Advertorial prasowy jako gatunek o polimorficznej naturze
Print Advertorial as a Genre of Polymorphic Nature

Summary/Abstract: The article attempts to define the print advertorial in the perspective of the Polish theory of the genre and the French school of discourse analysis: to describe the genre signals that distinguish it from editorial content on the one hand and advertising content on the other, and to identify the relevant and idiosyncratic features of its prototypical core. It complements existing linguistic, media and press studies (Polish, European, American and Canadian), which – despite the dynamically growing importance of advertorial communication, becoming a dominant marketing tool in the magazine press – marginalise this phenomenon and do not devote much attention to it. The print advertorial is an advertising genre where messages are (as required by law) labelled, not listed, paginated or journalistically signed. They become genologically similar – to other press genres – and physically similar – to the editorial content around them – through the mechanisms of polymorphic mimesis. This strategy includes techniques of a greater or lesser degree of manipulation, such as nomenclature diversification, signature written in tiny print, low-visibility places and vertically, harmonisation of the topic and layout, genre adaptations as well as imitating the appearance of a typical newspaper article. A particularly interesting case is the mechanism of nomenclature diversification, which is completely overlooked in research. As it turns out, on the advertising market in Poland, there are 20 different signatures of the advertorial operating simultaneously, which – let me emphasise – are fully synonymous. These include terms such as: prezentacja partnera, promocja, materiał prasowy, materiał przygotowany przez + [brand name] (e.g., Material prepared by Optegra) or [brand name] + in + [magazine name] (e.g., Davines in Wysokie Obcasy Extra). Per analogiam, advertorials in French are covered by 12 different signatures (including publi-communiqué, publi-information, publi-story, publi-reportage, publi-évasion) and in English by three names (advertorial, special advertising section, promotion). The author presents the advertorial in its proper socio-cultural and historical context and carries out semiotic and discursive analyses of numerous examples from Polish, French and English magazine press from the years 2000–2021. That allows her to propose a broad definition of the print advertorial in question and, at the same time, to illustrate its complex, polymorphic nature.

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