Our desire for status and our respect for authority has given adver-
tisers an effective way of deceptively taking advantage of our
feelings to promote all manner of products.
Our desire for status and our respect for authority has given adver-
tisers an effective way of exploiting our feelings to promote all
manner of products.Nouns
In the same way, make sure the nouns you use are specific and
definite, not general. They must produce a clear image. Like the use
of adverbs, if you have to use adjectives to shore up your noun,
modifying or qualifying it, you’ve probably chosen the wrong one in
the first place. The danger is your meaning will lose impact, or will be
difficult to see, beneath the camouflage of adjectives and adjectival
phrases.
In the following sentences, by replacing the noun and its adjective
with a single noun that is more specific, a clearer image is produced,
one which carries much more meaning.By appealing to their strong tastes advertisers successfully by-pass
the consumer ’s capacity to make rational choices.
By appealing to their passions advertisers successfully by-pass the
consumer ’s capacity to make rational choices.It’s not just tastes that you’re discussing, but passions – a particular
type of taste which is much stronger than all the rest, at times even
irresistible.They may give us information on the latest technology, but they are
also covertly suggesting that we can’t afford not to keep up with the
latest developments.
They may give us information on the latest technology, but they are
also covertly suggesting that we can’t afford not to keep up with
progress.It’s not just the latest developments, but the whole idea of progress
and whether this is necessarily a good thing.Style – Economy 221HTW28 7/27/01 8:40 AM Page 221