ESL Blogs

Advertisements are an important part of our lives, but do we always understand them?

In this article, I want to discuss the most commonly used creative approach. We see it in advertisements and Art, and it originated in English-speaking countries.

Usually, people take a set phrase, which is well known to the wide public, or at least to the target audience, and change one word with another one.

An example could be substituting the title of the popular book Arabian Nights with Arabian Days. I did that to name a pair of earrings, which were looking very Arabian to me with their style. They were yellow like the bright sunshine during the day, which became the reason to use days instead of nights.

Another example could be a pun with the megapopular book name Harry Potter and turning it to Happy Potter. This is the name of a shop that sells pottery. Happy and Harry sound very much alike, only one sound is different.

The words should either sound alike or be antonyms.  Another option could be to use words under the same “umbrella” like seasons, days of the week, etc.

This is possible both visually and verbally.

The old set phrase and the new one are interacting with each other, they remain together and are interrelated. This creative approach is used to deride, or on the contrary – to take a bow to a great person and his or her creations.

Here is the whole text:

https://magentaisblue.blog/en/lets-talk-seriously-about-puns/