Assignment:
Your task is to find a print advertisement from a prominent company that specializes in clothing, perfume, or cologne and then perform a semiotic critique. You may pick any contemporary ad you wish. A Google search will bring up a lot of ads to choose from. Attach the advertisement for reference (you can copy+paste it into your assignment). No commercials or videos!
Construct the context of the ad: Denotation/Signifiers
• What is the ad for? Explain the ad or the commercial in sufficient detail, noting all relevant signs.
• Who is the intended audience? How do you know this? How does this determine affect our perception of the image, its content, composition, mood, or emotional effect?
o What effect do the stylistic choices in the ad have on the audience (For Example: lighting, poses, props, background, etc.)
o Who is in the image? What relationship does this person have to the viewer? To himself/herself? To other figures in the image?
Analysis: Connotation/Signified
• Does the image follow a lineage or history that is significant for semiotic analysis?
• What message does this image convey to the viewer? Is this message the same for all viewers?
o How does the ad portray race, gender, and social class?
• What does this reveal about our cultural ideologies? Why is this supposed to be persuasive or entertaining? Is it part of a "happy script"?
o If applicable, are there any other additional or alternative interpretations in the signs?
Requirements: 2 pages , double spaced, times new roman, 1-inch margins.