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Behind the Rhetorical Scenes of Offence: A Rhetorical Analysis of Complained-About Offensive Advertising

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Advances in Advertising Research X

Part of the book series: European Advertising Academy ((EAA))

Abstract

Studies of rhetorical strategies, and particularly rhetorical figures, in advertising have largely focused on positive contexts and generating positive responses, such as increasing the likeability of ads (e.g. Delbaere et al., 2011; McQuarrie and Phillips, 2005). However, Theodorakis et al. (2015) argue that applying rhetoric in controversial ads may not weaken possible negative responses and could even worsen them. Controversial advertising encompasses a range of predominantly negative responses from distaste and disgust, through offence, outrage and embarrassment, to shock and surprise, from a part of the population (Huhmann and Mott-Stenerson, 2008; Waller, 2005).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Kristina Auxtova

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  1. Kristina Auxtova
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Correspondence to Kristina Auxtova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Valencia, Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Enrique Bigne

  2. Center for Retailing, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sara Rosengren

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Auxtova, K. (2019). Behind the Rhetorical Scenes of Offence: A Rhetorical Analysis of Complained-About Offensive Advertising. In: Bigne, E., Rosengren, S. (eds) Advances in Advertising Research X. European Advertising Academy. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24878-9_18

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