Hyperbole is a rhetoric resource used frequently in advertising.
The formal definition of Hyperbole would be: "A figure of speech that involves excessively increasing or decreasing what is being talked about. A common example is "He has traveled all over the world": a very trite phrase that is definitely false given that, literally, nobody has traveled all over the world.
In advertising, hyperbole is frequently used. However, unfortunately, it is often done so with very little intelligence. Exaggeration should highlight an attribute of the product or service and not simply become a resource to provoke laughter or astonishment. When the latter happens, the hyperbole becomes almost stupid. If this happens, the advert loses all of its appeal.
Why? Because the reason for using rhetoric devices is for persuasion; when it doesn't persuade, it is useless.
A good example of the correct use of hyperbole, despite its implausibility, is this clever campaign from Smart. The car has become a classic because of its tiny size... in itself it is a hyperbole of motorsport. This is its attribute, its differential advantage. Taking advantage of this situation and the legions of fans around the world that love the car, BBDO Canada generated an advertising campaign where their tiny car fits in places where usually no car would.
The advertising is not designed to win awards, but demonstrate how functional the cars are. It's genius.
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