There are two major schools of thought in the field of Semiotics, Saussare and Pierce.
<----- Signifier Signified ----->
Saussere Believed that there was no inherent or necessary relationship between the Signifier (i.e. The object in question) and the Signified (the actual meaning that is carried). He argued that it was all a matter of chance linguistic pot luck.
Pierce had a slightly more advanced theory and he grouped signs into three main categorys.
Pierces Method
Icon Index Symbol
Pierce categorised the signs as either icons, Indexes or Symbols.
Icons resemble objects they represent i.e. pictures and maps etc, Indexes by their causal links i.e speeding kills and finally symbols which may have no resemblance or causal link to what they represent but leave their definition open to the users interpretation.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEgxTKUP_WI,2007).
Semiotics play a significant part in Human behaviour whether it be from keeping us safe on the roads or in a more subconscious sense by telling us when to love or fear.
Advertisers use Semiotics to control when we should spend our money and what we should spend it on. Be it from a catchy jingle that we just cannot forget or a brand that becomes a pseudonym for the product itself. They have developed enough knowledge of human behaviour to confidently manipulate the behaviour of the masses to spend their money by preying on their irrational fears and basic human instincts.
The samples of advertisements that can be seen below send messages about the products they represent. In the case of the girls trying to achieve the" London Look" this could be fine.
Contrary where the SISLEY girls are snorting the dress (Fig.4) they could be seen to be promoting not only an addiction to shopping but something far more sinister. As future Advertising Industry workers we have to think about how influential advertising can be and how it affects consumerism in society.
Image accessed at:
(Date accessed 8th April 2012)
Imag.1
Imag. 2
Images 1, 2. accessed at: http://rimmellondonlook.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/exclusive-interview-with-rimmel-london.html (Dated Accessed 8 April 2012)
Image accessed at:
(dated accessed 8th April 2012)
The following clip taken from the programme “Century of the Self” charts how Edward Bernays (the nephew of Sigmund Freud) used Semiotics to generate mass consumerism on a grand scale for items that we did not necessarily need but somehow felt that we wanted.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhxfArTAcfM , 2011).
References
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5FZRa7h99A (2009) (Accessed : 10 March 2012)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhxfArTAcfM (2011) (Accessed: 14 March 2012)
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