Fictional Characters in Modern Russian TV Advertising as a Means of Implementing Communicative Functions

The article is devoted to the analysis of the fictional characters used in the advertising text, which are an effective means of implementing communicative function. As a fictional character is considered an element of the advertising text - an image that embodies an action, experience or statement and is in a variety of relationships with the object of advertising. The article presents the typology of fictional characters: based on their nature and formal characteristics, as well as based on the role that the characters play in plot construction of the advertising text.  Fictional advertising characters, being a link between the brand and the consumer, can perform various communicative functions. The most important of them is the function of attracting attention (attractive). Advertising characters allow capturing the addressee's attention and highlight an advertisement among competitive texts. The informative function is realized by notifying the advertising information by a fictional character. The function of emotional “contagion” is implemented through the transfer of emotions that a character is experiencing to the target audience. The revealed features allow speaking of advertising characters as effective elements of advertising text and advertising communication.