This comprehensive introduction to advertising discourse examines the language of contemporary advertising, not as an isolated object, but in complex interaction with the texts around it, with music and pictures and, importantly, with the people who make and experience it. Clearly explaining relevant theories of linguistics and poetics, each chapter ends with a series of stimulating exercises, and theoretical discussion is accompanied by examples from literary and sub-literary texts and recent advertisements. Putting forward the controversial view that adverts answer a need for play and display in contemporary society, Guy Cook explores the social function of advertising, moving from the uses of sound and sight, through creativity and word play to the poetic intricacies of the text to assess the effect of these on the people who receive adverts everyday, and whose identity is partly constructed by them.