A Semiotics Analysis of a Guess Advert

Student Name: Caoimhe Coyle Student Number: B00466603 Module: Rethinking Communication Lecturer: Fred Morrison

As the subject of this assignment I will analyse an advertisement based in a semiotic framework. I have chosen to analyse an advertisement for Guess, an internationally renowned high-end clothing label for men and women; although this specific advertisement is designed for women. Semiotics is the study of signs, which stems from the early work of Saussure (1857-1913), and Pierce (1839-1914), and can be applied to virtually any sign that signifies a meaning, or concept as a means of communication in the outside world. This can be in the context of an Act of Parliament, a selection of famous paintings, or even in the mass media; however, advertisements are the signs that interest me most, since they convey a wide variety of meanings, ideologies, discourses, and do not simply reflect the world and construct reality (Hart, 1991), but are, specific representational practices (Dyer, 1982:115) which society interprets for itself. As we know the primary function of advertising, is to introduce a wide-range of consumer goods to the public and there-by support the free-market economy. But that is clearly not its only role. Advertisements also assume certain characteristics which are less directly connected to selling. Advertisers try to manipulate people into buying a way of life as well as goods. In this respect it could be argued that advertising fulfils the function traditionally met by art or religion. Dyer (1982:1) asserts that advertising is, the official art of the advanced industrial nations of the west. Some critics even suggest that it works in the same way as myths in primitive societies in as far as it conveys values and benefits through providing people with simple stories and explanations which helps them to organise their thoughts and experiences and to make sense of the world. However, I find this explanation exaggerated because it does not take a critical, objective and conscious reading of advertisements into account. This particular advertisement (or signs) for Guess was just one in a number of advertisements launched in 1989, starring Claudia Schiffer. I chose this campaign; and in particular this one advertisement for personal reasons. I am an avid fashion admirer, and in particular I am a huge fan of Claudia Schiffer, and moreover I devotedly collect fashion magazines on a weekly basis so I am well acquainted with the fashion advertisements within them; which is the medium through which the company advertises. The advertisement is a single page and the context in which the advertisement is found is primarily feminine, appearing amongst articles based on beauty and fashion. Moreover, the one page advert would be strategically placed ensuring the advert does not go unnoticed by the reader. This advertisement is humorous in an ironic way, as it exposes the woman as a sex object to the man, but simultaneously subverts this tradition, thus making the man an object of empowerment for the woman from the way she dresses in the Guess clothing. In the field of semiotics, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the sign consists of a signifier (the form which the sign takes), and therefore, the signified (the concept it represents). Barthes (1982) claims that photographic media appears to record rather than to transform or signify, I will attempt to show that although the advertisement does not physically represent the product, it does provide an important iconic representation of both the product and what the product, should stand for. Thus, analysis of the advert will strongly focus upon the advertisements photographic imagery, and the ways in which this imagery generates the appropriate signified concepts (or emotional overtones) which promotes the image of the product.

In the advertisement we are presented with a man in what appears to be a bar, and an attractive, well-dressed woman sitting at the bar. The background of the image is in soft focus, this signifying that it is in the distance, behind the main couple. We can guess from the advertisement that the man is an employee at the particular establishment, because his black shirt signifies a uniform and he appears to be at the opposite side of the counter to the woman. The uniform also simultaneously signifies that he has no connection to the woman in the advertisement. It is clearly signified that the man is staring at the woman, more specifically at her chest, as his head is turned in her direction; his eyes are directed down and appear to be in a direct line with her chest. The woman is a sign herself, the signifier being her appearance; she is well groomed and dressed in trendy Guess clothes, signifying a sexy, feminine code of attractiveness. Her picture is iconic, in that she represents a young, confident, fashion conscious female from the way her hair is perfectly styled and she has a sultry smile on her face. She does not appear to be looking at anything in particular but simply sitting in a posing position; which perhaps signifies her deliberate intention to attract attention. Moreover, her jacket is very open, exposing a large portion of her chest, which adds to this signified flirty image. Additionally, one may argue that her blonde hair signifies a bimbo; girls who are always stared at, however, in this instance, considering she can afford to buy nice clothes and make-up her face and hair meticulously, this aspect of her appearance could simply add to her attraction, and even suggest a kind of healthy sexuality (Dyer, 1982:126). The woman is symbolically signified as a passive sex object for the man, since she is desired from the way she dresses in Guess clothing but, conversely it is precisely this sexual appeal that signifies her strength and power within the advertisement and her control over the man. The advertisement is in black and white, which generally signifies class or nostalgia in films and television. If this applies to advertisements, then black and white could signify a romantic or reminiscent feel to the product, romance being associated with femininity. The distracted man in the advertisement has a profession; a bartender. This may be a signifier of the contrast of a middle-class woman against a patriarchal working class background. We see the smartly dressed woman, placed against a dark backdrop which shows the man confined to the space behind the bar-counter. The signified concept here is undoubtedly that when wearing Guess clothing, you stand out. Pierce states this his model of the sign consists of the referent something in the experiential world to which the sign vehicle refers, contradicting Saussures model which has no direct reference to reality (Chandler 1997). However, there are some visible references made to the experiential world in the text. It is generally believed that women do become objects of desire to men, speaking from personal experience. It is true to say that women are ogled by their appearance there are not many men who would not at least look at a beautiful woman sitting alone in a bar, as is shown in the advertisement. We could also argue that the sign refers to reality insofar as it portrays a historical/social realism; the sign appropriates a referent system of womens exploitation and oppression over the years, the woman here being shown as a model for the modern carefree and liberated woman (Dyer 1982:124). The consumers interpretation of an advertisement also depends on its paradigmatic analysis (the comparison and substitution of the signs signifiers with alternative signifiers) and its syntagmatic

analysis (how the elements of the sign are structured sequentially and in comparison with each other). The narrative syntagmatic form is based on the texts sequential relationships, and for the advertisement in this case, the narrative form can be described as follows; a man working in a bar is distracted as a result of a young, beautiful, confident and fashionably dressed women sitting in front of him. Notably, the syntagmatic narrative could be developed with a little more detailed description, but it I feel it is important, to keep the narrative short, brief and factual; in other words, state what you see without the risk of being too extravagant, or otherwise too vague. The narrative contains the phrase, as a result and this is also vital, as I have tried to show that syntagmatic narrative structures all consist of sequential and casual relations; the woman sits on a seat (as a result of entering the bar), she orders a drink, her appearance is the cause of her sexual attraction which causes the bartender to notice her. Chandler (1997) also points out that aspect of montage are important to discuss in syntagmatic forms, which I will try to apply to the texts. Montage mainly focuses on the spatial relationships in the text and how they relate to each other. The woman is placed in the forefront of the advertisement, making her important in relation to the other objects around her. She is juxtaposed against a blurred background so that she catches the eye of the female reader, the advertiser hoping that the reader is encouraged to buy Guess clothes from the womans apparent style and power over her male counterparts. Another important point is that the man and the background are presented in soft focus. This juxtaposition alongside the close-up of the woman makes the man seem unimportant in comparison, when really he is just as important because he is the signifier of the strength, power and control the woman has. Arguably, we may presume that the woman is the signifier that has the most importance in the text and carries more weight than the others due to her being the focal point of the advert; it is aimed at a female market and the model wears the products the company wants to sell. In fact, the advertisement could simply consist of the important signifier; the woman, wearing a range of clothes that the company sells. But the placement of the man allows for another signifier, the sexual appeal of the woman in the clothes, which I am sure the advertiser intended to be more of an incentive for females to buy the clothing. The syntagmatic analysis of the text has enabled me to recognise a syntagm, which may apply to other advertisement series, attractive woman dressed in Guess clothes attracts the undivided attention of a man at work, who becomes so engrossed by her appearance, and he becomes oblivious to his actions and work. As previously stated the texts belong to a class of paradigms; the medium being magazine advertising, the genre being womens magazines, and the theme being fashion associated with looking and feeling good. The medium of course could be changed, but this undoubtedly would affect the meanings generated. For example, if the text was developed for television, the impact of the active visual image would certainly be effective; the consumer would be able to see the clothes more clearly and in more detail, which would encourage purchase, but then questions would develop about whether the advert would be broadcast in black and white like the print, or in colour. Colour would be effective in attracting the viewer to the visible quality and appearance of the clothes, but would take away the effect of a black and white advert which nowadays is rarely 4

seen on television, conveying a sense of importance, class and style (see earlier). Radio on the other hand, would not be an effective medium to use, since it is the effectiveness of the visual image that attracts the reader, its meaning neatly condensed into an enclosed set, as it is typical of still photographs (Griffiths, 1996). It is a fact that the structuralist method employed by many semioticians involves the study of paradigms as binary or polar oppositions (Chandler, 1997), and there are many contrasting pairs that can be recognised in these texts. Male/female appears to be the most central opposition, since male and female sexuality is connoted from their pairing in the text, the subsequent power the woman has over the man leading us to the next noticeable oppositions; dominant/subordinate; the dominant figure thus being the woman over the subordinate man. Black/white, and mind/body are also binary oppositions in the text, the text presented in black and white, and the fact that the mans mind is dominated by the body of the woman. Other opposites that can be recognised behind the reading of the text are producer/consumer and freedom/oppression, the former being self explanatory, the latter referring to the portrayal of the modern free woman in adverts compared to the rather oppressed, stereotypical woman of advert history which household products were mainly aimed at. The paradigmatic structures of the paired oppositions connote sexuality, beauty, gender, patriarchy, (male/female); class, nostalgia and romance, (black/white); heart, health and welfare, (mind/body); money, power and gratification, (producer/consumer); and finally, independence and individuality, (freedom/oppression). The advert connotes that woman can have sexual control over men, and all of these connotations can be associated with modern day views on femininity, aspects of which can almost always be found in a womans magazine whether on the problem pages or in beauty articles. It is possible to apply the commutation test to the advertisement in order to substitute one signifier for another, which ultimately results in a different signified meaning. For example, if we were to change the direction the man was looking in, to looking directly at the womans face, we change the meaning. The advert then becomes about the effect of the womans personal attractiveness and not about the effects the Guess clothing has on the man. Likewise, if we change the womans mode of dress into a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt, the meaning would be different again. For although it is a trendy mode of dress, it is not widely regarded as being feminine or sexually attractive on a female, thus questions would be asked regarding the complete distraction of the man in such clothing; it is not as believable. These substitutions of signifiers would not result in the same interpretations; too many questions are asked and so the text has too many different meanings. In media education, it is imperative that we remember each media text does not exist as a singular entity, but in relation to other texts (Chandler, 1997), and this is called intertextuality. It is not necessary however for the reader to have looked at other texts beforehand in order to understand these texts. The photographs clearly portray signifiers which are needed in obtaining the meaning of the text. The advert can be related to other texts within the same genre which play on the feelings of pleasure that are evoked from buying the product. The ad plays on the fact that the woman needs to become an individual with independence, personality, with all the trendy things that women of the same age have; as Dyer (1982:126) suggests, they evoke emotions and feelings through promises of pleasure connected to the purchase of the product. 5

In each text, signs are organised into meaningful systems according to certain conventions, which semioticians refer to as codes (Chandler, 1997). The semiotic codes within these texts will be classified under the tripartite framework established by Chandler (1997). Firstly, the texts contain social codes; bodily codes due to the appearance of the woman and men, facial expressions, physical orientation and movements they make, commodity codes because the company are selling fashions which is a commodity in itself, and also behavioural codes which refer to the traditional codes of behaviour men are recognised here as having when a woman walks by. The texts contain textual codes; mass media codes because the text is actually a photograph, aesthetic codes due to the connotations of romanticism and class associated with black and white, and genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes. It could also be argued that the text contains ideological codes due to the sub-codes of individualism, freedom, patriarchy, class and gender involved after all, all codes can be seen as ideological (Chandler, 1997). However, these codes can be seen as narrowest because the text is only aimed at women of the age range 20-35. The social codes are undoubtedly shared with other media, the aesthetic, textual and ideological codes also being used in various forms of media such as television and film. However, the codes in this text are intrinsically linked with the bodily, commodity, behavioural and aesthetic codes of the modern day interpretation of the 21st Century woman, and connote the kind of female individuality and independence that singer Beyonce emotes in her music, for example. Finally the mode of address is not direct. Although the close-up shot of the woman looks intimate, the photographs are impersonal due to the model looking away from the camera. The conclusions I have drawn from this semiotic analysis may not appear to be conclusive, but it is important to remember that advert is extremely complex and contain many concepts and ideologies. Advertisements are there to be enjoyed as well as studied since they form an integral part of our society. From my studies of semiotic analysis, I have clarified the fact that semiotics can make the analysis of advertisements a more interesting and useful activity. It has offered me great insight into the discourse of signs which is structured in the world around us, and has enabled me to establish in my own mind that advertisements (as do other media), have more than one meaning, depending on how it operates, how signs and their ideological effects are organised within the text, and in relation to its production and circulation, amongst others. (Dyer, 1982:115)

References

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