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According to Saussure, a sign is a combination of a sound-image or “signifier” and concept or “signified”. One key concept in understanding semiotics is that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is always arbitrary. But since there is no logical connection between a word and a concept, the meanings that signifiers posses must somehow be learned. This implies that there are certain “codes” that evolve within a society or culture, which help individuals generate meaning from signs. These codes influence the ways in which individuals interpret signs and symbols in the media (9). In the COD: Black Ops advertisement, one can recognize various cultural codes embedded within the commercial. For instance, the commercial displays famous figures, such as basketball star Kobe Bryant and late night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, playing in the battlefield alongside “normal” people. These celebrities are recognizable in American popular culture and therefore appeal to the American public. Another cultural code embedded in this trailer is created by the use of background music. Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” (1969), is played throughout the commercial, which targets members of older generations in America. This advertisement also indicates that both men and women attain power and authority in this video game, just as they do in actual U.S. military matters. As a society, we carry these cultural codes and understandings of life over to our exposure to media productions, which generates meaning within
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Metaphor represents a relationship between two things suggested through an analogy. For example, the slogan advertised at the end of the COD: Black Ops commercial states, “There is a soldier in all of us”. The advertisers are not necessarily implying that there is an actual soldier inside of us, but rather they are implying that this video game is so much fun that everyone will become “hooked” on it once they play. “In metonymy, a relationship is suggested that is based on association, which implies the existence of codes in peoples minds that enable them to make the proper connections” (25). Using the same example, “There is a soldier in all of us”, the advertisers replace “player” with “soldier” suggesting that these terms are interchangeable in this instance. As James Monaco has noted, “a metonymy is a figure of speech in which an associated detail or notion is used to invoke and idea or represent and object” (25). Generally speaking, metaphor and metonymy are often mixed together simply because any given object or phrase usually has both metaphoric and metonymic significance. However, in semiotic analysis the distinction between the two is important because it enables researchers to understand how objects and images create
Metaphor represents a relationship between two things suggested through an analogy. For example, the slogan advertised at the end of the COD: Black Ops commercial states, “There is a soldier in all of us”. The advertisers are not necessarily implying that there is an actual soldier inside of us, but rather they are implying that this video game is so much fun that everyone will become “hooked” on it once they play. “In metonymy, a relationship is suggested that is based on association, which implies the existence of codes in peoples minds that enable them to make the proper connections” (25). Using the same example, “There is a soldier in all of us”, the advertisers replace “player” with “soldier” suggesting that these terms are interchangeable in this instance. As James Monaco has noted, “a metonymy is a figure of speech in which an associated detail or notion is used to invoke and idea or represent and object” (25). Generally speaking, metaphor and metonymy are often mixed together simply because any given object or phrase usually has both metaphoric and metonymic significance. However, in semiotic analysis the distinction between the two is important because it enables researchers to understand how objects and images create