Forensic Stylistic Analysis of Deceptive Language used in Pakistani Beauty Television Advertisements

Abstract

The beauty advertising in Pakistan is usually based on the appealing language and visual techniques that border on misleading. This study will serve as a forensic examination of twenty-four Pakistani TV commercials of beauty products in 2012 using forensic stylistic analysis and the ways in which language and multimodal application generate unrealistic expectations in the audience. The patterns of intensification, pseudo-scientific language, modal hedging, incomplete comparisons, retouched images, color symbolism, selective lighting, and laboratory themes are identified in the study by means of Integrating the Appraisal Theory (Martin and White, 2005) and Multimodal Critical Discourse Studies (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2021). Results indicated that a deceit meaning is not created by direct lies and is rather created by innuendo in the form of linguistic exaggeration and visual enrichment. All these mechanisms influence consumer perception, strengthen the ideologies that relate to fairness, and take advantage of cultural vulnerabilities. The study adds a contemporary forensic-linguistic model of detecting deceptive advertisement and the necessity of regulatory scrutiny to help safeguard Pakistani consumers.