Use of figures of speech in Thai and Canadian prime-time television advertisements

This cross-cultural study aims to explore similarities and differences in the use of figures of speech in Thai and Canadian television advertisements airing between 8 and 10 p.m. in the two most viewed Thai (Ch 7) and Canadian (CTV) television channels. The samples consisted of 155 Thai commercials recorded during August 2007 and 152 Canadian commercials collected during May 2007. The results showed that the frequency rates of the use of figures of speech in commercials from the two countries varied. Overall, Thai advertisements employed a higher number of figures of speech. Higher incidence of figures of speech in Thai commercials included higher frequency of repetitions, substitutions and others (i.e. hyperbole, onomatopoeia and rhetorical question). Different cultural patterns, Thailand as a high-context and Canada as a low-context culture, and different languages spoken are posited to be the major factors that cause the differences in the use of figures of speech. However, similarities were also discovered in the use of figures of speech under destabilization and reversal.