased in the late 1900s. However, they remain popular in some countries. For example, Berger (2001) reported that in Brazil, jingles are commonly sung by people in pubs. Jingles are also popular in India.
Puns and double meanings can attract attention, encourage thinking, aid recall, and reinforce a known aspect of a product, as this Church of England tagline shows: “Open Sundays for better values.” However, for important messages and short exposure time, double meanings may reduce understanding.
7.7.1. Use wordplay if it is clearly related to the product
Wordplay slows readers, and this, it is hoped, will get them to think about the message. Thus, product-related wordplay is more persuasive when the ad has a strong argument. In contrast, irrelevant wordplay is likely to reduce the attention given to strong arguments.
Consider a rhythm that follows a “rise, pause, rise further, pause” structure. The rhythm and beat in spoken language helps listeners to pay attention to the more important information. Rhythm can also be used for print advertising. Some copywriters suggest reading an ad aloud a number of times to ensure that it flows nicely. It also helps to ask others to read it aloud. An early 1900s ad for the Lackawanna Railroad holds up well by this test: “Says Phoebe Snow about to go upon a trip to Buffalo, my gown stays white from morn ’til night upon the Road of Anthracite.”
Also consider aphorisms (a terse statement of a “truth”). In O. J. Simpson’s 1995 trial, his lawyer used an aphorism when he said, “If the glove does not fit, you must acquit.”
In 1961, marketing researchers summarized their findings about Schaefer beer as the “one beer for heavy drinkers to consume when they are engaged in a substantive drinking experience.” The advertisers for Schaefer showed how wordplay could enhance this message with their slogan, “Schaefer, the one beer to have when you are having more than one.”
The Economist magazine has been using wordplay in advertising for many years. It used headlines such as, “Great minds like a think,” and “If you buy it just for show, sooner or later it will.” The campaign won an IPA award for effectiveness (Rimini 2003).
Here are other examples of what I believe to be effective wordplay:
• In 1932, Coca-Cola used “Thirst come, thirst served.”
• Christian Aid, a coalition of U.K. churches that works to improve the lives of poor people in the Third World, ran a campaign based on the slogan, “We believe in life before death.”
• Hanes Socks said, “Buy cheap socks and you’ll pay through the toes.”
Advertisers make good use of wordplay. For example, our WAPB analysis of the 480 full-page print ads by leading advertisers found that 25 percent used wordplay that was linked to the primary message.
Evidence on the effects of wordplay
Our analyses of quasi-experimental data on print ads provided further support:
Print ads using wordplay that related to the main message had better recall and persuasion. We found 24 pairs of ads from WAPB in which one ad used wordplay, while the other did not. For example, an ad for Jenn-Air cooktops that claimed,