This campaign turned an adjective (happiness) into a noun (happy). It’s a huge grammar no-no, but it’s a widely-used trick in advertising.
By “nouning” the adjective, it turned a lackluster phrase (spread happiness) into something much more memorable and punchy. Because of this, it stood out. Like pure hazelnut bliss.
Just how successful was this campaign with a grammar mistake?
It debuted in 2015 and was a huge success. Overall, it creased brand awareness and sales of Nutella by 15%.
During the first 2 days of the campaign:
It’s like a brand channeled its inner DJ Khaled and screamed “and another one,” on a new hip hop track.
Rhetorical devices are words or word phrases that are used to convey meaning, provoke a response from a reader, and persuade.
“Anthimeria” is one of like a million rhetorical devices used to create new words or expressions by using one part of speech or word class in place of another. To effectively use this rhetorical device, you either turn a(an):
Shakespeare converts a noun “peace” into a verb in this line: “The thunder would not peace at my bidding” (King Lear). Using nouns as verbs has become such a common practice that now many nouns are often used as verbs.
Language is always fluid and is in constant transformation. So using a verb as a noun or vice versa is not a surprise. It’s actually compelling. Instead of redundant like some openings on hip hop songs.