Abstract

A deconstructive point of view highlights the contradictions between an author's intended message and the aspects that naturally arise in their writing. Derrida's language has been used to define deconstruction and demonstrate how it may be used in Billboards’ taglines analysis in the study. The data have been analyzed using a descriptive qualitative research design. The researchers photographed four billboards, two from clothing brands and two from shoe brands. The tendon of deconstruction is used to study the selected billboards. This study has examined how deconstruction can be used to analyze billboard taglines. It concludes that the brands, in particular clothing and shoe brands advertisers, in addition to attractive pictures and figures presented with enticing colours, carefully choose short and crisp taglines with meanings triggering the minds of viewers and drawing their attention towards the beauty and usefulness of the products.   

Key Words

Deconstruction, Billboards, Taglines, Feminine Brand

Introduction

An effective technique for advertisers to reach their target audience is billboard advertising. A clear, concise message, a compelling presentation, and an appealing appearance are necessary for an effective billboard. This study concentrates on the billboards' tagline structure, media, and context through the lens of deconstruction theory to explore how language is used in billboards' taglines to attract consumers. 

Derrida's (1976) deconstruction theory

exemplifies a Post-Structuralism strategy. According to this theory, a  text can be interpreted and viewed from several angles while remaining inside the context of the text. Meaning resides in the signs used in the text. However, the signs appear to have a duplicity of meaning through binary opposition. According to deconstruction theory, the reading text has two opposing aspects: binary opposition. The purpose of binary opposition is to encourage the readers to think broadly and not limit themselves to a single interpretation. Honesty and dishonesty are two instances of the binary opposition idea. According to binary opposition, a text might have opposing sides and not always have a single, clear interpretation. This idea seeks to view something or a situation from two perspectives, one making more sense and having greater worth than the other.

This study focuses on deconstruction in billboards ' taglines. The words or tag lines the brand uses are essential in billboard advertising. Taglines are constructed carefully to capture the viewers' attention and convince them to purchase the products. A problem will be if the tagline does not suit the specific demand or expectation. Many studies have been carried out on advertisements from different perspectives. However, a few studies focus on billboards advertising and scarcely on billboards' taglines. This Research work will focus on deconstruction in Billboard advertisements. In this research, taglines used in Billboard advertisements are thoroughly discussed.




Objectives of the Study

The following are the objectives of this study.

1. To examine taglines used in Advertising.

2. To analyze taglines used in billboard advertisements in terms of context.

3. To conduct a deconstructive analysis of the billboards' taglines to understand the hidden meaning.




Research Questions

1. What is the role of taglines in advertising?

2. How does billboard advertising appeal to audience consciousness?

3. What linguistics imports do billboard advertisements employ?




Significance of the Study

This study's significant element is the deconstructive analysis of the tagline of the Billboards for women's clothing and shoe brands. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the actual images or taglines displayed on the billboard and their primary goal. According to deconstruction, meanings are always absent in metaphorical language rather than being present. In the selected advertisements, the Pakistani print media takes a similar stance, and the capitalists appear determined to promote business to achieve their hidden motives.

Review of Previous Literature

 (Adams, Y., Matu.P., & Oketch, O., 2014)Billboard advertisement characterizes the use of big fonts, large size, and bold print letters, capturing the consumers' attention (Adams, Y., Matu.P., & Oketch, O., 2014). Allie Decker (2019) consents to this; "billboards as eye-catching devices should adopt the use of big fonts against contrasting background colours and avoid narrow scripts and fonts". (Meurs, L. V., & Aristoff, M, 2009)This type of advertising makes a pitch for the brands and goods that could be used to increase market share (Meurs, L. V., & Aristoff, M, 2009). A billboard is a straightforward method of getting the attention of the public. It is an open communication channel between the advertiser and the target market. A compelling presentation, eye-catching design, and clear messaging are essential for a great billboard. According to Adams and others (2014), advertising aims to create associations in the audience's minds about the product for the audience to relate to it and purchase it. However, one drawback of billboard advertising is that it takes the viewers a few seconds to see the message. The advertisers decide on their approach by leveraging the constrained word count for the billboard advertisement to get around this restriction. The advertisers choose this limitation's solution using the constrained word count for the billboard advertisement. Advertisements greatly influence the way the public perceives gender roles. When a man is depicted in advertisements, independence and strength are frequently implied. When it came to understanding, they had an edge over women. However, women are shown to have an edge in energy, affection, and dependence. Billboard advertisements consider pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and lexicon, among other aspects. These ideas are crucial for evoking emotions.  (Shafi & S., 2019) Thus, billboard advertising draws a big audience.

In billboards, language is employed to portray the naturalness of the use of the offered products or services (Widyahening & T., 2015). Widyahening (2015) emphasizes the characteristics of language in advertisements when he says: "Language constantly creates subjects, methods, and certain discourse themes as a representation of specific social interactions. Language is visual, taking the form of a visual image or symbol, and can create ideologies that influence and shape subjectivity and awareness. Visual language is just as powerful as written or spoken language ". 

The argument for infinitely open meanings produced by the action of language itself includes reader-constructed meaning. Deconstructive critics read the "presences" (i.e., the things "in" the text) only to reveal the hidden "absences" (i.e., the things not in the text). These gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions (Derrida, 1976) lie at the heart of the binary oppositions that form the basis of the meaning's denotation, such as man/woman, white/black, and truth/error. Like with all languages, power battles exist in Billboards, and when they are made public, the foundations of commercial culture are revealed. Deconstruction has thus far been discovered to be helpful in management theory for breaching the surface of symbols-for silence symbols to reveal their detached and concealed implications  (Gephart, 1996)

 Deconstruction is more of a practice than a way of thinking. Contrary to the widely held belief that writing has only one distinct meaning, deconstruction proposes a variety of interpretations that are susceptible to change. Derrida aimed to use deconstruction, a Heidegger Ian technique, to turn the current order in favour of diverse relationships.  (Derrida & J., 2014). A deconstructive point of view highlights the contradictions between an author's intended message and the aspects that naturally arise in their writing. This is the exact point at which the achievable and the impossible collide. "Close reading" that untangles the web of traces exposes what might have been concealed and concentrates on minutiae and footnotes, revealing that the information buried within the text's lines can be crucial to understanding the work (Howells & C., 2017). Derrida is another name connected to the hermeneutic tradition through a poststructuralist lens, with the idea that the meaning, which manifests as an ongoing game in the traces, cannot be completed  (Küçükalkan & G., 2017). Derrida focuses on logocentrism, Différance, Trace, and supplements.

Various types of research are being conducted worldwide on billboards. Some of these focus on the use of women as an advertising tool. According to Laham (2020), women are frequently presented in advertising as a source of fun by disclosing intimate elements of their bodies. In magazines and on billboards, women longed to look like the models they saw. The alarming number of women who try to emulate every idealist shown to them is heartbreaking. To lose weight, they even reduced their eating habits. These advertisements led to a continuous focus on gender inequity and the objectification of women. According to the researchers, people should lead and live their true lives rather than adopt the ideal lifestyle shown in advertising. 

Some important studies have focused on context's importance in forming billboard advertisements. In 2019, Ridho Yanti and Rina examined the significance of the slogans on the billboards for Dunhill Filter and Sampoerna, two popular brands of cigarettes. The scholars also addressed the role of context in advertising as they looked at the suggested meaning behind the words on cigarette billboards. The findings demonstrate that tobacco companies use catchy slogans to appeal to a certain group. Moreover, the advertisers also manipulate language based on context. Connotations of words change depending on the context. Their context reveals the slogans' true meaning. So, advertisers use contextual features to control the audience and promote their goods. 

Pramudita, Susilo and Rohayanti (2019) have analyzed the signs and meanings used in the advertisement of Sariayu hijab care under the light of semiotics. The researchers have used the semiotics theory of Ronald Barthes and the Commodification Theoretical Concept. Scholars have selected six explicit advertisements from social media accounts. The researchers alleged that by highlighting the word "hijab", the advertisers want to interweave the brand products with religion, and the green colour is majorly used in the advertisements, which shows the products are of natural herbs. 

However, a few studies have been conducted on billboards in Pakistan. In the commercials for 2021, Rukhshanda Mushtaq, Naveed Ahmad Taseer, and Shabir Ullah highlighted the sexual orientation of women. Researchers in analysis employed Fairclough's three-dimensional framework. The study claims that these billboards depicted men and women who appreciate the local culture. This study looked at billboard advertisements on the cityscape of Lahore in 2021. This research also revealed the underlying messages that advertisements propagated while considering Pakistani cultural considerations. The study emphasized how genders were portrayed and the goals marketers hoped to achieve by using various gender expressions in advertising.

Anum Hussain, Dr Habibullah Pathan, and Syed Waqar Ali Shah (2021)  have conducted yet another study. The researchers used Barthes' semiology theory to study food and beverage billboards. The data were analyzed using descriptive qualitative analysis. The researchers personally took photos of the billboards in various parts of Hyderabad. The findings demonstrated how advertisers manipulated audiences by using a variety of verbal cues, colours, and visuals to promote their goods.

Research Methodology

The data have been analyzed using a descriptive qualitative research design. The researcher has photographed four billboards, two from clothing brands and two from shoe brands. Derrida's language helps define deconstruction and demonstrate how it may be used in Billboard analysis in the study. The tendon of deconstruction is used to study the selected billboards. This study has investigated and analyzed how deconstruction can be used to study billboard taglines.

Analysis and Discussion

The denotative meaning, which has to do with the obvious message that the advertisement contains, and the connotative meaning, which has to do with the symbol and the association of this symbol with some experience or knowledge shared by the targeted audience, should be kept in mind when the researcher begins to analyze any advertisement context.

The researchers looked at the taglines' intentions. Each billboard advertisement aims to persuade viewers to buy the gorgeous product. The exaggerated and positive benefits of the products, as stated in the advertisements, endeavour to increase the significance of the products, which helps develop the understanding and reconciliation between producers and customers.

Then, the researchers viewed the target audience. Given that one must consider various target audience characteristics, this phase may be expensive. Age, gender, and career are all e included. This study's target audience is women because the researchers are most interested in feminine brands.

The researchers viewed the actual images or taglines on the billboard and their primary goal. According to deconstruction, meanings are always absent in metaphorical language rather than being present. To decode figurative language, one must concentrate on something other than the conventional meaning; humans subvert these rules to transmit meaning. In other words, any literary figure's "essence" of what is meant to be communicated lies outside of its systemic structure. The signifier cannot possibly convey any meaning to its apparent corresponding signified. Following is the analysis of each billboard in the sample. 




Billboard 1: Bonanza Satrangi "Ek Nayee Lehar"

The first billboard the researchers selected for analysis is from Bonanza Satrangi's (Summer 23) lawn collection. The tagline of this collection is "Ek Nayee Lehar". The tagline of this brand is also associated with a new collection of the summer season that has launched with beautiful prints. 




Trace

The tagline "Ek Nayee Lehar" also means that the new collection replaces the old one. Moreover, it is also attracting the target audience to get this unstitched product in beautiful colours. The word "Lehar" literally means a wave, and when the wave comes, it diminishes everything, clears the extra particles and gives hope for the best. The brand has used this word in the tagline for the clothes; the girl on the billboard is waving her dupatta to present the latest beautiful collection of the brand. Bonanza Strange launched a new collection of floral dupattas.

Figure 1



Signification

In the selected advertisement, the Pakistani print media takes a similar stance, and the capitalists appear determined to promote business to achieve their hidden motives. The media is helpful in their determination because the images of women in advertising campaigns highlight beautiful bodies, slim and thin faces, smart clothes, healthy and happy women, and women with attractive bodies and faces. In these advertisements, the women are also portrayed as being joyful and proud. Like the chosen tagline for research commercials, well-known individuals are featured in product advertisements to catch consumers' attention and draw them in by emphasizing their importance. However, it offers advantages to the business, indicating the effort to win over a sizable customer base. It may be an excuse in favour of the legitimacy and importance of a product for customers' happiness. The summer clothes from the Lawn embody beauty, joy, happiness, charm, enjoyment, and comfort.

The selected billboard for the advertiser brand indicates that customers should continue shopping for their products. The denotative meaning of an image of a woman is presenting a certain product and the products they signify guarantee that customers can purchase high-quality goods at a reasonable price. Also, this advertisement demonstrates that young girls can purchase this stuff and look stunning.




Logocentricism

Logocentrism is a philosophical term that refers to the belief that language and reason are the ultimate sources of meaning and truth. According to this view, language is seen as a tool for representing reality directly and objectively.

With the tagline "ek nai lehar", it is possible that the use of language is being emphasized to communicate a message or idea. This could be seen as an example of logocentrism if the phrase is taken to represent a fixed and objective truth or reality.




Billboard 2: Alkaram "Rango Ki Duniya"          

In the second billboard, the tagline "rango ki duniya" is an Urdu-language phrase that can be deconstructed into constituent parts to understand its meaning better.

Figure 2



Trace

The word ‘rang’ literally means the ‘colours', but here, in the phrase, it indicates the new trend or new colours that the brand introduces; also, the word 'Duniya' does not mean the 'physical world' but the field of fashion.




Signification

 In the tagline "rango ki duniya," the word "rango" (meaning "colours" in Urdu) is the signifier, and the concept of a world full of colours is signified. The signifier is the sign's physical form, while the signified is the concept or meaning associated with the signifier. In other words, "rango" is the word that represents the idea of colours, which is what the phrase "rango ki duniya" communicates.

So, "rango ki duniya" can be translated to mean "a world of colours" or "a colourful world.

In the context of the brand Alkaram, which uses this tagline in its marketing materials, it is likely to convey a sense of colourful and varied fashion options available through its products. It may also suggest that the Alkaram brand is a source of creativity and self-expression through fashion choices.

In the billboard, the girl is wearing a colourful, vibrant dress that suits the tagline; also, behind the window, the season is spring; in this season, new flowers and plants grow, which is also the significance of new colours, which is the meaning of the tagline as well.




Logocentricism

With the tagline "Rango ki Duniya," it is possible to see a form of logocentrism in how the words are used to create meaning. The phrase translates to "world of colours," which suggests that colour is the primary source of meaning or that colours are the most important aspect of the world being referred to.




Billboard 3: Servis "Uternay Ka Scene e Ni Ha"

The tagline in the third billboard is "uternay ka scene e ni ha". 




Trace

In this "Uterneay ka" refers to the act of getting off or disembarking from something, and "scene" in this context means a situation or event. So, "uternay ka scene" means the situation or event of getting off something.

Figure 3



Signification

"hi ni ha" appears to be a variation of "hay nai," which means "not there" or "does not exist." So, "hi ni ha" means "it does not exist."

Putting it all together, "uternay ka scene hi ni ha" could be interpreted as "there is no situation or event of getting off (something)" or "there is no need to get off (something)." The tagline could be used in various contexts, depending on the speaker's intention and situation.

Also, the use of 'Diltastic prices' in the billboard means that the prices of the items are low and items are in the range of everyone. In the billboard, the girl is wearing a glittery golden sandal, which is quite attractive to the audience.







Logocentricism

The tagline 'uterine ka scene hee ni ha' refers to the sense of fashion and the audience's love for the item and brand, which is so comfortable and fashionable that no one would like to replace it.




Billboard 4: Bata "We knew you would bring the Crown back"

In the last billboard, a deconstructive analysis of the tagline "We knew you would bring the crown back" might involve examining this statement's various assumptions, power dynamics, and cultural references. Here are some possible interpretations:

The tagline implies a sense of expectation or prediction: "We knew" suggests that the speakers had some prior knowledge or belief about the outcome of a particular event. Using the second person "you" implies that the addressee participated in this event and that the speakers had a stake in the outcome.

Figure 4



Hierarchy

The tagline suggests a hierarchy or power dynamic: "we" as the subject implies a group of people making a statement to an individual (the addressee). The fact that the group knew something that the individual did not suggests that the group has access to more information or expertise and may hold a position of authority or influence over the addressee.




Trace

The tagline references the concept of "the crown": depending on the context, the term "crown" could refer to a literal object (such as a physical crown that is awarded to a winner), a metaphorical object (such as a title or position of authority), or a cultural symbol (such as the crown jewels of a particular country or monarchy). 




Signification

The fact that the tagline suggests that the crown has been "brought back" implies that it had been lost or taken away at some point and that the addressee has restored it to its rightful place.

In the footnote of the billboard, advertisers write 'shop from our fashion-forward collection' Firstly, the phrase assumes that the customer is interested in fashion and wants to be perceived as "fashion forward." This suggests a desire to conform to social norms and fit in with a certain group of people considered fashionable or trendy.

Secondly, the phrase positions the retailer as an authority on fashion, implying that they have the expertise to determine what is "fashion forward" and what is not. This can create a power dynamic where the customer depends on the retailer to tell them what to wear rather than making their own fashion choices.

Overall, a deconstructive analysis of the tagline" We knew you would bring the crown back" might reveal a complex web of assumptions, power dynamics, and cultural references that inform how this statement is understood and interpreted.




Logocentricism

In the tagline "We Know That You Would Bring The Crown Back" on a billboard, there is an implied assumption of a fixed and knowable truth. The phrase suggests that there is a single "crown" to be retrieved and that there is a clear understanding of who "you" refers to. In the context of the billboard, the phrase may be read as an attempt to appeal to a sense of shared understanding and knowledge and to position the advertiser as a reliable source of information.

Findings and Conclusion

This study has investigated and analyzed how deconstruction can be used for billboard taglines. It concludes that taglines are important advertising components since they help brands use a few catchy taglines to attract more customers. The researchers focused on the underlying meaning and messages the brands were trying to portray in their advertisements while analyzing the taglines through the lens of deconstruction. According to researchers, billboards are made to draw people's attention by employing a variety of bright colours, big fonts, taglines, and pictures of attractive women. Overall, billboard advertising uses a variety of catchy taglines and visually appealing signage to entice people to act. This study may be helpful to future researchers who seek to understand or explore advertisements from a deconstruction viewpoint. It may also help linguistics students understand how language theories assist in exploring the meanings of deliberately constrained word choices or phrases, like in the taglines of the billboard advertisements. What makes this study different is that it is the only study to focus on the tagline of billboards from the perspective of deconstruction analysis in Pakistan.

This study focused on the tenors of deconstruction, including what deconstruction is and how it may be applied to study the taglines on the selected few billboards. Future researchers may study other kinds of billboards and their deconstructive meanings using deconstructive strategies. 

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