This essay will perform a semiotic analysis on three advertisements from the Pure Smirnoff - The Difference is Clear campaign. The campaign is a series of advertisements which exploits the illusion of an alternative representation of the world when observed through the Smirnoff bottle, as the image comes alive or changes form. Hence, the essay will discuss the context, purpose and effectiveness of the advertisements through research on a denotative, connotative or ideological level. This analysis will also reveal the myths associated with the advertisements.
Image one (see appendix) at its literal level denotes a young, naked blonde-haired woman wearing a feather boa with a snake around her lower legs and a Smirnoff bottle to the right of the frame. The pink background represents romance, fantasy and love. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness, while the purple feather boa signifies romantic and nostalgic feelings (Colour Wheel Pro, 2010). The bottle acts as a signifier and represents a phallic symbol. It is the masculine opposite within the image, as is the snake. Barker (2008) states connotative meaning is produced through association of signs with other cultural codes of meaning. Hence, at a second level, the advertisement connotes sexuality and allurement to the viewers. It can also be viewed that, the woman intertwined in an embrace with a feather boa, is in an enticing position. The masculine bottle illustrates its influence and the feather boa to be a snake. It is the dark masculine entity that moves in on the lightly coloured and dressed feminine beauty. Kristeva’s elaborated concept of intertextuality allows a reference to be made between the naked woman and Eve in the Bible of Genevieve, as a text is an intersection of itself and codes, “the absorption and transformation of another text” (Kristeva, 1980, p.37 cited in Noth, 1990, p.323). Thus, a deeper meaning and recognised narrative occurs in the advertisement.
Through placing a...