Metonymy, Metaphor, and Conceptual Blending

The three principles of metonymy, metaphor, and blending are all very similar and an example can use multiple or all overlapping principles. However, I think that metonymy is the most effective, specifically when using the part to reference a whole, because it is most directly related to the actual semantic meaning being conveyed, so the viewer does not need to infer as much. Because the part of the whole is being shown, the viewer is given a clue as to what larger idea is being communicated. For example, in the Absolut Mandarin ad, the vodka bottle is shown with a juicer, which symbolizes the freshly squeezed orange juice used to make the vodka, implying that Absolut Mandarin vodka is flavored with real juice, as opposed to other brands that might use artificial flavoring. In contrast, metaphors require knowledge outside the realm of the idea being conveyed, such as the metaphors from George Lakoff’s paper which Neil Cohn references in A Force of Change.