Why Semiotics Is A Useful Method For Analysing Advertisements

Advertisements are all over the place. Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that you can escape them. They all have their target audience who they have specifically designed the ad for. And of course they are selling their product. This is a multi billion dollar industry and the advertiser’s study all the ways that they can attract the person’s attention. One way that is used the most and is in some ways very controversial is use of sex to sell products

The main purpose of commercials and advertisements is to persuade the viewer to purchase the product that is advertised, but not all commercials are successful in this endeavor. Companies, such as Budweiser and Kleenex, appeal to the viewers’ ethos, logos, and pathos in order to influence them to buy the advertised product(s). In order to appeal to each of the categories, companies use different tactics to catch viewers’ attention. The use of ethos, logos, and pathos can make or break an advertisement based on how it is being used.

How does it make you feel that all those animals are going to starve without food? Pretty bad I would hope or that would make you a psychopath. Dozens of animals will starve at this local shelter if we do not make enough money or collect enough dog food. All we need is a donation of your time or your pocket to help these poor animals. You might be questioning “Why don’t you just set them loose in the wild?” because this would increase the percentage of mangy dogs and feral animals running around the town after that they would go to natural instinct and pack up and attack people, toddlers, house pets, livestock and our goal at this animal shelter is to save the dogs and animals out there left for the wild to eat them alive or to get hit by a truck barreling down the freeway.

In the article “What We Are to Advertisers,” James Twitchell argues that “different products have different meanings to different audiences.” This is a valid argument because every product today can be interpreted differently by people. Barbie, for example, is viewed as an awesome toy by many young girls; however, few boys purchase Barbie because it is considered to be feminine. Cowboys boots can also be interpreted differently by groups of people. Someone living in an urban city would likely consider cowboys boots to be unfashionable or out of style. Unlike people from the urban city, those living in rural areas may regard the boots to be fashionable and stylish. Another example can be seen in the fragrance industry. Perfume is nearly identical

Dennis, I enjoyed reading your discussion post. I also see pathos in advertisement very frequently; because it's an appeal to emotion. Just like when they work off of our fear; when waiting to sell alarm system by showing a burglar. Or expensive jewelry showing how happy the recipient is after receiving the gift. Just to name a few they are very clever because it causes people to spend more money than they normally would

Lastly, Pathos is more impartial to writers than Logos. Often times, Pathos that lacks facts. Also, Pathos is bias- ridden with the writers want the reader’s empathy and not all writers’ feelings are free from favoritism. Though the lucidity of words reaches the audiences fast, reader ought to watch for its scrupulosity since it is being written from the heart not the brain. For instance,In the article, “How Those Dove ‘Real Beauty Sketch’ Ads Went Viral” a writer, Eric Spitznagel explained that how the ads make people to feel emotionally. The Dove beauty advertising uses vivid words to convince women to buy the products by telling “you are more beautiful than you think.” This means, the dove ads target is to sell the product by motivating

Visual Rhetorical Analysis Imagine posting a picture on instagram, a picture where you feel confident. A picture that you have thought about posting for awhile now but was not sure people would like it. A picture that you feel beautiful in. After posting it, you decide to take a break for a couple of hours and just leave the instagram picture up to gain tons of comments and a lot of likes. A couple hours past and you decide to check on the instagram picture.

My understanding of the ad’s audience impacted my analysis/explanation of the ad by helping me pinpoint the techniques used to indirectly persuade the consumer to buy the product. Knowing who the ad was aimed for allowed me to build a stronger connection between the advertising agencies and how they manipulated the consumer. For example, if their audience was first class people, then the techniques used were no eye contact, fancy backgrounds, and the absence of prices. Whereas if the ad’s audience were middle class Americans, then discounts were mentioned, additional adjectives, smiling, and eye contact. Therefore, recognizing the audience made it easier to figure out which techniques that appeal to the consumer were used.

To persuade potential buyers into getting my product, I had to use three rhetorical devices in my ad. For a start, I used logos when I provided information about how much bacteria is taken away and how much surface stains are removed by the product. The statements I provided uses scientific data to help educate potential buyers about the product. Because of that, more people will buy the toothpaste because they have been properly told how well the product works. Next, ethos was used when I included opinions from a dentist and a mother. A recommendation of a toothpaste from a dentist would help boost sales because people trust dentists to know about oral hygiene. People would also trust a mother since most people think of mothers who only choose

An old saying that comes into play when just glancing at this advertisement, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” is an old saying pediatricians would say to their miniature patients. Who would know this could grab attention of people just watching TV? “An Apple a Day” illustrates four Granny Smith apples on one side of the ad while a slice of a Granny Smith apple sits on the other side of the ad. The product the advertiser is selling has more to offer than the other companies which, is shown by the whole apples and the slice of an apple. The small description underneath the Granny Smith apples has a formal, yet demanding tone that provides information about the product. In the fine print, it has some details on how their company is “one of the best. “Then below the small caption is a large, bold black logo followed by the contact information of the company all directed towards drivers. “An Apple a Day” is trying to connect with middle-class drivers looking for better quality insurance for an inexpensive price.

This commercial displays a strong pathos appeal. Advice from a mother who smoked during her pregnancy is given to the audience in this commercial. Her choice to smoke while pregnant affected her child and caused a premature birth. The nicotine in cigarettes can stunt the growth of a baby while it is developing contributing to a low birth weight as well as birth defects. Babies that are born at lower birth weights typically are at greater risk and spend more time in the NICU. The tip from this mother is to speak into the opening so your baby can hear you better. I would consider this commercial a strong appeal to pathos because people typically have a natural desire to protect babie as a part of our biological instincts. Her eyes appear wide

For my advertisement, I am selling highlighters with new colors. The two rhetorical appeals I used the most in my advertisement were logos and pathos. On the top of the advertisement, it says “Most pigmented highlighter since 2005” this shows logos because I used statistics to persuade the audience to buy my product. Also on the top, it says “Highlight your Future” this is pathos because I am trying to get the audience to buy my product by appealing to their emotions. I also used new pastel colors for my highlighters to get people to buy my product. Ethos was my company logo because it is a credible source the audience can trust. The target audience for my advertisement is students because they are the ones who are going to be using highlighters

DePaul created an advertisement to showcase how underfunded those who are homeless are in the United Kingdoms. The advertisement features a homeless couple curled up together on the street wearing animal costumes, with the words “sometimes we’d rather be treated like animals” in white text beside them (DePaul, n.d.). In addition, the advertisement has the words “5 billion is spent on pets every year” and “0.2 billion on the homeless” written above the couple (DePaul, n.d.). This advertisement is effective in its message, those who are homeless are treated and funded worse than animals, due to the ethical, emotions, and rational appeals it uses. As it illustrates how people without financial support would rather be treated like animals than humans, shows how their basic human rights and needs have been taken away, and appeals to its viewers through the logic on spending more on pets than other human beings.

The theory of semiotics, as proposed by Roland Barthes, has been used to analyze advertisements and the effectiveness of advertisements on viewers. In the articles that I researched that used semiotics to analyze particular advertisements, I found four common and related themes. First, the articles mentioned that the viewer determines the meaning of the advertisement or the viewer interprets the advertisement. Second, this meaning that the viewer assigns to the advertisement is largely determined by context, both social and cultural. Third, advertisers use culture and predominant cultural beliefs in their advertisements in efforts to reach their audience more effectively. Finally, these advertisements actually end up supporting the

There was a time when advertisement were made only to market and sell the products but now dramatic changes have taken place in this field (Shead and Dobson 01). Today companies not only want to sell their products but also aim to create emotional attachment with the customers for which they do emotional or subliminal advertising.