PSAs have developed in Armenia during the recent years. Though they are rather few in number, it is possible to group them thematically. One of the most important themes of Armenian PSAs is healthcare, with topics like prevention of smoking, HIV/AIDS, and Coronavirus infection. For the purpose of effectiveness, print PSAs incorporate linguistic texts and images. The intentional application of both linguistic and extra[1]linguistic means aims at fostering the illocutionary force of advertisements in promoting healthy lifestyle.
The aim of this paper is to study public service advertisements (PSAs) from the perspective of manipulative techniques applied as well as seeking to answer the question to what extent are PSAs manipulative. PSAs are broadly defined as non-commercial advertisements and as such they are considered to belong to advertising discourse. In its turn advertising discourse makes use of wide range of argumentative and manipulative techniques. Moreover, PSAs are aimed at educating, informing, raising public awareness on current issues within society, therefore serving public interests, whereas manipulative discourse is considered to serve the interests of the manipulator against the interests of the manipulated. Hence, the question to what extent PSAs can be considered manipulative needs clarification. Drawing on the theories of several linguists, an attempt is made to view PSAs from the perspective of manipulative discourse theories and reveal some of the manipulative techniques applied in print PSAs.
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