Chapter 2:
Literature review
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Absurdity:
Definition of absurdity:
One of the first and most referred to research work on absurdity in advertisements is the doctoral thesis of Arias-Bolzmann along with Chakraborty, and Mowen (2000). They studied the effects of absurdity in advertisements
Their literature review gives a brief insight about the origin of absurdity. According to them, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) had first written about absurdity during his time. Since then it has been extensively discussed in art and literature. Artistic absurdity has its origin dated back to the Dada movement starting in 1915 i.e. during the First World War. “Dada emerged as critical examination of the social structures that allowed such an event to occur” (Lester 2000). One of the founders of the movement, Romanian born poet Tristan Tzara said “dada means nothing.” According to him, plays that the "Dadaists" wrote and produced are essentially nonsense pieces and poems. In later years, Dada evolved into surreal art movement. (Lester 2000)
In literature, absurdity can be traced back to birth of absurdist philosophy. In 1950, Martin Esslin had applied the word ‘absurd’ to literature ("Theater of the Absurd"). Esslin (1969) also suggested that absurdity is the basis for the subtlest form of deceptiveness because it disrupts conventional notions about meaning by questioning its very existence. The term "absurdity" was used to refer to a type of modern drama in which characters behaved irrationally, where causal sequences of events were illogical, and where occured incongruous juxtapositions of people and things.
Defining absurdity Herbert Spencer (2004) says “by absurdity I mean that which is opposed to manifest truth- that which is inconsistent with reason, or the plain dictates of commonness.” According to him absurdity consists of ideas that are inconsistent with reality or usual.
They further say that it was only in 1990 that Barbara B. Stern discussed the use of absurdity in ads. Though absurdity was in use for decades in advertisements it was Stern who studied absurdity in advertisements in dramatic frame work of literature. For her, advertisements were the texts communicated by the firm to the readers. She pointed out the use of absurdity in the theme, action, characters, language, setting and tone of the advertisements. Deriving from Stern analysis, Arias-Bolzmann, Chakraborty, and Mowen have defined absurd ads as “incongruously juxtaposing pictorial images, words, and/or sounds that viewers perceive to be irrational, bizarre, illogical, and disordered.”
The Webster’s dictionary defines absurdity as the quality or state of being “absurd” and absurd is defined “as something that is ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous that which has no rational or orderly relationship to human life”.
Therefore the researcher concludes that absurdity in advertisements is the use of unsound, unreasonable and incongruous concepts, ideas, visuals, and text simultaneously i.e in a single message or advertisement that provokes a rift between the viewer’s expectations but it is on the tangent of reality. An Absurd ad has no rational relationship to the human life, but it is something which viewers can connect to even though it is bizarre.
2.2 How does absurdity work in advertisements?
Absurdity is created in the minds of the people. As Herbert Spencer (2004) says, “before one can be conscious of an absurdity, you must be conscious of the two things, and between them there exists the perceived incongruity.”
Fred Beard said, The source or stimulus for the incongruity mechanism is a deviation from expectations, causing surprise or uncertainty that triggers a tension, or need, to process and resolve the deviation. Resolving the incongruity relieves the tension and we experience this relief as humor. (2000)
People have different categories in their mind into which they insert information as and when they receive it. These categories are called motives. When the material that is stored in these motives comes in conflict with each other absurdity is created. The mind has to deal with this phenomenon (absurdity) and is does so by way of laughter. Laughter is mind’s way of discharging tension and apprehension. This is seen quite often in people who are timid and nervous and who will resort to laughter to cover up their apprehension so that others will not see that they are nervous. (Maddock 2000)
2.3 Are absurd ads humors?
Since absurdity is result of two incongruent ideas and concepts put together, it may be noted who there is a school of advertising theorist and psychologists that believe incongruity results in humor. According to Belch (2003), Humor is the result of the incongruent fusion of ideas.
In the words of Richard C Maddock (2000)- What an absurdity does is takes two divergent ideas and brings them together, thereby creating a spark. That spark becomes the embryo of a third and totally new idea and this new idea is the product of the creative process. This igniting of a spark is the same kind of a situation that is seen in jokes and in humor. Two seemingly unrelated ideas are brought together and create a spark when a new idea is generated.
Beard (2000) points out that for a group of humor researchers in psychology called incongruity theorists incongruity is a necessary and sufficient condition to produce humor (Wayne Hoyer 1996). He has simplified their argument saying cognitive processing of humor has three parts:
- Interpretation (what’s that?)
- Perceptual contrast. (there is something incongruous or unexpected here.)
- Playful confusion- (what it means?)
A second branch of humor research says that incongruity alone is not always sufficient to produce a humor response. Humor results when incongruity is resolved. According to these researchers, if the incongruity is left unresolved then it leaves listeners confused or frustrated because they don't "get the joke". They claim that, a punch line is seen to make sense at some level is only because of the earlier information in the joke". We find a punch line funny when suddenly, often surprisingly, it switches from the first meaning to other making it possible to resolve incongruity. Therefore, the second school of thought professes incongruity resolution is the source of humor.
We often laugh when we see or hear something unexpected. The greater the unexpected deviation from normally expected occurrences, greater is the humor response (Hoyer 1993). Since, absurdity encompasses incongruity; they are designed to be unexpected. They can be categorized as intended humors ads. It may be noted that Incongruity resolution is by far the most common type of humor used in ads around the world.
2.4 How does absurdity work in advertisements?
Advertisements are made to stir emotions of the viewer in order to bolster their messages and motivate consumers into action. (Stewart, Morris and Grover 2007). Absurd ads are meant to surprise the viewers and in most cases they intend humor. There are higher chances of an absurd ad getting consumer’s attention. However, Arias-Bolzmann and others argued that noticing an ad is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the ad to be processed by consumers. An ad that compels our attention but fails to register the brand and its message is next to useless for any advertiser. Though they stand out, such ads frequently don’t work unless advertisers make sure that compensatory emphasis is given to strengthening of the brand and the message sufficient to outweigh this distraction effect. (Sutherland 2008).
Secondly, absurdity by nature is unusual and unexpected. Therefore, there is an increased the probability of such ads being processed by consumers. Highly novel, unexpected stimuli (such as absurd ads) are thought to be processed more extensively. It is because these ads are incongruous with prior expectations of the audience. Hence, absurd ads may lead to more elaborate processing.
Advertisers design ads by incorporating contradictory visuals or visual that are incongruent with the verbal information to grab the attention of the people (Belch 2003). People are intrigued by the unexpected visuals in the advertisements. By grabbing consumers’ attention advertisers get them to engage in more effortful or elaborative processing. It may not be right to say that absurdities are always motivating. If the viewer fails to relate to the absurdity, then it may set up confusion and complexity that may be then perceived as irritating and annoying. Therefore, an absurd ad be should related to reality in a tangible way.
Absurdities are like an investment in the future.
A brand or an ad can trigger a feeling without it necessarily retriggering full awareness of how, when, and where you have encountered that object before or where the feeling about it came from (Belch 2003). When exposed to an absurd ad we tend to develop a feeling about the brand or and ad itself. The feeling could be favorable or unfavorable. These feelings rest in our long term memory (inactive/implicit). New exposure similar ads retrigger the residue from the past experience. This re-activation of that past experience shows up as either recall or recognition. Belch says this is why if one has been exposed to an ad but cannot recognize ever having ever seen it, it can still have an effect. Instead of a re-activation of the memory, the effect may be implicit which simply means we have processed it to some extent but without being able to recall or recognize ever having seen it.
Maddock derives his theory on absurdity from the work of the psychologist Ornstein on “coordination between the two hemispheres of brain”. His analysis indicates that the left hemisphere is the precise side, whereas the right hemisphere analyses the contexts or large elements of perception and context.
The absurdities in ads present a new novel and innovative approach that has not been experienced by the brain before. Since left hemisphere deals in logic and practicalities the absurdities is shifted over to the right side of the brain for further interpretation. The right hemisphere uses pictures and gestures in order to communicate. The right hemisphere is also experienced and skilled in dealing with ambiguous imprecise and confusing situations. But the right hemisphere does not try to make sense out of these confused situations. What it does is just sorts out this confusing information and then sends it back to left hemisphere to make sense.
At this point both limbic system and long term memory are consulted, the limbic system processes the information that it has received and acts upon it, either favorably or unfavorably it assigns emotion and feeling to the absurdity. It then sends message back to the left hemisphere where some action must be taken place, based on the response of the limbic system. If the limbic system sends positive response and favorable emotions are sent over to the left side, then the left brain will attempt to make decision. Once this contextual analysis is completed the picture in then sent back to the left hemisphere for a concrete and factual interpretation.
Even if the left hemisphere does not get correct and proper answers to the confusion the absurdity is not lost. It gets stored in long term memory where, at a later date, it can be revived and put to use. Unlike advertising and marketing attempts that are not absurdities or personalization, the information may not be stored and will not be available for the further. Thus, absurdities are like an investment in the future.
Example : When people were first exposed to FedEx spots in the early 1970 they said they dint believe it and in some cases their disbelief and skepticism caused them to postpone using FedEx for several years. The message was stored in their long term memory. Eventually they became loyal consumers. (Maddock 2000)This is because with absurdity or humor (resting in the back of the conscious mind) had left positive favoring towards the brand. The new ads triggered this feeling without it necessarily retriggering full awareness of how, when, and where they had encountered that object before or where the feeling about it came from (Belch 2003).
Problems with Absurdity:
Absurdity may hijack attention away from two essential elements of advertisement the brand and the message. People often remember the ads but forget the brand which is being advertised. Viewers never connect with the product because their attention is drawn towards the ad and positioning objective of the brand does not take place. Therefore, according to Maddock absurdities should be personalized, that is product related or else, the purpose of advertising is failed if people don’t recall the brand.
Another problem with absurdity is it may not always result in humor. As absurdity are supposed to be incongruous to expectations of the people, sometimes, they may not shock people instead confuse them or even leave them frustrated. This confusion or humor can also develop unfavorable feelings towards the product. Therefore, the advertisers should maintain consistency in their campaigns. This helps in two ways. One consistency in concept of absurdity will help people connect ad to the brand easily. Eg: Over the years people have a pre conceived notion that brands like Metlife, Pepsi, Lays come up with absurd/ humorous ads. Secondly, as mentioned above absurdities are an investment for the future.
2.6 Case study of Absurdity in Ads:
In 1972, Federal Express Corp, now FedEx introduced an advertisement campaign that relied warmly upon absurdities (humor). These ads ran up till 1980s. Some of these absurdities seen in the FedEx spot include a spot which has a voice over “shipping a package on FedEx is as easy as picking up the telephone. This spot featured a man picking up an entire telephone booth and another man picking up the entire telephone at home (not just the receiver), half asleep and attempting to talk into the base of the phone. Another absurdity showed a paper explosion with gobs of paper careening down a hallway like a tidal wave.
In order to make the point that it is convenient to use FedEx and that they come right to your office to pick up you package, a FedEx truck drives out of an elevator or right into the office suite.
These absurdity work because they are slight departure from reality but they are product related. The underlying message of these absurdities was safety, security, reassurance, availability, simplicity and practicality (Maddock 2000).
2.7 Types of absurdities:
Arais-Bolzmann and others (2000) classified absurdities into four categories: surrealism, anthropomorphism, allegory, and hyperbole. They associated surrealism with dream imagery, imaginative worlds, and physical distortions. According to Guido surreal ads fuel the fantasies of the viewers and to induce them to view a product in a new light. Arais-Bolzmann (2000) found that the previous results indicated that the surreal ad with strong message arguments, under high involvement, induced the most effective information processing of the ad's content in terms of recall, recognition, attitudes, affect toward the ad, and behavioral intentions.
Anthropomorphism is defined as an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics (Webster Dictionary). e.g."Joe Camel."
Allegory involves the description of something under the veiled pretense of something else. An allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. For example, the energy drink Red bull boosts your energy gives you a feel of being light and ready thus the ad shows that the characters get wings and they fly after consuming the drink. The common thread linking all allegory is a discontinuity of form. This is a dislocation that happens when reader expectations of a realistic narrative are jarred, and the narrative becomes a source of double meaning.
Absurdity also results from the use of humor and hyperbole. Humor is defined as something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing. Humor can be present in advertising as a result of absurdity. However, very humor is not absurd. Hyperbole is a gross exaggeration used in order to make a point. Hyperbole is frequently used to create "absurd allegorical humor”. The Favicol ads are examples for Hyperbole. The ads show the benefit of exaggerated way. For example: the character in the film playing on a television set is hanging on a broken bridge for a very long time. There is Fevicol bottle on the TV set when the bottle is moved the character loses grip and when it placed back he is clinging on to the edge of the bridge comfortably.
2.9 Content analysis:
There are the eight ads chosen for the purpose of research. These ads were aired between 2006 and 2010. A narrative approach of content analysis is employed to determine the absurdity in these ads based on the definition of Aries-Bolzmann
Our definition of absurd ads: Absurd ads are ads with incongruity in ideas and concepts that are unsound, unreasonable and incongruous to the viewer’s expectations but they are on the tangent of reality. An Absurd ad has no rational relationship to the human life, but it is something which viewers can connect to even though it is bizarre.
Arias-Bolzmann, Chakraborty, and Mowen have defined absurd ads as “incongruously juxtaposing pictorial images, words, and/or sounds that viewers perceive to be irrational, bizarre, illogical, and disordered.”
Based on the two definitions necessary conditions for ads to be classified as absurd ads are 1. Juxtaposing of incongruent ideas or concepts. 2. On the tangent of reality that are related to reality. 3. Illogical and bizarre.
We have chosen two television commercials of the four brands: Alpenliebe, Center fruit, Mentos, Happydent.
TVC 1: Alpenliebe 2007 – 2010 (Visual Sequence)
When the alarm goes off, Kajol wakes up to find Mr Mach (Alligator) on her bed. She finds him on the deck of her car, and pops a candy into its mouth. The jingle “Lalach Ahaa Laplap Pichepadgaya chora” continues through the commercial setting up the theme.
Mr Mach follows her, carrying her shopping bags, in the gym alongside her treadmill and she pops candies into its mouth. In the cinema, when he climbs the seat next to her, people are frightened and she calmly tells him ‘popcorn hai yaar’, and it is saddened and walks out. Later she finds her in her bath tub and tells him in anger- koyi tho jagha chodo , Mr Maach. In the flashback, she throws an Alpenliebe at the alligator in a park and the Mr Maach gets immersed in the creamy flavor of the candy and it has followed her since then. In the last scene, Kajol breaks open a pack of Alpenliebe and Mr Mach jumps in from nowhere for the candy and the pack of Alpenliebe is shown with the punch line lalacha aham laplap.
The 60 second commercial there are a set of incongruent ideas that are far away from viewers’ expectations:
1. A girl waking up next to an alligator, they are living together in the same house.
2. Irresistible candy + Alligator’s craze for the same.
These incongruent concepts and both of them are humanly impossible. But having obsession for a candy is related to a real situation.
Kind of absurdity: Anthropomorphism
Alpenliebe 2010 ‘ madari’ Commercial (Visual Sequence)
The film opens with a madaari in monkey face luring a monkey in human body (played by Kajol) with an Alpenliebe, so that she comes down from the tree and performs before the audience. As she jumps on the ground from the tree, the 'madaari instructs her to perform instead of giving her the candy. He asks her to dance, to act like a bride, do a 'gunda' act; all of which she does readily.
She then begins to lose patience on not getting her share of the candy, growls, shows her teeth and threatens to run away. The 'madaari' relents and gives her the Alpenliebe. Kajol readily grabs the candy and kisses it. The kids (monkey faced), enjoying the whole act, clap to show their appreciation.
Towards the end, the ad shows humans and monkeys in various stages of evolution with the voice over saying, "Aadmi ho ya bander, laalach ek shashwat sach hai." (Whether it's human beings or monkeys, greed is an unchallengeable truth). This is followed by a scene showing the 'madaari' on a cycle and Kajol sitting on the handlebar, enjoying the Alpenliebe. Slogan "Laalach aha lap lap".
Incongruent concepts: monkey is the madaari+ man is his bunderiya.
Situation: madari and bunder is related to human life.
Man being dominated by monkey: is humanly impossible. Absurdity: Anthropomorphism.
Happydent Wave ‘ tusker/ elephant ‘ commercial.
TVC 4 Happydent Wave 2009-
The ad begins with a young shepherd who stumbles upon a herd of elephants while looking for his lost sheep. The elephants have come across a truckload of Happydent Wave. Liquid splashed out to the jars when elephants stamp on them and gushes out like spring and joins the river where the elephants go to swim/ shower. The liquid that has slashed on their tusks provides the elephants with the luminescence they need for night swimming. The song “Mathka hai Roshnika Matka hai” runs throughout the ad. The film ends with two old men complaining about how there is no light in the village while the jungle is shining bright. “Jangal mein mangal ho raha hai, par gaon mein toh bijli aayi hi nahin bhaiya!”
Incongruent ideas: chewing jars in jungle + fountain of liquid flowing out of the jar.
Elephants swimming+ their teeth lights up
Situation: jungle+ elephants finding the jeep- related to human life
Impossible that their teeth light up in the night
Absurdity: hyperbole.
Happydent White Commercial ‘Palace’
TVC 4: Happydent White Palace Ad: 2006 -
80-second ad begins with a man in a dhoti and turban cycling furiously. His front tyre falls into the river and he tries to hitch a ride from a passing car.
The chorus “Muskura le, jagmaga le” is placed in the background setting up setting the theme, and then you notice that the car has two human headlamps. The driver doesn't stop and the man rushes on. Entering the palace grounds, he passes lamp-posts with men hanging where the bulbs should be.
Inside the palace, too, are men in place of light bulbs. The man reaches a balcony from where he swings onto a chandelier, to hang alongside other men. Below him, is the dining table and the king ready to begin his meal.
Our man pops a piece of gum into his mouth and smiles, as the song reaches its crescendo: "tera dil roshan, tera man roshan". All the "bulbs" in the human chandelier light up. The product is shown as city gets lit in the night, and the voiceover announces, "Happydent White, chewing gum."
Incongruent ideas: light post + humans on it
Humanly impossible: for the teeth to be lit so bright
Situation: It is a city and the palace- related to human life
Absurdity: Hyperbole
Mentos theory of Evolution of Man 2008 (visual Sequemce)
Mentos: Mentos theory of evolution 2008-
The TVC begins with a monkey pulling along a donkey. As the donkey stops to rest, the monkey finds a Mentos mint on the ground, which it promptly pops in its mouth. The mint triggers an evolutionary process in the monkey’s brain making it run faster, gaining more intelligence, power, and inventing things like weapons, fire and the wheel. Monkey transforms into an ‘intelligent man’. The film ends with the ‘evolved monkey’ harnessing the donkey to pull him around, thus proving how having a Mentos can ‘Dimaag Ki batti Jala De’.
Incongruent ideas: master and slave+ donkey and ape.
Situation: evolution of man is related to human life.
Humanly impossible: donkeys to rule over apes, and for Mentos to cause the evolution of mankind
Absurdity: Anthropomorphism
Mentos orange 2009
TVC 5: Mentos: Mentos orange 2009
A modern prince in a palace is playing chess. He takes hours together to make a move, the men in the palace hall asleep waiting for the result of the match. A palace waiter is standing there with a bowl full of fruits. He almost doses off waiting for the match to end. Suddenly, an orange from the bowl comes alive and knocks the prince with its hands. The queen from his hand falls down on the board. She also comes alive and says “check” the prince realizes the game is over and says “check mate”. Very body wakes up and celebrates his victory. The contender then asks other fruits in the bowl to hit his head for more ideas.
Situation: modern prince playing chess + taking time to make move.
Humanly impossible: orange and the queen pawn come live
Incongruent idea: idea is flashed out+ when orange knocks the head of the prince.
Absurdity: Anthropomorphism
TVC 1: Center fruit: ATM ad 2007 ( Visual Commercial)
The ad opens with a jeep travelling on a lonely forest road, and a South Indian music score in the background. The jeep stops at a rusty ATM center called Raju Bank. A South Indian oldie is at the chair and the ‘bank’ is a dilapidated shack. A Chinese man steps out of the jeep and hands his credit card to the oldie. The oldie shakes his head and asks the Chinese man to put his credit card into a slot in the shanty and tells him to punch in the amount he needs. Once through the slot, the oldie takes the credit card and puts it in his pocket. Next, the oldie opens a window in the shanty and reveals a man with his hands bound behind his back and looking upwards. The Chinese man is wondering what’s going to happen next. The oldie lowers a lever and a bunch of notes rises up to the level of the bound man’s face. The minute the lever is lowered, the man goes ballistic and laps away like crazy. The man is a money dispenser of sorts! The Chinese man takes his cash and leaves. Cut to the lever behind the window. There is a Center Fruit hanging from the end of the lever. The oldie pulls the lever up again, and the bound man stops lapping. The ad ends with a VO that says, “Center Fruit. Kaisi jeebh laplapayee.”
Incongruent Ideas: An ATM in the middle of the jungle, man tied inside the ATM machine.
Humanly impossible: tongue to start lapping when he sees the chewing.
Situation: ATM and foreigner coming to the bank is close to reality
Absurdity: Hyperbole
Center Fruit 2010 Jugalbandi ad
TVC 8: Center Fruit Jugalbandi 2010
The film opens with a shot of a 'tabalchi' (tabla maestro) and a classical singer participating in a duel - one with the magic of his fingers, the other with the fluency of his vocal cords. Each one tries his best to outdo the other, cheered on by their own supporters. The tabla maestro almost is almost wining the competition with his classical act when the singer’s supporters decide to distract him by showing him a huge poster of Center Fruit gum. The singer notices the poster and this sets his tongue wagging, in a manner of salivating for the gum. His unintended gesture results in his victory.
Situation: Jugalbandi between the two talents- related to human life.
Incongruent ideas: the singers lapping of the tongue is taken as singing.
Humanly impossible: for the tongue to start lapping.
Absurdity: Hyperbole
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