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Haiku and Magazine Advertisements
A comparison of the Art of Haiku and Magazine Advertisements by Aubrie Cox, Kersten Haile, Nick Chivers, Elise Wildman, and Daniel Fishel. February 27, 2008. See haiku examples in the Haiku & Advertisement Slide Show.
The Japanese poetry known as haiku is a concise form of expression that connects with the reader using specific techniques. It states only what is necessary and leaves the rest to the reader’s interpretation. This basic method of haiku is shared with the advertising industry, particularly magazine ads. Both of these forms of expression have only moments to grab the reader’s attention and make an impression upon both the senses and emotions of the reader. To do so, they must use strong imagery and say only what is most important.
The most successful haiku all use similar tactics. Every haiku, in any language, tends to have a kigo, or seasonal element, that triggers the senses; the best of these triggers more than one sense. For example:
spring sunbeam
the baby’s toes
spread apart
Lyles, THTR, 93
“Spring sunbeam” triggers not only sight, but the warm sensation one has when laying in the sun; and obviously, “spring” states the season. Haiku also strive to establish a world or setting; successful ones accomplish this within the kigo. Using only a few words, a haiku creates a vivid world to draw the reader in:
ocean sunset
he whispers something
and her earrings glow
Swede, Au, 51
The first line automatically puts the reader on an ocean at the end of the day. After effectively establishing the setting, the haiku may present the moment it is trying to capture; the reader then automatically fills in the specific details, which is characteristic of all haiku—they do not reiterate the given. Because the details are left out, the moment may not only be captured in a way that is appealing to the reader, but also, to a degree, as the poet’s original intentions.
boarding call
the ripe banana flavor
of the small one’s cheek
Lyles, THTR, 103
Instead of directly stating the facts of a situation, haiku allow to the reader to piece together the scene. “Boarding call” is an indicator of a public transportation. Some may be inclined to envision a train station, while other may see a bus station or an airport; however, it is unnecessary to clarify which form of transportation was intended by the poet as the emotion of the moment is not dependent upon the exact location. All of the above examples also contain other necessary elements of a haiku: present tense—all haiku happen in the “now,” which helps to capture the specific moment in time that the poet intended—strategic punctuation (or none at all), and a connection/flow between at least two lines.
The important characteristics of an exceptional haiku are also present in effective magazine advertisements. When appealing to a reader, magazine advertisements must play off the reader’s current condition, which is often dependent upon the season. Ergo, advertisements often utilize the current season, which is similar to the haiku poet’s use of kigo. Orbit gum, for example, uses bees and garden apparel in its advertisement for the upcoming gardening season. The use of these elements stimulates the reader to place themselves in spring time, thus associating Orbit gum as an essential for the upcoming gardening season. Thus, the kigo used in the advertisement effectively wins over the readers, similar to haiku tactics. Another example is Estee Lauder’s advertisement for their Pleasures fragrance line. It utilizes spring flowers, pastel colors, and other stereotypical sources of delight that are associated with springtime (i.e. cupcakes and strawberries). These elements all evoke the excitement and positivism of springtime, which the reader ultimately ends up associating with the Pleasure’s fragrance. The kigo of an advertisement is essential because it must play into the readers current state; however, this is somewhat different from haiku because is it not necessary to write about spring in the spring, or summer, winter, fall, etc. The kigo used in haiku is left to the poet’s desires, as opposed to the advertising agency whose kigo depends on the current season.
Magazine advertisements only have moments to catch a reader’s attention as he or she is flipping through the magazine, therefore, the designer of the ad must use careful word placement. This is similar to the art of haiku—they are concise, to the point, and deliberate about word placement. Both the haiku poet and the designer have limited space, words and moments to evoke a personal reaction in the reader. One example of this in advertising is in a CoverGirl ad where the undetectable nature of the makeup is implied through a close-up image of the female wearing it. To the side of the close up are the words: “Now there’s no such thing as too close.” Out of these words, “close” is the largest and most notable on the page, and it is directly placed over her skin. The word, combined with the image is enough to trigger the association between the foundation and its invisibility. The placement of the words essentially caused a dramatic effect, which influenced the reader. This same technique is used in haiku—words are placed on certain lines for dramatic effect.
cucumbers
soaked in vinegar—
the heat
Lyles, THTR, 48
Placing “soaked in vinegar” in the middle of the haiku emphasizes the verb “soaked” just as the close-up combined with the actual word “close” emphasizes the makeup’s abilities. Emphasizing soaked in this haiku helps the reader to imagine the situation and maybe even feel the sensation of the cucumbers soaking in their mouth, oozing out vinegar. This technique is similar to how the word “close” helped the targeted reader to read into the advertisement what the designer intended.
Other elements magazine advertising and haiku share includes scarce and concise punctuation—any punctuation that is used emphasizes a specific point and is thought out carefully; sensory triggers—often times in advertisements this trigger is dependant on the product being sold. For example, in the “Pleasure’s” advertisement previously mentioned both taste and smell were stimulated in the attempt to sell a fragrance that was “delicious.” The haiku poet and the ad designer have limited space, so they must be concise and carefully plot out where and how they can get their message across with the limited space they have available. Other elements fall along these lines: a scene that not only draws the reader in, but hooks him or her to the story; open-endedness, which allows the reader to fill in the rest with what he or she connects with (advertisements use this to their advantage because it makes the product more personal to the reader and they will within the advertisement whatever advantages that they think they will benefit from, even if that advantage is not specifically related to the product); and lastly, editing, which is essential for the most effective haiku and advertisements—editing helps haiku and advertisements to create a final product that hits the reader with a “pow” and leaves a lasting effect. Of all the characteristics of haiku and advertisements, the one that connects them the most is actually a branch of haiku—haiga.
Haiga is a branch of haiku that combines illustrations with haiku. This furthers the impact the effect of the haiku, just as visual images heighten the effectiveness of a magazine advertisement (as was the case in the previously mentioned “CoverGirl” advertisement. The combination of the word “close” and of the literal close-up ingrained the idea of an undetectable foundation into the readers mind). One haiga by Ron Moss uses a painting in combination with his haiku about the aftermath of a fire and the firefighter’s experience. This painting and haiku combination is effective because the use of fiery colors, scenery, and the silhouette of the lone firefighter are simple, but powerful (like most haiku) (Haiga Online). This visual image is combined with the following haiku:
after the front
a fire fighter hums
amazing grace
Moss, HO
The combination of the image and the haiku stimulates a rollercoaster of sensations in the reader, thus effectively ingraining the emotional moment that the poet intended into the reader’s mind, which is very similar to the previously mentioned CoverGirl advertisement, and for that matter, all advertisements.
Magazine advertisements rely heavily on imagery as people notice color and shapes before they process the meaning of the words on the page. When the reader pauses at the page, his or her eyes immediately notice the biggest words (as in font size) on the page, so the designer must choose which words to emphasize. In haiku writing, the poet must take care with line breaks and word choice. The fact of the matter is that haiku poets and magazine ad designers use screamingly similar techniques in order to get the desired effect out of the reader. Of the characteristics that magazine advertisements and haiku share the biggest connection is between haiga (visual haiku) and ads. Other similarities that are essential to the success of both arts are the use of kigo (a seasonal element), the effective creation of a vivid world for the reader, only saying what needs to be said, strategic punctuation, and rigorous editing. If the former characteristics are utilized successful haiku and magazine advertisements are created that connect with the reader personally and draw them in to the world that the artist has created.
Works Cited
HaigaOnline. 2007. 25 Feb. 2008. http://www.haigaonline.com/
Lyles, Peggy. To Hear the Rain. Decatur: Brooks Books, 2002.
Swede, George. Almost Unseen: Selected Haiku of George Swede. Decatur: Brooks Books, 2000.
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