PSA AS A MANIPULATION TOOL

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study public service advertisements (PSAs) from the perspective of manipulative techniques applied as well as seeking to answer the question to what extent are PSAs manipulative. PSAs are broadly defined as non-commercial advertisements and as such they are considered to belong to advertising discourse. In its turn advertising discourse makes use of wide range of argumentative and manipulative techniques. Moreover, PSAs are aimed at educating, informing, raising public awareness on current issues within society, therefore serving public interests, whereas manipulative discourse is considered to serve the interests of the manipulator against the interests of the manipulated. Hence, the question to what extent PSAs can be considered manipulative needs clarification. Drawing on the theories of several linguists, an attempt is made to view PSAs from the perspective of manipulative discourse theories and reveal some of the manipulative techniques applied in print PSAs.