Language (in reference to Masterchef Malaysia billboard advertisements)

Language in advertising is said to be a system of signs that we need to decipher. Once it is deciphered, we can fully understand the advertisements rather than to just rely on the visuals. The language used in advertising can be closer to or further from our own in order to produce different effects. It could be our own language or foreign language that we might not know much about. Moreover, language is able to invoke certain areas of ‘reality’ besides carrying a direct message, which is capable of double meanings. Generally, language is a "medium" needed in advertising.

In Masterchef Malaysia billboard advertisements, they used typography a.k.a. language to convey the message they intended. There weren't much visuals to further explain the advertisements. The language they used is very Malaysian colloquial words. I could see that the reason they used colloquial words is because they wanted to connect with Malaysians. It is a good idea, but they didn't succeed.

The words that they used such as "mangkuk", "awek", etc. have double meanings. Take the word "mangkuk" for instance, it could mean "bowl" or an insult in Malaysian culture. This is referring to the capability of double meanings in language.

Reference:

Judith Williamson, 2005. Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. 16th edition. London: Marion Boyars Publishers LTD.