4.5 What are they selling?

Take a range of advertisements (around six in total) from magazines or billboards and see if you can attach them to any of the above groups. You may find that some of the images you’ve chosen fall into two or more of Packard’s categories.

·      What are they selling?


·      Who are they selling it to?


·      How are they selling it?


·      How does the advert work in semiotic terms?


·      What is denoted?

·      What is connoted?


·      What gestures are used and how does this contribute to meaning?

Write no more than 250 words for each advertisement.


Co Op Neighbourhood Convenience Stores

·       What are they selling?

Convenience foods at local, nearby stores

·       Who are they selling it to?

Near by customers

·       How are they selling it?

Emphasising convenience foods available quickly in neighbourhood

·       How does the advert work in semiotic terms?

Easily recognised neighbourhood logo at a nearby store convenient to customers

·       What is denoted?

That convenience foods are available nearby

·       What is connoted?

Convenience foods are nearby in a local store to you easily reached

·       What gestures are used and how does this contribute to meaning?

Local branding in easily recognised logo known for quality and fair priced.

Coco Cola drink

 

·       What are they selling?

Convenience drink that everyone knows and likes

·       Who are they selling it to?

Teenagers, young people

·       How are they selling it?

Emphasising that this particular drink makes you popular and gets you friends easily

·       How does the advert work in semiotic terms?

Easily recognised logo, bottle shape, colour of drink

·       What is denoted?

This particular drink will make you popular with friends and age group

·       What is connoted?

That you will be popular with peer group and able to make friends easily

·       What gestures are used and how does this contribute to meaning?

Smiling, drinking, male and female together

Audi RS Sports Car

·       What are they selling?

A new updates version of an older model sports car

·       Who are they selling it to?

Young, impressionable men with spare income, older men who want to retain their appeal to younger women

·       How are they selling it?

Appealing to both age groups that this car is the ultimate sex symbol that is only affordable to men with excess income.  The car is faster, sleeker, more attractive to the female sex than any other car before it.

·       How does the advert work in semiotic terms?

It’s a brightly coloured car that can easily be spotted amongst other cars as the latest and best edition.

·       What is denoted?

This particular man has money to spare and is attractive to the opposite sex.

·       What is connoted?

You can be the best, most desirable man to the opposite sex

  

·       What gestures are used and how does this contribute to meaning?

Car is driven to show what it can do to make it noticeable.

 Ikea furniture and fittings

 

·       What are they selling?

Family values

·       Who are they selling it to?

Young people who desire a family life but who don’t have too much money to spend on luxury items.

·       How are they selling it?

Appealing to demographic group, ie, young professional couples, that whilst the furniture is less expensive it will give them a family that is what is found in magazines and books

·       How does the advert work in semiotic terms?

That family life can be achieved by buying Ikea furniture and fittings

·       What is denoted?

It implies a family who live together in harmony and have fun lives

·       What is connoted?

That if you buy Ikea furniture your family life will have a happy family life.

·       What gestures are used and how does this contribute to meaning?

Families sitting down together, laughing, smiling, eating, being happy

Marks & Spencer Foods

·       What are they selling?

Ready prepared convenience snacks and meals

·       Who are they selling it to?

Anyone who wants to have convenience foods without having to bother to prepare it

·       How are they selling it?

Appealing to people who want to eat ready meals without the convenience of having to prepare and cook it themselves

·       How does the advert work in semiotic terms?

It shows appealing food which is ready to unpack and consume immediately

·       What is denoted?

Easy foods which need no real preparation

·       What is connoted?

That the food is tasty and good to eat and can be eaten straight away when they get home.

·       What gestures are used and how does this contribute to meaning?

Food is easily unpacked, displayed to look attractive and ready to eat.

 

4.4 Making the message clear

Imagine that you’ve been asked to create a public awareness campaign about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy and that you’ll be basing your campaign around this image. You want the image to do as much of the work as possible.

Look carefully at the image. Identify the signifier, the signified and the sign. What is the punctum? What is the studium? 

Does this image do the job? How might you modify it to put the health message across more effectively? Try to give your answer in semiotic terms. 

Define semiotic -

www.dictionary.com

The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behaviour; the analysis of systems of communication, as in language, gestures.

 From the picture above identify the following:

Identify the signifier

Health dangers when a woman drinks whilst she is pregnant

The signified and the sign
There are health dangers if pregnant women continue to drink whilst pregnant.  

The sign is a worried look from the woman whilst she is clutching a glass of red wine in her hand

What is the punctum?   

The punctum is the glass of red wine the woman is holding.

What is the studium? 

The pregnant woman is showing concern by touching her stomach.   This might be the first time she has been made aware of the problems about alcohol and pregnancy. 

Does this image do the job? How might you modify it to put the health message across more effectively? Try to give your answer in semiotic terms. 

No. There could be more emphasis put on the problems by having a doctor looking person standing next to the pregnant listening to her stomach.  The doctor could be holding a bottle of wine and shaking their finger at woman.