Semiotic analysis of an advertisement
Sofia University
Faculty of classical and modern philology
Semiotic analysis of an advertisement for
“Kinder Bueno”
Student: Lora Naydenova
Faculty number:756-M
1.Introduction
In this term paper I will analyze an advertisement of the chocolate dessert Kinder Bueno from the year 2011 and I have chosen to use the semiotic approach to do it. Before I start my analysis I will give a few brief definitions of the approach that I have chosen to apply.
2.Semiotic technique of media analysis
In his book “Media Analysis Techniques”, professor Berger says that semiology is the science of the signs and that it is often associated with the works of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, and the semiology theories of the Swiss philosopher Ferdinand de Saussure.
In his book “A Course in General Linguistics”, Saussure is defines semiotics as “a science that studies the life of signs within society is conceivable it would be part of social psychology and consequently of general psychology”. According to Saussure, signs consist of two parts: a signifier (the form which the sign takes) and a signified (the concept it represents). Saussure argues that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary, unnatural and unmotivated. According to his theory, "concepts are purely differential and defined not by their positive characteristics but negatively by their relations with the other terms of the system" (p.ll7). In Saussure’s system, “the word symbol has been used to designate the linguistic sign, or more specifically, what is here called the signifier. ...One characteristic of the symbol is that it is never wholly arbitrary; it is not empty, for there is the rudiment of a natural bond between the signifier and the signified. The symbol of justice, a pair of scales, could not be replaced by just any other symbol, such as a chariot.” (A Course in General Linguistics, p.68)
Peirce, on the other hand, has a different concept of
Faculty of classical and modern philology
Semiotic analysis of an advertisement for
“Kinder Bueno”
Student: Lora Naydenova
Faculty number:756-M
1.Introduction
In this term paper I will analyze an advertisement of the chocolate dessert Kinder Bueno from the year 2011 and I have chosen to use the semiotic approach to do it. Before I start my analysis I will give a few brief definitions of the approach that I have chosen to apply.
2.Semiotic technique of media analysis
In his book “Media Analysis Techniques”, professor Berger says that semiology is the science of the signs and that it is often associated with the works of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, and the semiology theories of the Swiss philosopher Ferdinand de Saussure.
In his book “A Course in General Linguistics”, Saussure is defines semiotics as “a science that studies the life of signs within society is conceivable it would be part of social psychology and consequently of general psychology”. According to Saussure, signs consist of two parts: a signifier (the form which the sign takes) and a signified (the concept it represents). Saussure argues that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary, unnatural and unmotivated. According to his theory, "concepts are purely differential and defined not by their positive characteristics but negatively by their relations with the other terms of the system" (p.ll7). In Saussure’s system, “the word symbol has been used to designate the linguistic sign, or more specifically, what is here called the signifier. ...One characteristic of the symbol is that it is never wholly arbitrary; it is not empty, for there is the rudiment of a natural bond between the signifier and the signified. The symbol of justice, a pair of scales, could not be replaced by just any other symbol, such as a chariot.” (A Course in General Linguistics, p.68)
Peirce, on the other hand, has a different concept of
Bibliography: Berger, Arthur Asa , “Media Analysis Techniques” Sage Publications http://www.dartmouth.edu/~engl5vr/Berger.html https://adbuzzer.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/chocolate-lust-and-vampires-in-kinder-buenos-latest-campaign/