This document contains examples of different literary devices used in advertising such as simile, personification, alliteration and metaphor. It also summarizes the problems the ads attempt to solve by offering various products and services as solutions. Some alternative solutions are proposed such as making lifestyle changes instead of purchasing the products.

2. The sandwich is like
a warm fire in this
picture. You can see
the family in the
photograph warming
their hands by the
croissanwich. This is
an example of
simile.
“America Runs on
Dunkin” is an
example of
personification
because a country
doesn’t physically
“run” like a human
can.
This ad attempts to
solve the problem of
hunger by offering a
sandwich as a
solution.
Instead of purchasing the sandwich,
we could just wake up earlier
and eat breakfast at home.

4. “Beautiful. Beneficial.
Neutrogena” is an
example of alliteration
because of the
repeated “b” sound.
This makeup is advertised
to be “mean to blemishes.”
This is an example of
personification because
inanimate objects can’t be
mean like people can.
This product tries to
solve the problem of
dirty, unnatural, rough
looking skin by offering a
natural-looking, oil-free
makeup that has an
acne treatment and will
make your skin look
“Smooth. Clean.
Natural.”
It also attempts to
solve the problem of
finding makeup that
matches darker skin
tones by offering “3
new deeper shades.”
It’s possible to solve this problem
by simply not wearing makeup,
and treating the problem
with other products.

6. This ad is an example of metaphor
because it compares the part in
someone’s hair to the “line of
scrimmage.” The game field is the
hair and scalp, and the “goal” of the
game is healthy hair.
The white markings on this
image help us to see the
metaphor because they are
like the markings made to
plan a play for a football
game. This ad attempts to
solve the problem of
healthy hair and scalp
by offering their
shampoo and
conditioner as a
solution.We could solve the problem
of healthy hair and scalp with other products.

8. “Water will be tangerine
with envy” is an example
of alliteration because of
the repeated “w” sounds.
It is also an example of
personification because
envy is an emotion that
an inanimate object can’t
feel.
“Cool, crisp water” is
another example of
alliteration because of the
repeated “c” sounds.
This ad attempts to solve
the problem of finding a
low-calorie drink that will
quench your thirst. The ad
offers Tropicana Fruit
Squeeze as a low-calorie
beverage that tastes like
juice, but doesn’t have all
the calories.
People could just drink water,
which has no calories, or they could drink
small amounts of juice since it is good for you.
An alternative is to buy juice, and add some of it
to a reusable container of water.
This is reduces waste, is probably cheaper
and may have less preservatives.

10. “Pennies a page,” is an
example of alliteration
because of the repeated
“p” sounds.
“Our tracking software
increases the mileage you get
out of color” is an example of
metaphor because it compares
the color ink to a car.
This ad attempts to
solve the problem of
expensive color
copies by offering a
service, and a
product, that creates
color copies for
“pennies a page.”
Businesses could print in black and white or
use markers or colored pencils to color their
copies, but this wouldn’t be practical because
it would waste time and energy.
They could also just not make any copies, and
instead show the information on a projector.