Rhetorical figures in German and Dutch print advertisements

In this paper, we focus on figurative speech (rhetorical figures) in advertising. Figures I and II are eloquent illustrations of the use of figurative speech. In Figure I, consumers are supposed to transfer their associations with royalty, femininity, loveliness, greatness and superiority to the alcoholic beverage in question. This means that the beer has been personified. In figure II, our connotations with pearls and nature are to be transferred to Krombacher beer. What happens is that the marketer relies on our knowledge and associations of queens and pearls to make a positive persuasive statement about the beverage he or she is hoping to sell. It is clear that the message is not straightforward: marketers refrain from stating directly that their beer is the best.