Persuasión, manipulación y (des)cortesía en los anuncios de televenta

Abstract

Imperceptible boundaries between information, in many cases argumentation and manipulation are difficult to draw, even in advertising discourse. In fact, due to its explicit propagandistic vocation, advertising and, in the specific case, teleshopping spots are a paradigmatic example of discursive realization, whereby advertising agent, adopting different strategies, builds a message aimed at convincing his interlocutor of the "advisability" to purchase a commercial product. This study is an attempt to shed light on some aspects of the complex world of advertising communication. Specifically, it seeks to demonstrate how teleshopping spots, being a “testo unidirezionale” (Lo Cascio, 1991: 101), ie a perlocutive act, may exceed its persuasive purpose to acquire the features of a manipulative discourse. Starting from the theoretical premises of argumentation, as well as of critical discourse analysis and the (im)politeness theories, I analyze those pragmatic-discursive strategies, arguments and fallacies that can reveal the manipulative intent of enunciator. Examples are drawn from a corpus of 50 ads, selected according to various criteria (type of product advertised, macrostructure, duration and target audience).