A comparative study of English and Persian billboards from the perspective of cultural values

International advertisers try to employ a myriad of techniques and devices to persuade different consumers who have various values and attitudes to choose from among competing brands. Analyzing 100 randomly photographed billboards of London and Tehran collected in 2014-15, this study aimed to compare English and Persian advertisements from the perspective of cultural values suggested by Cheng (1994).In this article, the data are only analyzed in terms of linguistic aspect. Using the descriptive-analytic method, the results of the research revealed that there were similarities and differences in both languages. Although the most common cultural values in both languages were “Modernity” and “Economy”, they varied in relative proportion and the sort of techniques used. Furthermore, values such as “Courtesy”, “Neatness”, “Respect for the elderly”, “Technology”, and “Work” were only used in billboards of Tehran, whereas “Leisure”, “Wisdom” and “Nurturance” were not observed at all in Persian samples. In addition, the findings showed significant differences in utilization of “convenience” and “Quality” which were more prevalent in English billboards. These differences seems to reflect different cultural values in the two societies under investigation.