C103 - The Semiotics of Advertising
Week 10, Asynchronous Bundle 5
Written assignment due Friday 10/31 at 11:59 pm
Introduction
- Goal: Use Peirce's three-part model of the sign to discuss less cut and dried examples of signs. No video this time, only print ads, since we are working mainly on the level of a single sign in connection with the context of the overall text. I hope that by the end of this week you will be pretty clear on what interests me in your answers, and that will help you as we move on to more complex material.
- Textbook material: Chapter 1, 30-39.
- For Q5 on "non-reality", you could consult Ch. 1, 55-57. You weren't asked to read Chapter 2 in Chandler, which this question is related to, but if you want to visit it, you could take a look at Ch. 2, 78-89.
Asynchronous material
- The first four questions here present some more sophisticated ads that use signs in a clever or amusing way. I'd like you to think about the central signs in these ads in terms of Peirce's model of the sign in answering these questions.
- To get you started, let me talk about one example.
- Sample Q (for the instructor to answer): Analyze the large rock formation at the right in terms of Peirce's model of the sign.
- Sample answer: The representamen (sign vehicle) is the visual image of the rock formation. The object (referent) would be the actual rock that was photographed here. However, I assume it is not a genuine rock that looks like this and exists somewhere in the real world , but a photoshopped modification of a real rock or possibly a completely CGI imaginary rock. Nevertheless, it is presented as if it were real, so that "rock" is the object. The interpretant, however, is not a rock per se, but an exclamation point.
- Continuation of sample question: What does this sign do to the overall message of the ad?
- Continuation of answer: It adds emphasis to the impact of the Jeep, like saying "Wow!" This is what an exclamation point generally does to the sentence it follows (and note that it also follows the Jeep here).
- So now let's have you answer a set of similar questions relating to particular ads:
Q1:
- Shark ad (World Wildlife Fund, an international nature conservation organization)
- Q1. Consider the shark fin on the left in terms of Peirce, and explain more or less as in the sample. What is happening in the second photo on the right? Do you consider the absence of a sign to also be a sign? Why or why not?
Q2:
- Beach (Durex "Extra Large" condoms)
- Q2. As before, analyze the central sign (between the footprints) in terms of Peirce. Of course this is ridiculous hyperbole, but how does that reinforce the message of the ad?
Q3:
- Q3. I believe the animal in the ad is supposed to be a porcupine rather than a hedgehog (which is found primarily in Europe, not in North America--but of course the Volkswagen is a German car!) because of how long the spines are, but it doesn't matter for the purposes of this question. Break down that porcupine sign in terms of Peirce, and explain what is happening in the ad.
Q4:
- Q4. Simple as it is, this is one of my all-time favorite ads. Consider the phrase "Get Real" as a single sign in the context of the ad. Analyze it in terms of Peirce. Now discuss how the visual presentation of this short phrase (“Get Real”) fits in with the overall message of the ad.
Q5:
- There's a famous photograph taken immediately after the National Guard shot and killed four students at a May 4, 1970 protest against the Vietnam War on the campus of Kent State University.
- This was a major contributing factor to turning the general public against the war, which eventually forced the government to end it.
- As a sample of its social impact, here's a protest song by Crosby Stills Nash & Young that was recorded and released just a short time after the shooting (Neil Young wrote the song and is the lead singer). They recorded it on May 21, only a bit more than two weeks after the shootings. Here's a youtube link to the song, in case you prefer that to my mp3.)
- Follow this link to an article about the famous photograph (if the live link doesn't work, here's a link to a pdf file derived from the webpage). Try the live link first because the page break in the pdf file interferes with the side-by-side comparison of the two versions of the photograph; plus the pdf has omitted several lines of text from the article.
- In the widely disseminated version of the photo, a fencepost above the mourning girl's head has been edited out (and this long before Photoshop came out!).
- If this set of materials makes you ponder the wisdom of inviting the Indiana State Police onto our campus during the protests in April 2024, with the well-documented placement of a sniper on top of the Indiana Memorial Union, well, so be it.
- Q5. Do you think the photo is more effective or impactful with the post removed? Why? Do you think this modification invalidates the photo ethically? Why or why not?
