IB English A Lang & Lit The Commentary Notes

Criterion A: Knowledge & Interpretation (5/5)

1. Insightful interpretation moves beyond description
   1. The essay does more than describe the Dettol advertisement. It analyses how the campaign uses persuasive strategies to reposition a hygiene product as a symbol of empowerment.
   2. It moves beyond surface-level discussion by linking Dettol's techniques to broader themes of pandemic anxiety, class identity, and brand manipulation.
2. Close analysis is strengthened by contextual understanding
   1. Each paragraph incorporates specific textual evidence from the advertisement, including direct quotations like "Wake up whenever. No suits. No ties. No rules."
   2. The essay connects Dettol's campaign choices to real-world pandemic context, demonstrating how the September 2020 launch aligned with remote work culture and heightened hygiene concerns.
3. Balancing textual detail with wider interpretation
   1. The essay closely analyses specific language features (irony, imperatives, listing) while explaining how they serve Dettol's broader commercial purpose.
   2. It recognises that the advertisement operates on multiple levels: selling a product, building brand identity, and tapping into cultural anxieties about work, health, and personal agency.

Criterion B: Analysis & Evaluation (5/5)

1. Strong analysis explains how language and visual techniques create meaning
   1. The essay dissects Dettol's use of irony, synthetic personalisation, imperatives, antithesis, listing, and metaphor.
   2. It explains not only what techniques are present but how they work on the audience: for example, how "rocketship growth" creates excitement and ambition through metaphor.
2. Evaluation links Dettol's methods to its commercial purpose
   1. The essay thoroughly examines Dettol's intentions, considering how the campaign aims to associate the brand with optimism, control, and cultural relevance rather than just hygiene.
   2. It engages with the tension between empowerment and manipulation, recognising that the motivational tone serves a commercial agenda.
3. Alternative perspectives add nuance to the evaluation
   1. The essay acknowledges that the advertisement could be read as genuinely empowering or as cynically exploiting pandemic anxiety for commercial gain.
   2. The discussion of how Dettol uses cultural in-jokes ("sticky tube floors") and class-specific references adds nuance, showing awareness of how different audiences might respond differently.