The term 'semiotics' is the common umbrella term to describe both the Saussurean as well as the Peircean approach, the two early leading figures in this approach being Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce. Fiske offers the following definition of semiotics as being 'essentially a theoretical approach to communication in that its aim is to establish widely applicable principles' (Fiske, 1982, p I 18). In other words semiotics can be applied to anything in the mass media from television, radio films, photographs, newspapers to posters and adverts in magazines. Semiotics is one media research technique - content analysis is another - in the latter an example would be to count how often a particular item occurs within the media text.
Before giving a semiotic analysis it is first necessary to describe the nature of signs so that a framework is provided on which the analysis is based. Semiotics, also sometimes referred to as 'semiology' is the study of signs - or the 'theory of signs' 'the social production of meaning by sign systems' (Branston and Stafford, 1996, p.5) and the way things gain meaning or significance. Language according to the pioneer in this field Saussure being 'one of many systems of meaning' (Branston & Stafford, 1996, p.5) - others including body language, posture facial expressions, clothes worn etc. Since Saussure, a linguist, dominated the field of semiotics this sort of study still draws heavily on linguistic concepts, so that many of the terms used in semiotics are linguistic ones, for example, references are made to the text.
If we take Saussure's model, the sign is divided into the signifier (the form it takes) and the signified - that is the concept it represents. These two are very closely related according to Saussure being 'as inseparable as two sides of a piece of paper'. Signs within a semiotic context cannot exist in isolation but are part of a sign system or code, so that when looking at signs and their meaning it has to be remembered that the assessment of them is in 'relation to their structure and their structural relationships with other signs' (Dyer, 1986) - an example of the latter being a genre. A sign can be anything which 'stands for something else', and it 'not only means in and for itself but also through its place in other signifying systems for instance the individual ad within advertising' (Dyer, 1986, p. 123).
To sum up then, we have the sign itself - in the case of the ads chosen that is the complete, individual ad. A sign though can be divided into 'three more subtle types of signs', and these are iconic sign, as one that resembles the signified: a symbolic sign, as one depending on individual connotation; indexical sign, as one having associations and inherent connections. One must also consider the code used - 'that to which the sign refers' and 'the culture within which these codes and signs operate', (Fiske, 1990, p40). When looking at signs one also has to be aware of their polysemic nature - that is there is an 'inherent ambiguity or instability of signs (Branston & Stafford, 1996, p. 8). This ambiguity arises for two reasons. First the signs are open to interpretation and that interpretation can depend on culture as well as the individual. Secondly the majority of signs we come across - for example, those used in the ads A and B - have numerous elements (images, captions, typography, colours), and each of those elements is 'capable of signifying in multiple ways' (Branston & Stafford, 1996, p.8). Hence the polysemic nature of signs.
The 'concept of codes' (Dyer 1986, p. 13 1) within a sign system holds a central place in semiotic analysis since codes are the rules that both the transmitter and the receiver are using when they attach an interpretation of the 'meaning or content to a certain sign' (Dyer, 1986, p. 13 1). Codes are derived from social and culture knowledge and they allow organisation of 'our understanding of the world in terms of 'dominant meaning patterns' (Dyer, 1986, p. 135). In general ads contain codes that are usually of a broad sort: for example, 'a linguistic code and an iconic code' (Dyer, 1986,p.136). In general, too, they can be said to 'reflect pretty closely the current trends and values systems of a society' (Branston & Stafford, 1996, p. 10), though such patterns can be different depending on the culture. The people behind the making of 'ads' are the transmitters and therefore, are aware of the codes in operation within the culture they are working and living. So advertising uses a 'system of distinct signs' (Dyer, 1986, p. 123). To take the example of the two ads used - the selling of Persil washing up liquid - the makers of these adverts have to somehow make a distinction between their product and others that do a similar job. In the examples used an image has been constructed, so that the product acts as ' a signifier for the signified' (Dyer, 1986, p. 123) which in A is freedom, escape, romance, fantasy while ad B too, fulfils fantasy and also, strength. In other words the product's association with the image created signifies that use of the product will promote a certain freedom - for example, in ad A - while in B what is signified is irresistibility.
The advertisers have in their minds exactly who their target audience is. Since the making of an 'ad' is a costly and complex business those involved in their production select and choose ways, for example they choose the image, highlighting, typography, focus, camera angle etc., which will make the image of the product (by means of the connotative associations etc.) the desired one. Such a team will draw upon their own perceived concepts and ideas of what the product is about and the target audience aimed at. So 'in effect ads consist of many messages' (Dyer, 1986, p. 135) and though the desired message is usually promoted it still is up to the reader how they interpret the image they see - and this interpretation will be done according to that reader/viewer's cultural codes.
In the examples chosen for this semiotic analysis the whole of the adS A and ad B are signs, while the primary signifier in ad A is the well dressed woman and in ad B the primary signifier is the black, athletic man. The use of colour or lack of it in the ads, the captions etc. the layout, typography, body language, code of address are also signifiers within particular codes. According to Dyer 'the signified does not exist except as a function of a particular signifying system' (Dyer, 1986, p123), so the meanings of both the 'signification and the signified' (Dyer, 1986,p. 123) are to be found in the chains of both and both can 'become signifiers for further chains of signification' (Dyer, 1986, p. 123).
The ads I have chosen are photographic images of a man and a woman. The image is a representation so therefore it is an iconic sign; as Dyer states, 'the signifier - signified relationship is one of resemblance or likeness' (Dyer, 1986, p. 123). In these ads the product resembles the product in reality so the photo of the product as it appears is also iconic. The signs in these ads were also used indexically because they suggest additional meanings. In ad A the clothes worn by the woman indexically underline the social position of the woman - middle class or upper middle class, well-to-do - the presence of the French language denoting sophistication, class and chic.
In the second example, ad B, the fact that the man is naked suggests naturalness as well as strength. So the image denotes the concentrated strength of the product. However, when really questioning the juxtaposition of the washing-up liquid and the male model -there is a realisation that, as Dyer states, we hardly 'notice the inherent dissimilarity of objects and products placed together' (Dyer, 1986, p. 126). This lack of questioning underlines what Judith Williamson writes - that a 'product and image/emotion become linked in our minds while the process of the linking is unconscious' (cited in Dyer, 1986, p. 126).
In ad A a strong silhouette of a woman is featured in a medium long shot and occupying a central position. The ad at first appears to be black and white but on closer inspection a sepia tone has been used. The main caption is in the left hand Le Parfum Classique - the words citrus burst underneath. In the bottom right-hand corner, suspended as if in mid-air, is the product -Persil; this is predominantly in the colour orange which tones in with the sepia shade of the background. The product is highlighted not only by the use of colour but also in the lighting effect, so that one can see the commercial point of the ad - the audience has no doubt as to the product or its name - though if the audience were not able to read they would be at a loss as to what the ad was selling. Underneath the product we the words Le Parfum de washing up. The combination of the French and English balances the French in the other corner whilst giving a feeling that this French refiner is made rather tongue-in-cheek. In the second ad, ad B, the product is centrally placed cradled in the hands of a strongly built black man. The picture is again in black and white but this time with a green overtone. The caption anchoring the product is at the bottom of the page, but, centrally placed - the words Natural extracts appear in a sort of exotic script. Underneath are the following two lines 'A creation impossible to resist' and then the third line, which is exactly the same as that found in ad A, 'Le Parfum de Washing Up’.
In both of these ads, the medium used is photography. Both ads we found in women's magazines - one in Woman’s Own ad B (March 16th, 1998), the other in Options March issue. Woman’s Own is a weekly magazine at the cheaper end of the market - 60 pence . According to Vestergaard and Schroder it has a 'circulation of over 4 million' (Vestergaard and Schroder, p. 11). In setting the context of these ads the following information is relevant - 'the readership consists of 59% working class, 27 % we lower class and 14 % upper and middle and middle class (p. 11) up to 35 % 'being women in all age groups' (p. 11) The readership also consists of housewives, who are usually married. Options, the other magazine, which featured ad A, retails at £2.10 pence. Being a monthly magazine it can be considered a glossy magazine with a readership consisting of a slightly younger age group (18 -35), who are more likely to be single, working and middle-class.
My purposes in choosing to analyse these texts are partly because I am a woman and these adverts were found in women's magazines - so I am identifying with the audience. They appealed because though the ads are for the same product a different message is being given as well as a wealth of connotations. From a semiotic point of view I feel that these ads offered a number of different avenues - for example, there are differences in lighting, camera angle, focus, caption, typography to name but a few. I liked the fact that though the ad is selling the same product - a washing-up liquid - washing-up being generally associated with being woman's work - both the male and female form have been used to promote it. In both, there is an element of fantasy presented - the ideals of femininity and masculinity for example. In the ideals portrayed or rather characteristics of such ideals, the product is being promoted as it is being associated with, in one, feminine sophistication, in the other strength but gentleness. The ads were chosen, too. because though the product is one used in a mundane chore of daily life through its treatment the connotations of that treatment present this product in a very desirable way. For example, in both ads the silhouette of the male and female form both 'prop up the product in a fictional situation' (Dyer, 1986, p.79); both forms are faceless so that they offer in the case of ad A the signified concept of freedom and escape as the woman reader can be the female in the picture. This version offers romantic cliches and images so in this ad an association is made between romance and femininity while in ad B there is irresistibility and maleness; both however, could be described as slightly over the top, so there is a sort of tongue-in-cheek feel about them, especially with the use of the English and French mix in the phrase Le Parfum de washing up.
The text relates to my own values because I belong to the target audience, because of my age and gender. It appeals in part because ad A uses the generally familiar code - the use of French and the mysterious woman in a hat that is generally used for selling perfume, so such an image will have connotations - this will be dealt with more fully later in the essay. So my familiarity with this genre means I can appreciate the intertextuality - I am in on the joke. In fact, the same shaped hat has been used on the model for selling 5th Avenue Fragrance, but in that ad the woman's face is in full view.
In both the ad texts the male and female represent real people. However, such a statement should be qualified - the general assumption that the camera cannot lie has to be scrutinised. Usually, photographs - visual images - are assumed not to involve a construction of reality because they refer to conditions in the 'real' world. However, in semiotic terms, as Sontag has pointed out, 'photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings and drawings are' (Sontag, 1979, p.7): that is because they involve a certain selection and framing of content by the person taking the photograph.
In both of the ads being analysed positive images are being promoted: one being of classy femininity; the other of gentle but reassuringly strong black maleness. When carrying out a semiotic analysis it is necessary to look at representation too. This is defined as the way an image 'actively constructs meanings according to sets of conventions shared by and familiar to makers and audiences' (Swanson, 1991, p. 123). We construct these meanings from such things as our experience, culture, and general knowledge. Representation can be said to both combine what the readers see, the meanings they derive, from their familiarity with the way conventions are used in the genre of advertising, as well as the cultural context. The latter helps to produce the accepted meanings as well as the individual's construction. Such constructions of meanings can alter over time so it is interesting to see in ad A - an out-of-date idea of femininity - an image that conjures up old Hollywood films where all the women regardless of background or class spoke in perfect standard English. The use of black and white with sepia overtones points to that preferred interpretation since sepia is associated with nostalgia, and romance - the silhouette and '40s clothes adding to this picture. In ad A I have succumbed, as will the majority of the magazines readers, to what Myra MacDonald terms 'an out of date myth of femininity' (Macdonald, 1995, p. 14) for they, like me, will have been brought up with feminist ideas. In this ad 'a play on stereotypes' (M. MacDonald, 1995, p. 14) has been made and this is becoming more and more common in the media. Ad B shares this play on stereotypes in some ways though it depicts a male who represents the 'sensitive and nurturing new man' (MacDonald, p. 148) of the 1980s. When addressing reality claims it is obvious that a great deal has gone into the construction of the image in the ads. In ad A and B a construction of reality has occurred because, though use is made of stereotypical characteristics of male and femaleness, the images are not assigned the usual cultural gender roles. For example, the woman in ad A is not portrayed as a housewife in a domestic setting but instead is shown in glamorous clothes and photographed in a 'cinema' style. This might indicate to the women readers that they too deserve special or Hollywood treatment. In this representation the 'effects appeal', the most common type of appeal used in advertising, has been utilised: in such appeals the claim is that the use of the product can have spectacular results - by using the product it is implied that women who do are special or will be - and that such a product will allow them to experience both freedom and a glamorous life. In these still photographs the use of stereotypes has provided 'instant recognisability' (MacDonald, 1995, p. 14) while, the lighting, the focus, the setting and the choice of that particular sort of man and woman with those sorts of bodies - all have been deliberately selected for a purpose so that we associate the signifier and the signified with the product. The representation in these ads is aimed to appeal to a particular audience. So the theme in the choice of model in ad A is her class, age and gender: her identity is used to mirror that of the reader. In both these ads the lighting or the hat is used to mask the model's individual facial features, making it easier for the reader to imagine themselves in the place of the model in ad A, whilst in ad B the facelessness of the male figure allows the largely female readership of the magazine to substitute their ideal male.
In any full semiotic analysis paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships have to be discussed since they are key structures in semiotics. Paradigms and syntagms allow signs to be organised. A syntagm being defined by 'its opposition to that which follows or proceeds it' (Dyer, 88 p. 126), so that a syntagm in advertising is in fact the advert - or the advert series 'as they appear on the screen or page' (Dyer, 126). The ad is a 'chain of visual, verbal and aural signs' which are organised and interact with one another to produce a 'meaningful whole' (Chandler, lecture notes). These two ads share the syntagm of the product shown in colour, the syntagm being the formula in which the ad is conceived. Another shared syntagm is the representation of a person: in ad A, a female in black and white with a sepia overtone; in ad B, a male again in black and white but with a green overtone - so there is a similar structure being applied to the product. There is a relationship between the elements of the two ads for example the use of French. A paradigm can be defined as 'a set of associated signs which are all members of some defining category, but in which each sign is significantly different' (Chandler WWW). In a paradigmatic analysis, when looking at the ads in question, a change of medium would clearly alter the text; 'although the signifier remains the same, the sign itself is altered by a change of genre or medium' (Fiske and Hartley as cited by Chandler WWW). Other paradigmatic substitutions could be made too: for example, in ad A, if the woman was wearing a scarf tied in a similar fashion to Nora Batty but kept the rest of the outfit a completely different effect is created. For ad B, very feminine handwriting could be substituted for the rather exotic typography. Equally you could substitute a bag lady for the model in ad A and the man in ad B could be substituted for a gorilla, in this case since the syntagm is the series of paradigms that make up the complete ensemble then the syntagm would have been altered. The commutation test in changing the paradigms would offer endless possibilities. However, the advertisers wanted a certain image so they selected the ones they did - it is interesting to see that the paradigms noticeably absent in both ads are dirt, effort, drudgery and ugliness, which is in keeping with the preferred meaning of the sign and the image of the product.
In semiotic analysis, too, it is important to understand the concepts of denotation and connotation which indicate 'first and second levels of meaning in a sign' (Dyer, 11 1986, p. 128), denotation being descriptive or the 'literal meaning of the sign' (Dyer, 1986, p. 128) while connotation refers to what the viewer of the sign brings to the meaning of it - the emotion they apply to it. Though denotation and connotation are linked together connotation can be said to g? beyond what is being detonated. Roland Barthes gave the following explanation of the concepts of denotation and connotation by stating 'the first system (denotation) becomes the plane of expression or signifier of the second system (connotation)... the signifiers of connotation... are made up of signs (signifiers and signifieds united) of the denoted system (1967a p.91 as cited by Dyer, 1986 p. 128). As in all ads there are two levels of meaning - the female reader, the target readership, uses cultural codes already in their possession to interpret the sign 'by uniting signifier and signified' (Dyer, 1986p. 128). So when looking at ad A on a denotative level what is seen is a picture of a well-dressed woman: this is the first and most obvious meaning. In ad B, we see a strong male form; in both of these ads the images are aesthetically pleasing. So on a denoted level what could be said to be seen are these two images, but as Dyer points out, in advertising by the very nature of the codes it uses there is 'almost no denotative communication' (Dyer, 1986 p. 130). According to Dyer, since 'denotation is not neutral or untouched by ideology' (Dyer, 1986 p. 130), whatever image is being used some sort of meaning is attached that goes beyond the literal meaning. On the connoted level because it is not neutral it is set within society - the ad cannot simply 'reflect ideology, it reworks it, thus producing new meanings' and 'this connotation process depends on our knowledge of the forms of ideology that advertisements employ' (Dyer, 1986 p. 129 -130).
In ad A, when seeing the caption Le Parfum Classique and the woman model, the reader, knowing the sorts of codes used in advertising, would initially think that this ad is about perfume. The use of French underlines the positive connotation and equates the product with sophistication. It also emphasises one of the primary properties of this particular washing-up liquid - its scent. Regarding ad B, a half-undressed man is often used to sell products such as deodorants so the image used in this sign will have this connotation. Again the intertextuality of these signs - that is everything is a part of something - is demonstrated. The body language of the female in ad A is contra-postural which gives the feeling of dynamism since the body is coiled and this denotes an expectation of movement. This for me suggests the connotation that the woman is a social butterfly, free and just about to fly off - for even her stance, her arms folded back for instance gives that sort of impression. Equally in the male form in ad B the muscles appear flexed, though this is not overstated given the shadow present, so here strength is denoted. The connotation of the stance and the obviously toned body suggests control, stillness and concentration whilst the way the man cradles the product suggests great gentleness.
Having just attempted to carry out a semiotic analysis of these two ads I do feel that I have been made far more aware of what is involved in the structuring of advertisements, and how closely that structuring, if the ad is to be successful, is dependent on cultural values. This analysis has been worthwhile since it has demonstrated the power of advertising as well as the wealth of meaning suggested by even the smallest detail - for example, the curve in the letter R in ad B - a paradigm which added to the sensuality of the syntagm. However, I would agree that semiotics as Paddy Whannel pointed out does have a tendency to' tell us things we already know in a language we will never understand' (Paddy Whannel, cited in Seiter, 1992, p. 1). A criticism I would level at semiotic analysis therefore, is the difficulty in clarifying semiotic terms along with the difficulty in getting to grips with the denseness of its jargon. Having said that, on completion of this assignment I will never look at an advert in quite the same way as before.
April 1998
