Affiliations: [a] Donlinks School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
| [b] Department of English Language and Literature, The University of Lahore, Gujrat Campus, Gujrat, Pakistan
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Zahid Ahmed, MS Scholar (Business Administration): Donlinks School of Economics and
Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 xueyuan road, Beijing 100083, China. Tel.:
+8613011210800; E-mail: ahmed.ustb@yahoo.com.
Abstract: This study examined the manipulation of teenagers in Pakistan through cellular companies’ night-package advertisements. In recent decades, the use of mobile phones is embedded in the lives of Pakistani people, especially among youngsters. The analysis is based on Fairclough’s 3D model of critical discourse analysis. It determines how ideology and power functions affect consumer behavior through advertisements. The sample is comprised of eight different advertisements, aired on Pakistani TV channels and on the internet. The analysis of the advertisement discourse determined that advertisers manipulate language in such a way that viewer interpretations often are in advertisers’ benefit. The findings revealed that the entire advertising discourse, including images and language, helps to produce the whole message as a complex entity. It also postulates that advertisements are helpful in eliciting the desired responses from Pakistani television viewers, thus advertisements promote a long-communication cultural routine at late night hours, whether such a routine is needed or not.
