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Media Text Analysis Of A Cosmetics Advertisement

MEDIA TEXT ANALYSIS

Question:
Select a full page advertisement from either a newspaper of a magazine and do a semiotic analysis of how the representation
‘works’. To whom is the advertisement addressing, and the whom is the message directed?


Advertisements are a rich source for semiotic analysis. The term semiotics derives from the Greek word semeion meaning 'sign'. The birth of the science of semiotics can be attributed mainly to the work of two men, the American philosopher Charles Peirce, and the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. The meaning of a sign is not contained within itself, or as Daniel Chandler says, 'the message is not the meaning' but arises in its interpretation and context (Chandler, 1998: WWW). Semiotics therefore refers to a kind of social interaction between the individual as a meaning maker and the sign offering different interpretations. The semiotic analysis of advertising believes that meanings of adverts are to move out from the page, to lend significance to our experience of reality. We are encouraged to experience the advertised, in terms of the mythic meanings on which adverts draw (Bignell, 1997: 33).

Successful advertisements commonly combine textual and visual images to produce a maximum effect of persuasion on the directed audience. However, these effects will predominantly materialize with individuals who identify with and share the same cultural knowledge. Nonetheless, cultural knowledge is more than simply comprehending what the codes signify; it is developing and maintaining an awareness of the things that might be suggested by the code through systems of difference, denotations and connotations (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 1998: 82). What follows is a semiological analysis of a Clarins advertisement for a fragrance in women’s magazine, Harper’s Bazzaar, Australia. This Clarins advertisement reveals values and standards, as well as ideological attitudes present amongst women in contemporary Australia....