浅析中西方公益性戒烟广告呈现手法的文化差异

论文总字数：28899字

摘 要

中文摘要和关键词与英文摘要和关键词，在内容上要保持一致。

宋体 三号 粗体 居中

吸烟问题已经成为中西方极为紧迫的社会问题。本文主要分析了中西方公益性戒烟广告中典型的八个视频小片段。我们可以从中看出西方的公益性戒烟广告是外向型的、直白的、幽默的，而中国的公益性戒烟广告是委婉的、严肃的、强调亲情的。公益性戒烟广告呈现手法的差异是由中西方之间的文化差异造成的。本文主要分析了中西方文化中的两对冲突：集体主义和个人主义，儒家思想和殖民主义思想。但不可忽视的是中西方公益性戒烟广告不同于商业性广告，它们都是为公众服务的而不是为了追求利润。

具体关键词：宋体，小四，用分号连接。应与英文关键词一致。

关键词：呈现手法；公益性戒烟广告；跨文化；文化差异

中摘要的正文部分：宋体 小四

1.5倍行距，段前段后0磅，两端对齐

内容与英文摘要一致，字数150字左右。

顶格，宋体 小四 粗体 后接冒号。

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Comparison and Contrast of the Techniques for the Public Smoking Cessation Ads between the West and China 2

3.1 Presentation of Eight Episodes in the West and China 2

3.2 Similarities of the Episodes between the West and China 4

3.3 Differences of the Episodes between the West and China 5

4. Cultural Causes of the Differences of the Techniques for the Public Smoking Cessation Ads in the West and China 6

4.1 Collision of Confucianism and Colonialism 7

4.2 Collision of Collectivism and Individualism 8

5. Conclusion 9

Works Cited 11

1. Introduction

With the rapid development of economy and society, more and more social problems arise. Among these problems, smoking is one of the most serious problems which can not be ignored. As we all know, smoking does harm to our health and even damages the people around us in the form of the secondhand smoking. It also brings great economical loss to the Chinese and Western countries because the spending of the disease caused by smoking is a huge number. It is urgent to stop smoking for the sake of the health of people and the development of our society. And the most effective way to encourage smokers to quit smoking is through the public service ads because public service ads can be seen everywhere in modern society. The purpose of them is to bring benefits to our society rather than to pursue the economic interests of the market which is different from the commercial ads. It has a strong social function so it is a way of transmitting the information to the social public. Public service advertisement is such an advertising form that benefits the formation of public order and essential public ethnics. It does benefits to the society not only directly the public interests but also the long-term interests for the development of the society.

2. Literature Review

According to the "primary investigation of public service ads" written by Xu Junji, Ding Junjie and Heng Xiaoyang, public service ads are defined as: it is created for the social interests rather than for the purpose of making profits, so it is also called advertisement serving for society and all the members of our society participate in it. In China, public service ads have a late start. However, it quickly held its place in the history of mass media. They hold the opinion that public service ads should follow eight principles: thoughtful principle, artistic principle, human touch principle, pertinence principle, social principle, advocacy principle, encouraging principle, advised and criticism principle.

The article written by Hua Zhang “From the perspective service advertisement to see the difference between Chinese and Western culture” gives a detailed introduction to this topic. He holds the view that the root causes of the differences are the cultural differences between the West and China. Culture in China is a kind of a sole culture that it pays more attention to the whole and family. Besides, culture in the West focuses on the cultural diversities so it pays more attention to the freedom and individuals. The development of public service ads needs to pay attention to promote the characteristics of ourselves and learn from other"s strong points. Only in this way can the public service ads live better.

Chui Pengfei gives his opinions about the differences of pubic service ads between the West and China in his writing. He holds the opinion that advertisement and culture is complementary. He analyzes the differences of orientation in the public service ads between the West and China. Individualism is favored by the western culture while in China collectivism is stressed. The art form in the West is literature, classical music, rock music, movies, sports, etc.

3. Comparison and Contrast of the Techniques for the Public Smoking Cessation Ads between the West and China

3.1 Presentation of Eight Episodes in the West and China

This chapter will respectively introduce four typical video clips of the public smoking cessation ads in China and four in the West.

Episode 1:

It happens in a hospital with a lot of people in it. They are busy with their own things. A nurse is making a phone call, a mother is appeasing her crying child and other patients are sitting on the chair for the medical treatment. There is a lovely girl sitting there with a lovely bear in her hand. Her father asks his daughter to sit on the chair on her own. He quickly walks to the corner of the door in the corridor then he takes out a cigarette from his pocket and begins to smoke. Soon the black poisonous gas flies to every people in this hospital. The babies begin to cry more severely, the patients begin to feel dizzy and his daughter begins to cough and has difficulty in breathing. (Please refer to the appendix

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjg5OTk5ODEy.html )

Episode 2:

The leading character is a cigarette-shaped woman. She is wearing a yellow skirt and red high heels. In the beginning, she is dancing alone and she asks the man in green clothes to come to dance with her together with physical gestures. At this time, the head of the woman is smoking but the man does not refuse her. Then the woman and the man dance happily. Gradually the head of the man also begins to smoke with the same speed of the burning of the woman who dances with him. Eventually the man and the woman turn into ashes and gas in the air. (Please refer to the appendix http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTYwOTMyMTUy.html )

Episode 3:

A man is drawing a picture with his own ideas. His body is dirty because of the pigment of painting. There are a lot of cigarette ends, a cigarette case and other rubbishes. The man stops his drawing because he wants to create something full of inspiration. Then he takes out a package of cigarettes to smoke for the purpose to inspire himself to create new things. It can’t be ignored that there is a medicine bottle on the ground. He begins to cough after he smokes after a several minutes later. And the cough is becoming more and more severe. After a several minutes later, the man sweeps off the garbage on the ground with a broom. Then he takes off his dirty clothes and washes it. (Please refer to the appendix http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/zvyeIFc6Cls/?FR=LIAN )

Episode 4:

A successful man takes out a package of cigarette and is ready to light one but he finds that his two lovely daughters are staring at him with an unhappy expression when he turns round. Then he packs up the cigarette and the lighter in his hand with a smile to his two daughters. It is surprised that the girls begin to smile to their father. Then they enter into the elevator happily. (Please refer to the appendix http://my.tv.sohu.com/us/3702777/1510277.shtml )

Episode 5:

At the beginning of it, a man light up a cigarette in the street and started to smoke. After a several minutes later, the man fell down with a lot of blood flowing out of his mouth and nose. Eventually he fell on the ground and died. He seemed so painful with a cigarette in his hand and there were a lot of blood on his face which is scared to the viewers. And there are full of blood everywhere. (Please refer to the appendix http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE0NzczMTY0.html )

Episode 6:

A sign reading “No Smoking” is posted on the wall. A group of people are smoking on the balcony and they are talking cheerfully. One man is going to join them but they drop down from the balcony at this moment. The man is so scared that he packs up the cigarette and runs away quickly. (Please refer to the appendix http://v.ku6.com/show/C0Fl8E0g17aOWdoLP88PuA...html?st=1_9_2_1amp;nr=1 )

Episode 7:

One old man is sitting on the chair and pulls out a cigarette to smoke. After a several minutes of puffs, the old man begins to have difficulty in breathing and starts to cough. It seems that the old man is so painful because he is short of breathe. And his cough is becoming more and more serious. Eventually his tongue is put out and it has become black just as a poisoned one. Then he turns his hand to all viewers and says, “It is so painful”. (Please refer to the appendix http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQwNjIyMzI=.html )

Episode 8:

A middle-aged man walks out of the door then takes out a cigarette to smoke. He is smoking while drinking water. When the cigarette is lit, the middle of it emerges a piece of red bump. As the cigarette burns, the little red bump starts to change slowly. Its change likes the process of the cancer gene mutation. At the end of this episode, the little red bump looks like to burst. (Please refer to the appendix http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTMwMzE1MjYw.html?tpa=dW5pb25faWQ9MTAyMjEzXzEwMDAwMl8wMV8wMQ )

3.2 Similarities of the Episodes between the West and China

Although the public smoking cessation ads in the West differ largely from the public smoking cessation ads in China, the similarities between them are not allowed to be ignored. First, they are all the smoking cessation ads. So their purpose is the same one. The public smoking cessation ads can be spread by the web page of the Internet, messages of the mobile phone, circle of friends and so on. They can make people aware of the seriousness of smoking. The people who have understood the information of the smoking cessation ads may smoke less for the sake of the health of their own and the people around them. Second, they are all the public smoking cessation ads. They are non-profit undertakings. The purpose of them is to bring benefits to the society of the West and China rather than to pursue the economical interests of the market which differs from the commercial ads. The public smoking cessation ads are usually made by the local government so they have a powerful influence on the smokers. They can promote the morality of our society and the code of our behaviors. The public service ads can lead people to form a right idea. So the public smoking cessation ads can make the smokers form a right idea that smoking is harmful to their health. Besides, they are in the form of the video clips. People only need to spend a little time watching them. However, people can learn it from the video clips that smoking is harmful to our health. They can be put on the Internet in the form of clips. The video clips of the public smoking cessation ads can be copied and downloaded easily. Internet is the biggest exchange platform in the world so the influence of the Internet can be powerful beyond our imagination. People are educated in a several minutes. It can make people aware of the dangers and seriousness of smoking which can make them smoke less.

3.3 Differences of the Episodes between the West and China

Humor can be seen everywhere in the Western ads. For example, episode 6 “be careful when you are smoking on the balcony” persuades people out of smoking with a humorous tone. The man wants to smoke on the balcony just the moment the people drop down from the balcony. It can make people laugh a lot but after laughing there is a lot of thinking left. Western culture is a kind of human nature culture. It pays more attention to the human nature and concerns about the liberation of human nature. However, the ads in China are largely a kind of persuasive and model type advertisements. For example, episode 4 “A successful man”, the man wants to smoke but his two lovely daughters do not like it so he packs up the cigarette for the sake of the health of his children. This father sets a good model for other parents. In the end of this short video, the theme comes out “Don’t ruin our children with the passive smoking”. In China, family affection is the most important thing in our mind. It is influenced by the Chinese traditional culture. Chinese culture attaches more attention to the feeling of the spirit. Using the man as a model to promote the anti-smoking is a typical example.

In episode 1 “Secondhand smoking: An invisible killer” made by the Ministry of Health of China, it describes that a man damages the health of other people in hospital when he smokes. In other words, collective interests are damaged due to only one person and it reflects the idea of emphasis on the groups in China. Chinese culture focuses on the interests of “we”, “people”, and “groups”. The behavior of this father should not be accepted because he damages the interests of all people. However, the western people hold the different opinions. For example, in episode 7, the old man has great pain after a few cigarettes. Moreover, his tongue becomes black and he can not breathe smoothly. It looks like so painful. No one wants to experience this kind of pain. After watching it, people would think more before smoking. Western people view the personal interests as the core of their culture. They think that the individualism can not be invaded by anything or anyone.

Episode 2 “Cherish your life: don’t dance with smoke” has a close link to the Chinese idioms “Dances with Wolves”. Wolves are dangerous animals in the mind of Chinese people. And smoking is dangerous too. So those two things can be linked each other. Episode 2 reflects our Chinese culture in some degree. It is a good idea full of creativity. In episode 8, birds all fly away when the man smokes. It tells us that the smoking is harmful to the health of all living beings. Besides, we should try our best to get along with the nature. We can not be so selfish to damage the other living beings. Moreover, the creative thing of episode 8 is the little red bump in the middle of the cigarette which presents the changes of the cancer gene mutation. It reflects that the western people pay more attention to the cancer. Western culture focuses on the practical value. They believe in science and reason which is influenced by their Western culture. Western people dare to break the normal rule and imagine freely.

In episode 3 “Inspiration does not need cigarettes”, the art student wants to get some new ideas from the relaxation of his body and mind by smoking. It is a wrong value. Smoking can not make us feel relaxed but can damage our health in a conscious way. He can relax himself by exercises or other methods rather than the cigarettes. He does not take his health into consideration because he is ill. In the end, he sweeps away all the garages and washes his dirty clothes. However, the dirt can be washed but damage can not be spit out forever. Episode 3 tells us the harm of smoking with a tactful way. It is easily accepted by Chinese people when compared with the other ways. Besides, the character of it is one art student. We should promote the smoking cessation in campus. It is urgent. Most of the people surfing the Internet are young people. This episode may give them a lot of knolege. In episode 5, the man fell down after a few cigarettes. Then it represents a bloody image to us which can make the viewer scared and disgusting. The man was so painful because of the harm of smoking. In the end, the man died. It gives a great shock to the viewers. A question will stay in the mind of the viewers “Should I continue to smoke at the risk of death?” which may have a very good warning effect. Western people are influenced by the colonialism thought because they took violent and bloody measures in the colonial period. Therefore, they highlight the importance of any external factors for the self-development. In episode 5, the man died which can impress the viewers a lot.

4. Cultural Causes of the Differences of the Techniques for the Public Smoking Cessation Ads in the West and China

The public smoking cessation ads serve as the carrier to affect the ideas and social values of people in the West and China in some degree. The development of the public smoking cessation ads must be restricted by the culture of the West and China. The direction of the development of the public smoking cessation differs a lot. Because the culture of the West is export-oriented and expanded while the culture in China is an inside collect type of culture which focuses on the family, affections and collectivity.

4.1 Collision of Confucianism and Colonialism

It is known to all that the mainstream idea of the Chinese traditional culture is Confucianism. And the Confucian culture largely influences our modern society because it has a long-term effect in every aspects of our daily life. Home is the core of the ethic affection in the Confucian thoughts. Chinese people have a stronger sense than other ethnic groups. The Chinese culture always pays much attention to the family and kinship. It is a characteristic of the public smoking cessation ads in China that the ads take “kinship” as an appeal point. The biggest influence of the Confucian thoughts on the Chinese advertising is the culture of “home”. Chinese people put the family in the first place. They have a strong emotion to their families and their countries. Therefore, the theme of many public smoking cessation ads in China is “kinship”.

The episode 4 “A successful man” is a typical example of the “kinship” ads in China. In episode 4, the man takes out a package of cigarette and is ready to light one but his two daughters express their disagreement with shaking their heads. Then the father packs up the cigarette for the sake of his daughters because they are so energetic and youthful. They are the best love to the man. It can be seen that the kinship is so important in the development of the smoking cessation ads.

However, the idea of family is weak in the mind of the Western people. The responsibility of family has a small effect on the judgment of morality in the West. Western culture is largely influenced by the Colonialism. In the colonial period, they took violent measures to seize their territory by the armed occupation, naked robbery, cheating trade, bloody slave trade and so on. They turned the developing countries, nations and regions into their commodity markets, investment places and even the origin of the cheap labor. All the factors mentioned above contribute to a phenomenon that the images of the public smoking cessation ads are bloody, violent and disgusting. The public smoking cessation ads are also a kind of culture in some degree.

The episode 5 “An invisible killer” is a good example of the presentation of the bloody and disgusting images of the public smoking cessation ads in the West. The man in episode 5 fell down when he was walking down the street with a cigarette in his hand. Then a lot of blood began to flow out of his mouth and nose. There was a lot of blood in his face and his clothes which seemed so scared. Eventually the man lay on the ground and died. This episode uses the exaggeration of means. It is impossible that the man may die after just a few cigarettes. The red blood gives a visual shock to the viewers. Besides, the blood can make them feel disgusting. So such kind of the public smoking cessation ads can make people aware of the seriousness and dangers of smoking. They would link with the bloody and disgusting images when they smoke the next time. It is a good way.

4.2 Collision of Collectivism and Individualism

Collectivism is rooted in the traditional culture in China. It is the center of the eastern values. It emphasizes that the interests of the collectivity is higher than all especially the interests of the country. It is emphasized that the interests of the individual must submit to the interests of the collectivity. And the interests of the collectivity must submit to the interests of the country. Collectivism focuses on the collectivity and country rather than the interests of the individuals. The American scholar Hall points out that the activity of the communication of human is resisted by the contextual factors. Chinese culture is influenced greatly by the traditional culture of the Confucian thought. The culture in east pays more attention to the harmonious development of the society and groups. China advocates the theory of collectivism. It is a kind of high context culture which prefers a kind of indirect and tactful expression. Collectivism can only be realized under the condition of socialism. Besides, the socialism can survive on the precondition of insisting the collectivism. We should carry forward the collectivism in the construction of the market economy of socialism. The public smoking cessation ads are the presentation of the condition of our country. We should persist in the principle of collectivism in the creation of the public smoking cessation ads. It would have a strong influence on the smokers in this way.

The episode 1 “Secondhand smoking” made by the Ministry of Health of China is a typical example of the emphasis on the collectivism in China. The man smokes in a corner in a hospital. He damages his own health. Besides, it is ignored by the man that it is in a hospital. There are so many people in it. He may damage the health of all the people in the hospital including his own daughter, little babies, old men and other patients. It is known to all that the secondhand smoking is a big damage to people. The collective interests are damaged because of the ignorance of the man. The behavior of the man can not be accepted by the other people because he damages the interests of all people in the hospital. This episode tells us that we should take the health of the people around into consideration. It is a selfish behavior to smoke in the public places.

Individualism is a typical thought in the politics and philosophy of society in the Western countries. It emphasizes that the personal value is supreme. It is stressed widely that people should learn to control themselves. It is against the bad factors that may hinder the personal development such as the authority, religions and other external causes. The values of individualism dominate the spiritual culture, lifestyle, behavior style, thinking mode and so on. It is a key to understand all the aspects of western culture. Besides, it is also an important topic during the research of the western culture. The individualism of America is the typical example of the individualism values. The individualism of America is derived from the rule of reason and the pursuit of individual freedom of the Christian spirit. It becomes the starting point and end-result of the American culture during the development of the culture in America. Besides, it guarantees the realization of the other values such as the fair chance, competition, and intelligence and so on. This kind of value orientation is reflected in the smoking cessation ads. It is a kind of self-centered culture that attaches great importance to the injustice and performance of the individuality.

The episode 7 “Old man” is a typical example of the individualism in the West. The old man begins to have difficulty in breathing smoothly and starts to cough after a several cigarettes. And his cough is becoming more and more serious after a few minutes later. His tongue becomes black and he is short of breath. It seems so painful. The character of it is an old man. He is damaging his health. The old people should keep their health by appropriate exercise and healthy diets. In the mind of the Western people, aging means loneliness and useless. The Western people hold the opinion that it is essential for the old people to keep healthy and independent. Health is one of the most precious things so we should cherish it. Therefore, we should give up smoking.

5. Conclusion

The public service ads become the important project in academic research as a way to spread culture and social philosophy. We can see the same value appeal but the different culture by the comparison of the techniques for the public smoking cessation ads in the West and China. The cross-cultural comparison of them would promote the further study of language and culture and the intercultural communication research in some degree.

Although there are many differences of the techniques for the public smoking cessation ads in the West and China, their purpose is the same one. Besides, they are all for no profit but for the public welfare. In general, the public smoking cessation ads in the West are outspoken, straightforward, and humorous and pay more attention to the individual values. However, the smoking cessation ads in China are tactful, serious and attach great importance to the kinship and interests of collectivity. With the development of globalization, the western countries and China must carry out the cross-cultural communication. Their culture would get a better development through the communication of culture. The correct choice is to learn from the strong points and offset the weaknesses between them.

Times New Roman 字体，四号 粗体 居中

参考文献另起一页，不与正文相连接

Works Cited

[1] Hamilton, Gray G. "A comparison of China and Western Europe." British Sociology 1(1990): 77-104.

[2] http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjg5OTk5ODEy.html

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：28899字