This qualitative-descriptive study explored the advertising of sexual enhancement drugs in Philippine male-audience magazines, Men’s Health and FHM Philippines published from 2014 to 2016. There were fifty-one advertisements subjected for critical discourse analysis. It was found out that rational appeal was widely used which directly presented the functionality and the benefits that the consumers get in using the sexual enhancement drugs. Emotional appeal was evident, either positive or negative targeting the human emotions to attract them to purchase the said drugs. The linguistic features used in this study focused on the semantics, specifically on figures of speech and the semantic equivalence between textual messages and visual images used in the advertisements. There was a prevalent use of personification, hyperbole and euphemism which were employed to create a dramatic and striking effect in selling the product. Ads personified genitals and used mild words to point out ideas with sexual content. Minimal use of simile, metaphor, apostrophe, oxymoron, polysemy, metonymy, pun and irony was observed. Semantic equivalence occurred between the textual messages and visual images which were categorized as complete equality, interdependency and inequality. The findings also revealed some significant social aspects from its results, specifically on the standard of ideal beautiful woman, the artificiality of man’s vigor, vitality and virility, and the male dominance over the female.
Philippine E-Journals
