Alternative Transgender Discourses: A Critical Analysis of an Indian Ad Campaign

Abstract

Advertising has been an integral part of society as it not only represents society, but is also a powerful tool that affects people’s thoughts, judgements and actions. The use of language in advertising, however, is very different from the habitual use of everyday language as a mode of communication. Its main objective is to persuade the audience and create an impact. This persuasive communication is achieved through the conscious choices of the advertisers in their selection of words, syntactic structures and rhetorical devices. As a result, advertising as a form of persuasive language has become an important topic of study in linguistics as well as psychology. This paper analyses the Vicks 2017 Ad campaign called “Touch of Care”, interpreting what is communicated through the advertisement. The campaign highlights transgender rights in India. The promotional strategies adopted by the brand attract the consumers’ interest and attention through a social cause. The video advertisement is analysed using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) proposed by Norman Fairclough (1992) and Positive Discourse Analysis (2003), to understand the interplay of power relations and ideologies in the visual and audio elements of the ad and its impact on consumers.