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Synthesis
by Shane Hoon After a brief discussion about the recent Academy Awards and who was fashionably "in" for the event, we delved into the discussion of the commodity sign industry, and how we look at, interpret, and engage with advertising through a semiotic method. The presentation was well received, with interesting and current examples, a rubric to work with, and also a further explanation of the vocabulary used in the practice of semiotics and its relationship to advertising. The dialogue began with the question of, why are ads important and how are they successful? While a conclusive answer was never elicited, numerous other related themes arose including: · The important to maintain a sense of authenticity in order to be realistically received and appreciated by a given audience. This seems to be universal in advertising in attempting to establish not only credibility but also validity. · The idea of the audience and 'who' is specifically targeted; which triggered the question of how much of commercials and advertisements require prior cultural knowledge and understanding? Recognizing differing referent systems, age, class, education, wealth, geographic distinctions, to name a few. The conversation concluded that, to do ideological analysis, we are/need to be culturally dependant. To 'brand' or 'lifestyle brand' a commodity or, for that matter, an individual, there are complex guidelines within a cultural ideology that structure the given meaning. · It was also suggested in reviewing the rubric that there may be an established cultural ideology at play within many of these ads and commodities, however, the further exploration of this notion led to a questioning of whether or not a cultural ideology is not in fact dynamic and fluid as social meanings and connotations are created, recreated and reproduced. There was a good amount of time spent on Giroux's article and the examination of Benetton ads and their social interpretations/implications. The underlying intent of these ads is to introduce political and social issues within advertisements not only for public exposure and "word of mouth" but also to encourage a larger pro-active social movement. The idea of consumerism is implied within the advertisement and the social problem. The idea is, is that you may not be fighting or solving the problem, but by engaging with the potential consumption of the product linked to the ad, you are, at the least, socially informed and aware and thereby active. This led to the larger discussion of whether or not it is 'right' (morally, ethically, socially) to use such messages and images within advertising for commercialism? Are commerce and politics separate? Should they be? While some insisted that this was an exploitation of the group or individual and the social problem they are dealing with simply to sell a product, there was other indications that the motives of the producers is not necessarily important here because the meaning/ideology is ultimately added by the consumer. Therefore, does the production process even matter? This question raised others regarding the notion that nothing new is even created any longer, but rather these producers are simply recycling old ideas or modifying whatever is currently available. We have seen a shift within advertising from a 'text heavy' product ad -- simply emphasizing purpose and quality, to a now "more sophisticated and meaningful" ad which provides commentary on lifestyle/personality changes due to the impact of these products. While the readings helped establish a framework for the conversation and offered vocabulary/definitions to help categorize and define the discourse, the majority of the discussion flowed within the application and relevance of present day commercials and advertisements and how they are either contributing and/or detracting from our cultural ideologies. Ultimately we returned to the endless question of postmodernism and are we losing reality? Can we view this acceleration of production, capitalism and cultural industry as a negative event; because of the potential that socially we are being detached from 'the real', whatever that may be. So is advertising and commercialism good or bad? In reality, it's neither; it simply helps us to reinforce our cultural identities and ideologies.
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