A Look At Semiotics

Semiotics are everywhere in advertising. These symbols are meant to evoke certain emotions and hopefully make the consumer want to purchase the product.

Here is a print ad for a brand of sausage. The ad itself is two similar pictures. Both have a smiling child jumping for joy on a couch in a living room. The major difference is that the left-hand picture shows a new drum kit and the right-hand picture has a pack of Knacki sausages instead. The bottom-left of the ad has the text "1.59€ Why pay more?" It's obvious that the target demographic are parents with young children. The message is that, you can either buy this really expensive drum kit to make your kid happy, or you can buy a pack of sausages for 1.59€ and achieve the same outcome. For the money savvy parent, the cheaper option would be more attractive than the alternative. This ad is clear is simple and clear: "Our products are cheap and your kids will love it". This next ad is from one of the largest icons in the advertising world, Coke. Here we have Taylor Swift writing the lyrics to her song 22 while sipping on a diet Coke. The ad continues with a business man, a line cook, and a song writer continues singing 22. This all culminates to Taylor Swift getting on stage as the Coke logo fades in. The target audience for this ad is the young, late teen, early 20's person. Taylor Swift is young and popular. This commercial makes it seem like diet Coke fits all walks of life, as shown with the young business man driving his car to work, the young guitar player, and the young cook. Basically, if you're young, you should have a diet Coke.

Here is another advertisement by Coca-Cola. This time it's simple and to the point. It's just a bottle of cola with a straw sticking out of it. It's important to note the Coca-Cola really understands the different facets of advertising. Because this is a billboard ad, they want the message to be simple and easy to see for the driver passing by. The bottle itself stands out along with the iconic red color in the background. It is easy to read and may remind the driver that they are indeed thirsty and should get a Coke at their next stop.