The adverts which will be the subject of this paper’s analysis are based on the thematic notion that words can hurt or even kill, both adverts use graphic pictorial representations that symbolically depict the potential and active harm that words can cause.

The first commercial is a picture of a knife made out of different letters in various sizes and shapes, the letters do not form any words so no implicit meaning can be derived from them. The knife is however made to appear extra sharp with a capital letter A at its tip. The advert is set on a dark background. next to the knife are the words, “Be careful, your words can kill”. This can be classified under shock advertisement. the implication of this type of advert is that one’s choice of words can result in harm to another person or probably even themselves should they cause offense or enrage the audience. The second advert depicts the face of a young boy probably five or six years old, he looks terrified and tears are is visible on his face, around his neck is the reason for his terror. A hand is gripping him and seemingly choking him, and from the angle of the picture, the boy is looking at the owner of the hand which seems to be a major cause of his fear. The hand like the knife in the previous advert is made out of letters. however in this case the letters form words that explain why one would be hurt by such. The visible ones include Moron, Fool, Punk, and Pig, there are several others including a sentence saying “you are such a …” given the tone of the rest of the image, it is unlikely that the missing adjective is a complement. It is also worth taking to account that the boy is shirtless which could symbolically imply nakedness and by extension vulnerability which makes sense given that in the pictorial context, he is a child in the hands of a threatening creature or entity. The caption for the picture is “your words have power use them wisely”.

The two adverts are similar, albeit not identically themed, the dominant center idea for both of them is the implications that words are not only harmful but potentially fatal, in the first picture. words have been used to construct a knife.