In 2015 the company BIC produced an advert in celebration of Women’s Day but the advert was criticized for its ‘sexism’ and ‘patriarchal belief’. A semiotic analysis will be conducted on this BIC advert to determine whether or not this advert supports hegemonic view of race, class and gender. Through this essay I will show how hegemonic views are reinforced through the advert.
Semiology is the study or science of signs and sign systems (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). Semiotics uses encoding and decoding in order to understand how the meaning of something is produced and transmitted (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). Encoding and Decoding is they way in which media, is produced, travels and is consumed (Hall, 1980:128). We decode messages …show more content…
We are drawn to the individual in the photograph. In the sign system we have the signifier and the signified (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). The signifier of this advertisement is a black person, a woman wearing a suit and the signified is a woman who is successful and educated. There are different types of signs and they are classified as: iconic, indexical and symbolic signs ( O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8).The sign is iconic because it resembles what it is signifying. The sign is a women and the advert is for Women’s Day so it correlates with each other. You need to understand the culture behind the photograph in order to get the text and the overall message of the advertisement (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). There is a denotative and connotative approach to this advert. The connotative plays to our feelings and emotions whether as the denotative is what we actually see. On a connotative level we assume success based on the suit. We also see someone who could possibly be a feminist, smart, educated and confident. We see a woman who is unafraid of taking action and being the boss. We apply our own culture and knowledge to the advert and other things we have seen in the media (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 9). We make these associations with this photograph because of the signs given to us. The denotative level of this photography is that it is a black young woman who is wearing a suit. She …show more content…
London, Routledge.
Hall Stuart (1980) Encoding/Decoding in Culture, Media, Language, London: Hutchinson, pp. 128-138.
Nudd Tim, BIC Apologises for women’s Day Ad that mostly just made women furious, 12 August 2015, < http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bic-apologizes-womens-day-ad-mostly-just-made-women-furious-166358>, [accessed it: 10 March 2016] Nudd, Tim, ‘BIC for her’ pens deluged with sarcastic reviews on Amazon, 27 August 2012, < http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bic-her-pens-deluged-sarcastic-reviews-amazon-143145>,[accessed: 10 March 2016]
Simmons, Andrela, Codes and Convention’s in Media, Academia, < http://www.msn.com/en-za/?PC=MSSH&ocid=1PRCMSRT&ResetID=131012145705306978&GUID=1C7F6A33-1E9E-4E6A-9106-14415474896F>, [accessed: 10 March 2016]
O’ Shaughnessy, M. And Stadler, J (2012) Media and Society (Fifth Edition). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
702, 11 August 2015, < http://www.702.co.za/articles/4455/bic-womens-day-ad>, [accessed: 10 March 2016]
Portrayals of men and women in Drum Magazine (south Africa) advertisement, Volume 1, number 1, 2014, , [accessed: 17 April
Semiology is the study or science of signs and sign systems (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). Semiotics uses encoding and decoding in order to understand how the meaning of something is produced and transmitted (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). Encoding and Decoding is they way in which media, is produced, travels and is consumed (Hall, 1980:128). We decode messages …show more content…
We are drawn to the individual in the photograph. In the sign system we have the signifier and the signified (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). The signifier of this advertisement is a black person, a woman wearing a suit and the signified is a woman who is successful and educated. There are different types of signs and they are classified as: iconic, indexical and symbolic signs ( O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8).The sign is iconic because it resembles what it is signifying. The sign is a women and the advert is for Women’s Day so it correlates with each other. You need to understand the culture behind the photograph in order to get the text and the overall message of the advertisement (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). There is a denotative and connotative approach to this advert. The connotative plays to our feelings and emotions whether as the denotative is what we actually see. On a connotative level we assume success based on the suit. We also see someone who could possibly be a feminist, smart, educated and confident. We see a woman who is unafraid of taking action and being the boss. We apply our own culture and knowledge to the advert and other things we have seen in the media (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 9). We make these associations with this photograph because of the signs given to us. The denotative level of this photography is that it is a black young woman who is wearing a suit. She …show more content…
London, Routledge.
Hall Stuart (1980) Encoding/Decoding in Culture, Media, Language, London: Hutchinson, pp. 128-138.
Nudd Tim, BIC Apologises for women’s Day Ad that mostly just made women furious, 12 August 2015, < http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bic-apologizes-womens-day-ad-mostly-just-made-women-furious-166358>, [accessed it: 10 March 2016] Nudd, Tim, ‘BIC for her’ pens deluged with sarcastic reviews on Amazon, 27 August 2012, < http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bic-her-pens-deluged-sarcastic-reviews-amazon-143145>,[accessed: 10 March 2016]
Simmons, Andrela, Codes and Convention’s in Media, Academia, < http://www.msn.com/en-za/?PC=MSSH&ocid=1PRCMSRT&ResetID=131012145705306978&GUID=1C7F6A33-1E9E-4E6A-9106-14415474896F>, [accessed: 10 March 2016]
O’ Shaughnessy, M. And Stadler, J (2012) Media and Society (Fifth Edition). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
702, 11 August 2015, < http://www.702.co.za/articles/4455/bic-womens-day-ad>, [accessed: 10 March 2016]
Portrayals of men and women in Drum Magazine (south Africa) advertisement, Volume 1, number 1, 2014, , [accessed: 17 April