"Hello, girlfriend": an advertising narrative in the context of a visual turn (using the example of Wrigley's and Dirol brands)

Abstract

The subject of the research is the materials of advertising campaigns of brands-manufacturers of chewing gums Wrigley's (1930) and Dirol (2008). The object of the research is the specificity of the advertising narrative in the context of an appeal to the optical language of communication. The authors examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the narrative structure of the advertising text and visual means of presenting visual images. Special attention is paid to the dynamic context of the visual turn, as well as the main aesthetic characteristics of advertising materials at different historical stages. The subject of this article is considered from the point of view of changing the communicative paradigm, mixing verbal and optical on the screen plane. The main directions related to the new visual reality are noted, thanks to which the importance of aesthetics is determined, the degree of its influence on current media text formats. The research methodology is based on general scientific methods of working with media text, in particular on descriptive and contrastive methods. Also, within the framework of the subject analysis, a range of general philological methods is used, including transformational, contextual and semantic-stylistic methods. The novelty of the research lies in the articulation of the aesthetic components of the analysis of a modern advertising product. The main conclusions of the study are the observation and interpretation of the motive of duality within the advertising narrative, as well as the syncretic nature of the iconic image and the subjective perception of the viewer. The media text appears as a means of releasing the image from the external field and integrating it into the aesthetic experience of the recipient. The authors' special contribution to the research of the topic is the generalization of two key dimensions of the advertising text (narrative, visual) and the formulation of objective criteria that allow us to detect patterns in advertising narratives (repeatability of the plot, variability of visual means, identity of advertising objects, the presence of sufficient historical distance). The possible directions of future research on visual turn in various industries, including television and cinema, are emphasized.