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Semiotic Analysis Essay

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SEMIOTICS ANALYSIS ESSAY Advertisements are a smart tool and technique which is used to promote and sell various products. Using mass media, it aims to persuade potential consumers that there is some sort of direct correlation between the brand and a lifestyle or identity, which is considered enviable. Due to the depiction of various images and words in advertisements, debates regarding the advertisement often arise. Semiotics was initially developed by Ferdinand de Saussaure for the study of language. However, Hodge and Kress recommended that semiotic analysis could also be used as a manner of understanding communication, including media texts. The essence of semiotics is ‘the science of signs, or the study of signs and sign systems’ (O’Shaughnessy …show more content…

It was implied that BIC was sexist as the advertisement portrays the idea that in order to attain success in the business world, women need to think like men, thus seeing the world through the lens of a man’s perspective. Gender inequality remains a prominent issue in South African society. Research has shown that in media, there is an intersection between gender and other social constructs such as race and class. Findings suggest that in general White men were portrayed as powerful; White women as sex objects, domesticated, and romantically successful; Black men as aggressive; and Black women as inconsequential. These representations are argued to reinforce subtle prejudice against women in general and African Americans in particular. (Luyt, …show more content…

This includes the iconic sign of a cartoon holding an oversized BIC pen. An iconic sign means that the image shown, does in fact resemble the thing in reality. The name of the product, namely BIC is an example of an indexical sign as it is printed in bold which indicates that this product is of great importance and in a sense bold. Despite the indexical sign in the bottom right corner which has a direct correlation to the message of the advertisement, the text doesn’t support it entirely. The BIC Logo, which is an example of an indexical sign as it is referring to something else, is situated in the far right bottom corner of the advertisement. The word BIC is in bold and uppercase text which is eye catching and immediately draws the viewer’s attention to the product being

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