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Consuming Signs
Lecture 3
Design as Commodity
Andrea Peach
The Culture
Industry
Culture is no
longer appreciated
for its USE value,
but for its
EXCHANGE value
People recognise themselves
in their commodities; they
find their soul in their
automobile, hi-fi set, split
level home - social control is
anchored in the new needs
which [the consumer society]
has produced.
Herbert Marcuse 1964
Victor Burgin - Possession - 1976
The consumer’s
genuine needs are
disguised by false
needs for … this
year’s model, the
‘unmissable’ film, the
‘must have’ handbag…
Semiotics / Semiology
Refers to the study of how signs communicate
meaning in society
(can be language based, or image based)
Semeion
Greek = sign
Comes from linguistic theories of
Ferdinand de Saussure 19th century
There are 2 components to every sign:
Signifier
the ‘thing’ that expresses the sign
(ie: sound that makes up the word; mark on the
paper which we read)
Signified
the ‘concept’ which the signifier suggests when
you see it (ie’ the letters C A T are a signifier for
furry animal)
SIGN = is the unity of signifier and signified
(since you cannot have one without the other)
Signs and ‘Myths’
French critic Roland Barthes
Semiotic analysis of contemporary culture
Denotation and Connotation:
Linguistic sign Rolls Royce (signifier) denotes a kind
of car (signified)
But because a Rolls Royce is also expensive and
luxurious it can be used to connote wealth and
luxury
Advertising and branding of products:
Linguistic and visual signs are not simply used to
denote something but also trigger a range of
connotations attached to the sign
Barthes calls the bringing together of signs and
their connotations ‘myth’
Roland Barthes
Mythologies 1957
Myth, as Barthes uses the
term, means things used as
signs to communicate a
social and political message
about the world. The
message always involves the
distortion or forgetting of
alternative messages, so
that myth appears to be
simple true, rather than
one of a number of different
possible meanings.
Jonathan Bignell - Media Semiotics
Myth and Ideology
Advertising and Myth
In advertisements, consumption is ‘naturalised’, in
order to do this, advertisers make use of myth,
attempting to attach mythical significations to
products by using signs that have meaning to the
consumer.
Advertising and Myth
Advertising has a function, which I believe in many
ways replaces that traditionally fulfilled by art and
religion, it creates meaning.
Judith Williamson
Decoding Advertisements - Ideology and Meaning
in Advertising 1978
Ads very rarely just denote something - they very
often have connotations as well. Some of these
connotations are immediately recognisable, but others
are only unconsciously recognised.
Ads have to translate
meaning from the
world of things into a
form that means
something to people
This involves giving a
product’s use value a
human exchange
value
Ralph - ‘Cool’
‘Golden, Sexy.
Night-Bright’
‘First stroke on the
new scent by
Jennifer Lopez then
wrap on the Miami
chic charm bracelet’
Miami Glow - Jlo
‘Share my secret’
The technique of
advertising is to correlate
feelings, moods, or
attributes to intangible
objects, linking possible
unattainable things with
those that are attainable,
and thus reassuring us that
the former are within our
reach.
Judith Williamson
Decoding Advertisements
Clinique - ‘Happy’
Ads and Ideology
Ads endow products with
a certain social
significance so they can
function in our real social
world as indexical signs
connoting the buyer’s
good taste, trendiness, or
some other ideologically
valued quality.
Jonathan Bignell
Advertising is about
creating needs but also
about making sure those
needs are never
fulfilled, in order to
guarantee continued
and escalating
consumption.
‘Let surgery wait!’
‘The only anti-wrinkle
cream with BOSWELOX’
‘For the body that bounces in
all the right places’
‘Don’t let things droop’
‘So now you can have the body
you’ve always wanted’
‘In case of hair emergencies’
‘Limited edition’
‘Indulge your cat this
Valentine’s day’
‘Tender Turkey Wild
Rice’
‘Share the Experience’
‘Act on Impulse’
Ads get us to see our
consumption positively, as
an activity which grants us
membership to lifestyle
groups.
But what ads are really
doing is serving the
interests of those who own
and control the industries of
consumer culture.
Jonathan Bignell
‘The perfectly balanced range’
Adbusters 1993
BUGA UP 1980
(billboard utilising graffitists against unhealthy promotion)
When I’m watchin’ my TV
And that man comes on to
tell me
How white my shirts can be
Well he can’t be a man
‘cause he doesn’t smoke
The same cigarettes as me
Rolling Stones
I can’t get no Satisfaction
FOR THE LAST SEMINAR:
Bring examples of advertisements which use text and
image to generate ‘myth’
What are the denotations and connations contained
within the ad?
Analyse how the advertiser uses ‘myth’ to make
meaning for the consumer
Conclude by considering if we are really active or
passive consumers