The Semiotic Advertisement Analysis: Connotations And Denotations

Advertisements are a rich source for semiotic investigation and frequently reveal significant ideological attitudes. Once having analysed L’Oreal’s text, by using semiotic techniques, one will realise that not only are they advertising their well-known products (the lipstick), but they are simultaneously fortifying beliefs and values in modern society through the process of assembling signs together. Furthermore, the combination of the reinforcement and composition of signs creates more attention towards the company’s product as well as prevalent issues of gender inequality within the workspace.

Advertisements have the capacity to merge images with written text, and tend to have distinct effects on its readers. L’Oréal made the effort to send out a particular message, through a comical campaign standing for female empowerment during International Women’s Month (Glenday, 2019). This advertisement was coordinated by a German advertising agency, and devised global surveys that bracketed diversity in companies and focused on looking at transformation, employee contentment and profitability (Coffee, 2019). The feedback was turned into eye catching illustrations of which proved that companies benefit from recruiting women in leadership positions. Ordinarily results from most surveys would be demonstrated via charts and graphs, but the results are shown in the form of a cosmetic product; L’Oréal’s very own lipstick. They sent out a simplified message through this advertisement with an implied narrative towards men that suggests the benefits of female leadership proposing an anchorage (since it reduces polysemic possibilities (O'shaughnessy, 2016)) of which men must be attentive towards this advertisement and should hire more women into these leadership roles as they are in the position to do so.

By applying semiology and identifying denotations and connotations of the signs in this advertisement, one is able to establish the hidden meanings behind all that is in the image. Denotation and connotation describe the relationship between the signifier and its signified (Chandler, 1994) where an analytical distinction is made between the two. Signs communicate through denotations (the literal meaning of a sign) and connotations (what is assumed or interpreted figuratively). When analysing this text, one will look at the objects, colours, words, print styles, camera angles and see that these things will have associative meanings that the readers will perceive on a cultural level (O'shaughnessy, 2016).

The denotations – the literal meaning – portrayed on this advertisement are clearly visible and simple. One will notice four golden, dark red, lipsticks (that are iconic) placed almost at centre in the image, taking up a large section of the image, and with its tips heightened in ascending order. One will also notice the red being the most dominant colour since it is evidently the background as well as the lipstick tip colour. The red is accompanied by gold – which makes up the product’s base as well as the results of the research data in the form of text – and white which has been utilised for the rest of the text; including the capitalised bold heading (which is eye-catching due to its font size and simplicity), the smaller subheading and the brand’s name itself. All the components of this text are pleasantly distributed which is appealing to a reader’s eye and thus easier for one to analyse.

The connotations – the figurative meaning – within this advertisement are of a cultural level which carry relations that are split collectively by many people (Chandler, 1994). The lipstick tips are symbolic as the signifier (lipstick tip) does not resemble the signified (the number of women in a company’s leadership with performance and profitability) which is arbitrary thus the relationship must be learnt (Chandler, 1994). It shows that there is a powerful positive link between the percentage of female leaders of a corporation and its income. The dominant red colour is also symbolic since it signifies leadership qualities and can be associated with the fact that it can give confidence to those who are lacking in will power – applying to the working women in this case. This colour also tends to exude a strong and powerful masculine energy (Kemmis, 2018) which is then clearly a controversial case as this is reflecting the opposite of the advert’s ideology. The colour white can be associated with completion which is what the study’s results show when women are the ones withholding the leadership positions; completing the business’ duties, increasing revenues and creating better results than male leaders on average (Ammann, 2019). It is also the colour of new beginnings (Kemmis, 2018) – wiping the slate clean – which is a perfect representation of the message that L’Oreal is attempting to share in their advert – companies must ‘level up’ and leave their gender inequality behind. By companies hiring more women in leadership positions, it would mean that these women are receiving a fresh start and a new form of equality, completing tasks and balancing out the business’ gender equality. Lastly, the colour gold is associated with success and achievement (Kemmis, 2018). It implies prosperity which is what is clearly achieved when women are leaders of a workplace – as analysed by the golden text. Therefore, by analysing the connotative and denotative aspects of the advertisement, one is able to notice the different codes and conventions, and the deeper meaning that they represent in order to portray the idea that more women should be hired.

Icons, symbols and visual clues work together as codes and the harmonious relationship between them is referred to as code play. They all have the same underlying message of gender inequality and the actions that one can take in order to empower women in the workspace therefore disproving beliefs and values in society which include the ideology that men should be at the top of a business, taking main leadership roles. The code play within this advertisement is to attract male audience (since females would already be interested as it is partially advertising a cosmetic product) and ensure that they understand and take a stand to transform this inequality. Code play can be easily manipulated to portray a particular message that is attractive to the targeted audience.

The photographic codes and conventions in this image such as lighting, colour, camera shots assist in emphasising the advertisement’s ideology. The use of scholarly apparatus (graphs, diagrams and so on) is what makes academic texts immediately identifiable as such to readers. It is widely believed that what is read in a newspaper or magazine should be true, as they would be asserted as facts using high modality language. Modality is an important concept in semiotic analysis because it indicates what the dominant view of reality is (Chandler, 1994) and indicates who we are most likely to believe or trust. Since this advertisement is displayed as a photograph it would also increase its credibility – therefore attaining a high modality – as viewers are more likely to believe the moment being captured is real and attainable for them too.

Through using an implied narrative, one can establish the story that the brand is using to sell the product. By using all the previously described semiotic techniques, this ad would have managed to create a story in order to capture the reader’s attention – men’s in particular – and spark conversations around gender inequality and the empowerment of women.

Gender equality is still absent in the workspace (Whitehouse, 2019) and inspections often take place in the beauty industry. The consumer good market depends on woman as they are its primary consumers but yet men still stand over the top spots since they are still dominantly securing many more leadership positions. More than 95% of companies have majority male authority (Goodhill, 2019) whereas a small group (1.2%) had women in 35% or more positions in management – including L’Oréal. The company believes that inclusiveness is a social issue and a leading business operator that stands for female empowerment (Loreal, 2019) and this simple but effective campaign reflects that mission excellently. Although L’Oreal stands for female empowerment and the advertisement reflects the company’s core beliefs, women make up of only 33% of its executive committee (Whitehouse, 2019) which suggests that even the heads in the industry have a noteworthy way to go.

It is clear that by analysing the advertisement with the use of semiotic techniques, L’Oreal has advertised the lipsticks by creating a scene which would intrigue women into buying this product, and certainly get men to analyse it since the heading is directed to them. By using connotations and denotations, photographical codes and conventions, numerous signs and the implied narrative, this brand has not only managed to sell the product to women but also caught the attention of men and influenced society to speak up and move forward from this issue at hand.

References:

Chandler, D., 1994. Semiotics for beginners.

Ammann, J. (2019). L’Oreal Advertises Gender Diversity As 'Women are Worth It'. [online] Triplepundit.com. Available at: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2019/loreal-advertises-gender-diversity-because-women-are-worth-it/83146/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2020].

Coffee, P. (2019). L'Oreal's Bold New Ad Campaign Has a Message for Men: Hire More Women. [online] Adweek.com. Available at: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/loreals-bold-new-ad-campaign-has-a-message-for-men-hire-more-women/ [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].

Glenday, J. (2019). 'This is for Men' - L’Oreal Paris unveils clever ads calling for more women in leadership. [online] The Drum. Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/04/08/l-oreal-paris-turns-the-tables-men-with-female-empowerment-campaign [Accessed 28 Feb. 2020].

Scott-Kemmis, J. (2018). The Color White. [online] Empowered By Color. Available at: https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-white.html [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].

Goldhill, O. (2019). Guess how many of the world’s biggest companies have 1/3 women in the C-Suite? No, lower. [online] Quartz at Work. Available at: https://qz.com/work/1275021/gender-equality-in-the-workplace-the-depressing-data-on-1500-companies-worldwide/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

Loreal.com. (2019). key figures - L’Oréal Group | World Leader in Beauty | Official Website. [online] Available at: https://www.loreal.com/group/diversity-and-inclusion/key-figures [Accessed 28 Feb. 2020].

O'shaughnessy, M., Stadler, J. and Casey, S., 2016. Media and society. Oxford University Press.

Whitehouse, L. (2019). L’Oréal scoops recognition for strong gender equality commitment. [online] cosmeticsdesign-europe.com. Available at: https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2017/11/22/L-Oreal-scoops-gender-equality-recognition-but-is-it-enough? [Accessed 1 Mar. 2020].