Oh Girls, It Took My Mind!

Advertising discourse through social media (SM) platforms has become momentous nowadays. While there have been studies that investigated the official advertising discourse of companies and brand owners, not much is known about the advertising discourse produced by “influencers” on SM platforms. The current study aims to explore the organizational tendencies and discourse structure of the advertising discourse produced to advertise perfumes by male and female influencers on Snapchat. A corpus‑based textual discourse analysis of the advertising discourse produced by six male and six female “influencers” on Snapchat was conducted. The findings reveal a three‑part organizational structure across the corpus: an onset featuring greetings and audience‑addressing hooks; a persuasive body employing descriptive, emotive, and audience engagement‑oriented strategies; and a conclusion outlining practical purchase pathways. Female influencers were found to produce nearly twice as much content and used more detailed, emotive discursive strategies, while male influencers created shorter, more functional advertising discourse. Both used imperatives and religious cues to engage their audience, but women relied on religious expressions, intensifiers, and verbs denoting mental/psychological verbs more frequently for persuasive purposes. The study highlights the value of focused corpora for uncovering socio‑pragmatic patterns embodied in the advertising discourse that broader studies may overlook. It also offers implications for influencer training, particularly in developing awareness of gendered persuasive practices and promoting culturally grounded yet ethical persuasive communication that avoids manipulation and supports responsible advertising practices.