An analysis of language features in english advertisements

3.1 Wide use of nouns in brand names

It’s no doubt that nouns are most widely used in advertising. Almost every sentence and every phrase have nouns because nouns are the key words. They are crucial and indispensable.

The most representative use of nouns in advertising lies in the brand names of the products or the services. A brand name, also a trade name, is “an arbitrarily adopted name that is given by a manufacturer or merchant to an article or service to distinguish it as produced or sold by him and??? that may be used and protected as a trademark.” (Webster’s, 1994:1250) A good brand name can help develop the consumer’s loyalty to a specific brand or product. It also gives the consumers different feelings about different products or services. For example:
Clinique
Clarins
Lancome
These brand names of cosmetics give consumers the feeling of cleanness, elegance and natural beauty.
The brand names of cars, such as Blue Bird, Jaguar and Mastang are full of charm of speed and power (谢文怡, 1997:44).
Nouns are also widely used in simile, metaphor and metonymy. For example:
Laurent Beaute invites you to discover his new collection of colors, as warm and sheer as a summer breeze: delicate corals, pinks and peaches for lips; matte, muted earthy neutrals for eyes; and whisper of color for nails….” (New York Times Magazine, (NYTM), Sept. 1993)
In this way, the quality, characteristic and function of the product can be well delivered to the readers. And the advertisement is most likely to stimulate consumption.