Semiotic Analysis of an Ad

1153 Words5 Pages
Semiotic Analysis of an Ad This is an essay about an ad from a real estate magazine that showcases its west coast modern designed condos. My argument for this ad is how the ad effectively uses its environmental theme to attract potential buyers of its condos. What I mean by this is the condos and its surroundings presents the good things associated with its environmental designs through textual and visual elements to attract potential buyers. The first thing that stands out in the ad is the title “SAIL.” The word itself does not seem to have any connection with the condos or the small artificial river in the ad. In Barthes’s essay he writes, The more technology promotes the diffusion of information (and notably of images), the more it provides the means of masking the constructed meaning under the appearance of the given meaning (46). What I think he means is that the more imagery you have, the more the true meaning of the image gets less and less obvious. If his quote suggests that meaning, then I do not agree with him because a complicated imagery can be analyzed piece by piece. Also every piece of imagery can have different interpretations for different people, so saying that a picture’s meaning will get clouded is incorrect. It could suggest that the weather is nice there as boat sailing would require good weather conditions, but it actually has another purpose. The word “SAIL” acts as a signifier for the ad; it suggests the ocean, which signify freedom and nature. This can be proven by the condos appearing to have a lot of space inside and blending in nicely with the garden of the ad. Also “SAIL” is printed completely in the colour white; the colour is related to things like clouds, snow, and flowers which are from nature. The colour white also suggests cleanness and simplicity which matches
Open Document