Media Studies Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Media Studies - Case Study Example Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience. Advertising is a marketing tool and may be used in combination with other marketing tools, such as sales promotions, personal selling tactics, or publicity" (Advertising, p.1). In our everyday lives, we are surrounded by advertisements all over. It is nearly impossible to save ourselves from one or the other kind of advertisements whether it might be the most recent offer put forward by the local supermarket or perhaps even an advertisement on the television even if we stop reading the newspaper, stop watching television or even stride around with our eyes closed. As mentioned previously, the chief rationale of marketing is to advertise and sell products, but if one ponders, we come to realize the fact that the advertisement not only sells the product to people, but it also puts forward an image of our future which is extremely attractive and full of opportunities and advantages. For this particular essay, an advertisement will be analyzed with respect to semiotic terms and techniques and discourse analysis, and discover how denotation is constructed. The methods chosen for the analysis of the advertisement are the most appropriate methods. This is because through the semiotics and discourse analysis, the advertisement of Chrysler 300C chosen can be best analyzed as it contains the language and signs that require appropriate understanding and analysis that can only be done through the use of semiotics and discourse analysis.The next section presents the concepts of semiotics and discourse analysis that is discussed through the analysis of the literature present in different books, journals, periodicals and internet sources. The literature is reviewed through these sources and then discussed and critically analyzed. Semiotic and Discourse Analysis In the course of the method of being advertised, merchandise turns into an illustration of anything and everything that is desirable for the general public or at least the target market. The basic working of an advert basically is to indicate, to correspond to us, the object of our most unavoidable desires. We can therefore argue that the most important aspect of an advertisement is of what is important to us. For an advertisement to be successful it needs to put forward an image of us and to tell us ways by which we can use the product to make ourselves even more tempting, striking etc. In this way the product is given individuality, communicating to the target market not just plain information but also representation. The advert under consideration is the Chrysler 300C advertisement. The methods that have been taken up are known as Semiotics and Discourse Analysis. A commonsensical way to start here would be by defining Semiotics first. Basically, Semiotics was developed in the 1960s and has its roots in English literature and structural linguistics.