Knowledge of the structure of the complex headline and the most accurate understanding of the functional load of each element of the complex headline are an indispensable condition for the analysis of the advertising text of a verbal-visual or visual-verbal communication type. The analysis should be based on accurate attribution of the structural and composition load of each verbal component of the analyzed text, which will allow to diagnose and prevent textual damage caused by the mismatch of the communicative function of the verbal component and its place in the text structure.The analysis shows that the simple headline in the advertising text has been replaced by the complex headline, the functional load of its elements is assimilated by the recipient when acquaintance with fiction (it opens us the communicative possibilities and specifics of such elements as epigraphs or dedications) and modern media text. The structure of the complex headline itself depends on what kind of advertising text we are dealing with: visual-verbal or verbal-visual.Future research avenues include developing a well-grounded conceptual apparatus; rigorous definitions of current and new concepts; a methodologically sound analysis of the actual texts; and in the long term, identifying quantitative and qualitative changes in the text structure