The Absolut Vodka advertisement was intended for adults’ group people, who are above 18 years old. This kind of advertisement is not meant for kids and teenagers who below 18 years old. In the advertisement, we can clearly see that there are no children involved; only adults. This advertisement might appear violent and confusing to children since all the contents of this advertisement is for adult’s understanding. So, the interpretation among the viewers may be vary and depend on the certain group of people. But in this case, the advertisement is definitely intended for adults only by judging the uses of talents, props, settings and the product itself.
Demographically, adults group come with various backgrounds and personalities that might affect with the interpretation of the advertisement. Based on our interpretation of our own demographic research of the advertisement, the adults’ range of ages is around 18 to 60 years old and the gender should be male. The education of the adults might not be necessary and the occupation will be varied. Their income range does not really matter, as long as the income fulfilled the standard salary of urban living. The adult’s race is one of the thing that we concern. Since the advertisement is about the alcoholic drinks, we definitely know that Muslim is not the targeted audience. Lastly, for the geographic location, the targeted audiences can be around the world since the advertisement is universal to any people in all the country.
This advertisement generally showing what type of man that women are after, whether the man comes in rich background, musician, different race or different appearance. It might not necessary to advertise the idea of woman likes who drinks alcohol. It is just a trend that people who drink alcohol will have something in social matter, they always go to club and meet people. This advertisement of Vodka clearly sends a message that all kind of men consume it. The advertisement might be intended to visualize the social trend that happened in the present time.
Almost every subject in this advertisement has cultural assumptions or codes. The human body parts of a male in the text have different meanings. The hand represents a romantic and perfect lover boy since he is holding red roses in his hand. Red roses remind us of love and passion towards our loved ones. The lower body part of a male which is wearing torso represents rich and cultured guy. We assume that only a rich guy would wear torso and an expensive pair of black shoes. The other hand with tattoos and guitar resembles a Hard-Rock Musician. The tattoo is a part of the culture of a Hard Rock Musician. The abdomen part resembles a 6 pack abs black man while the head looks like a nerd man. Men with thick black glasses always remind us of nerds. All these body parts carries out information that guys are various types outside in the world and no one is perfect. Besides that, the polystyrenes on the floor also carry out a meaning to the audiences. The polystyrene flakes show that all the body parts come from the box written ‘THE PERFECT MAN’ on it. The urban setting shows that the lady is a rich lady because her house looks neat and well organized. Since perfect men are not exist, she is trying to assemble all these body parts using a manual and create one for herself. Her bare feet show that how desperate and keen she is in creating a perfect guy for herself. Besides that the symbol of Mars Male on the carton reinforces the heterosexuality. The miniature pincher lying next to the carton shows how homely and loving the lady is.
There are few others alternate readings for this advertisement. Red roses not only represent to love and passion, it also has been represented in countless works of art, from classical paintings and poetry to modern day music and media. Other than that, the head with glasses also symbolize to a smart and well-educated guy. Apart from that, the head also represents he is having an eye sight problem. We also see a muscular body in the advertisement that represents a sportsman body and well-built body. On the other hand, a dog can be seen in the advertisement also that shows the lady in the picture could be a pet lover. We can also see a tattooed hand holding a guitar that represents a teenager’s hand that has interest in music. In the advertisement, we can also see a man’s leg upside down that represents that the man is in hurry and running somewhere. The place in the advertisement looks like in a very posh condominium as we can see from the view outside that it is a high building.
In Saussure's version of semiotics, the basic unit of meaning is referred as “Sign”. All the signs have two aspects which are the signifier and the signified. The signifier is any material or things that signify an expression, image and many other things. For a clear illustration of the signified meaning, words on a certain page, a facial expression and a picture are some of the examples. Meanwhile the signified is the concept that a signifier refers to. The basic, most elementary form of sign, are mostly denotation which means the literal meaning of a sign.
We can see many signifiers in this advertisement when we relate it to Saussure’s version of semiotics. All the elements used in the advertisement have a signified meaning. The first signifier that we can see are the parts of the human body such as face, hand, leg and body that belong to men which are all around the floor. The body parts are mixed in terms of the colour of the male. The face appears white, the arms again white, but peculiarly the chest and the abdomen are in a darker skin colour. This indirectly tells us that the chest and abdomen human part represents a black male. The box also had a statement that says “The Perfect Man”. As we all know, a perfect man is supposed to buy roses for his woman. He is supposed to be polite & work as a professional. He may have other interests such as playing the guitar and it for most women out there, the perfect man have to own a six pack abs. This description of a perfect man is related to the male body parts that are in the advertisement. Therefore this is why we can see a nerdy head, a hand holding roses, a though body part, a pair of formal attired man and also a hand that was covered with tattoo and holding a guitar.
Even the place setting used was an urban setting with a modern furniture and decor. The posture of the girl who is reading a blueprint of the package that has arrived is also a signifier in this advertisement. The place setting and the dressing of the female give a signified meaning of the time and the age-group that the advertisement addresses. Finally the last signifier would be the dog. The dog in the ad appears to be observing the woman who is assembling the man. It looks kind of scared as opposed to snooping around the body parts. It signifies the confusion that the dog is while seeing a human body in this form.
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VITHIYAH SANTARA SHEERAN 1091101410
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