1. INTRODUCTION Metaphors can be used verbally in the headline and/or copy. There are many advantages linked with the use of metaphors in advertising discourse. First, they elicit more cognitive elaboration than literal messages (Toncar and Munch 2001), presumably since individuals need to comprehend the complex message to draw inferences (Mick 1992). Their artful deviations provide intrinsic rewards that come from processing various interpretations of the text (Barthes 1986). Second, resolving such deviations or incongruities leads to favorable attitudes (McQuarrie and Mick 1999). Third, metaphors inject novelty, thus increasing motivation to read and process the ad (Goodstein 1993). Fourth, promotional metaphors, which are usually apt, comprehensive, and memorable, influence consumer beliefs and affect (Ward and Gaidis 1990). Another advantage of metaphors is their centrality to the process of imagination (Goldman 1986; Oliver, Robertson, and Mitchell 1993). According to Zaltman and Coulter (1995): "Without metaphors, we cannot imagine. They are the engines of imagination." Finally, McQuarrie and Phillips (2005) observed that consumers are more receptive to multiple, distinct, and positive inferences about the brand when metaphoric advertising is adopted.
