Abstract

Ads are wonderful examples of the diverse roles discourse can fulfil in society. To consider them as discourse types can prove very enlightening about the ways people communicate and relate to each other within the different spheres where they perform their daily activities. This exemplary character is intrinsically connected with the very nature of ads: advertising is one of the liveliest and most representative forms of discourse when it comes to displaying its own inner functioning, since it not only enhances its status as a linguistic form of communication but also foregrounds the need for context when it comes to the full understanding of the overall message – which is the cornerstone of discourse analysis as a method of discursive interpretation (Cook, 1992: 2).