Barthes, semiotics and the meanings of an advertisement

Overview

Iconic sign, symbolic sign and how the hermeneutic code works in an advertisement.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How does an advertisement rely on the audience already knowing what its signs mean?

   Model answer

   It has seconds to work, so it uses objects, colours and settings whose cultural associations the audience brings with them rather than explaining anything.

2. 2

   Define denotation.

   Model answer

   Denotation is the literal, descriptive level of meaning, which is simply what is there to be seen or heard.

3. 3

   Define connotation.

   Model answer

   Connotation is the associated or cultural meaning a sign carries beyond its literal one.

4. 4

   How does an advertisement work as myth in Barthes's sense?

   Model answer

   It presents one arrangement of family, success or beauty as simply the way things are, so the values it sells are never stated as a claim that could be disputed.

5. 5

   Apply the idea of myth to an advertisement showing a family around a breakfast table.

   Model answer

   The image draws on the myth of the happy nuclear family, so the product is presented as belonging to a way of living the audience is invited to accept as normal.

6. 6

   What is an iconic sign?

   Model answer

   An iconic sign resembles what it stands for, such as a photograph of the product itself.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

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Six ways to work the same material.