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In:Metapragmatics of Humor: Current research trends
Edited by Leonor Ruiz-Gurillo
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 14] 2016
► pp. 35–56

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Humor and advertising in Twitter

An approach from the General Theory of Verbal Humor and Metapragmatics

 | Università di Bologna
 | Universidad de Sevilla
Published online: 24 November 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.14.03ala
Abstract
Irony and verbal humor play a leading role in computer-mediated discourses. Irony, for instance, is mainly used to criticise politics and politicians in Twitter, while verbal humor contributes to strengthen social relations in Twitter or Facebook. In this paper, we focus on humor in order to explore more in deep its mechanisms, function, and effects within Twitter “conversations” between Spanish companies or public institutions and microblog users. Assuming the main premises of the General Theory of Verbal Humor and adopting a metapragmatic approach, this research aims at identifying the knowledge resources at work when humor is used as an advertising strategy; as well as categorizing these tweets according to the types of logical mechanisms adopted by the interactants to solve the script-opposition in which humor is based. The analysis proves that verbal and visual humor is a strategy adopted by most companies and institutions in order to give visibility to their products and services and to reinforce the social ties with their potential customers.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.General Theory of Verbal Humor and Metapragmatics
  • 3.Corpus and methodology
  • 4.Results of the analysis
    • 4.1Twitter “conversations” and humor
    • 4.2A taxonomy of humorous tweets with propagandistic purposes
      • 4.2.1Humorous tweets based on script-oppositions
      • 4.2.2Humor based on exaggeration
      • 4.2.3Humorous tweets based on graphic information
      • 4.2.4Humorous tweets based on current news
      • 4.2.5Tweets based on parody and intertextuality
      • 4.2.6Ironic tweets
      • 4.2.7Humor responding to an attack or a complaint
      • 4.2.8The customer as a target
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
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