Semiotics

Semiotics: the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

Although we may not have known exactly what semiotics meant before studying it in class, we apply it everyday without even noticing.

In this print ad, we see that it clearly states, "Volume that won't wilt." On the bottom left corner, there are a couple of products by "Bumble and bumble," the brand. We also see a woman on the right side with a flower in place of her hair. The size of the flower is about five times as big as her head. For those who are familiar with Bumble and Bumble (a hair products brand), we know that this advertisement is connoting that by using these products, your hair will have as much volume as this woman's "hair."The word "wilt" is used to describe and relate to the flower. The relationship between flowers and wilting (getting limp/droopy in hot temperatures) can be used as an analogy with voluminous hair and "wilting" as well. Voluminous hair will also "wilt" in hot temperatures, but since Bumble and bumble products do not require any sort of heat, it shows that using them will keep the volume in anyone's hair.

In this television ad for the perfume "Lovestruck" by Vera Wang, we see a woman on an escape route outside of an apartment in a lovely dress. There is a man holding flowers, running, and climbing on the ladder to (what looks like) get to her. He eventually reaches her and hugs her while she throws the flowers that he gives her away. Because this is a perfume ad, we can connote that whoever uses this perfume will draw men towards them. The woman is also in a very pretty dress, which could mean that wearing "Lovestruck" will make you smell elegant and sophisticated.

In this outdoors McDonalds ad, we see the word "HUNGER" in furry block letters behind bars. There is a sign that says "Please feed!" and the infamous McDonalds logo right next to it. We can connote, from this ad, that the advertisers wants us to feed our hunger at McDonalds! We might also get a little hungry from seeing the word and the color red. This connotation is easy to recognize - one second is all we need. This was most likely the goal of McDonalds. Because people are traveling and not walking slowly like they would in an art museum, advertisers must get their point across as quickly as they can.