Primus Beer - A Semiological Analysis

 

 

Advertisements today pry on the ideologies of the viewer, dominant social groups such as the media can use sign systems to give their message meaning that supports their values and strategies.

They attempt to represent the world in ways that reflect their own interests and their interest of power. The aim is to represent the world in a way that reinforces their own position or ideology. Advertising and other media texts that represent materialistic goods enhance our desires to want to purchase these goods to fit in with society.

 

The ideology of this advert will also be discussed; the ideology of affluence is communicated in commercial media which suggests that products make you feel and look more like a wealthy individual in society or they make you feel a part of the cool crowd. Ideology of affluence is a way to link your identity to the concept of success.

 

I have chosen the Primus beer advert to analyse in terms of the semiology usage within the advert. Semiology refers to a method for analysing language. It explores the methodology behind the communication and is the study of signs and sign systems and also suggests that all communication is based on sign systems that work through rules and structures (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:131).

I will be identifying and describing the following techniques used in the image; they include the denotation, connotation, the signifier and the signified, the implied narrative, the Intertextuality, the context, the target audience and the ideology that the image represents.

 

The signifier in the image represents the visible, tangible aspect of the sign that carries the meaning which can be seen through the denotation as well. The signified is the idea that the sign or image refers to and can be seen in the connotation meaning of the image (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:132).

The denotation of an image can be referred to as the literal meaning and it attempts to define the content of an image. It also refers to the common sense meaning of the sign (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:137). The denotation in this image is that the boat has sunken or crashed and now the captain and the survivors are partying on a piece of the boat which is a piece of wood, in the middle of the ocean with a Primus beer in their hands. The Captain and the survivors are partying in the middle of the ocean. There are Primus beer crates everywhere and rubbish in the ocean, enough to see that whatever was on the ship was taken overboard along with the captain and the survivors.

 

The connotation of an image refers to the emotions, values and associations that a sign gives rise to the viewer’s feelings. It reminds the viewer of certain feelings and beliefs of ideas that are attached the signifier. It can be seen through the elements of the image such as clothes, words, print, lighting and camera (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:137).

The connotation that can be seen in the advertisement is that the survivors of the sunken ship are still enjoying themselves on a piece of the boat that was wrecked, which can be seen as a piece of wood, with a Primus in their hands. This stipulates that as long as there’s beer, specifically Primus, everything is good.

A shark can be seen swimming around the piece of wood that the captain and the survivors are on, they either have not realised or noticed the shark yet because they are too busy having fun or it could suggest that with a Primus you can take on the world and that no danger is too big to handle, just like the ship wreck. The image also suggests that Primus makes you forget about all your concerns or troubles through the image this can be seen by the ship in the distance which may suggests that it’s out of their sight and out of their minds and already at the back of their thoughts.

 

The implied narrative is the story that the picture suggests, the events that may have happened prior to that moment in the image and what happened immediately after (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:145). In this image it can be seen that there are survivors of a ship wreck, they are all in shorts, bikinis and vacation gear, suggesting that they were on a holiday cruise, relaxing and having a good time with some Primus on board, cocktails and so on. Then the ship crashed they got thrown overboard as well as the crates of Primus beer, the survivors as well as the captain were able to reach a broken piece of wood from the ship and began to party again while on that piece of wood. The adverts stipulates that any day of Primus with your buddies is a day of Primus with your buddies, so no matter what happened they should just forget about it and carry on having fun as if nothing had happened. There are sharks swimming around and vultures awaiting their deaths if they don’t get saved soon but despite all that they are not concerned because they are with their friends having a Primus.

 

Ideologies are sets of social values, ideas and beliefs or feelings by people who collectively make sense of the world they live in and their world view, it is how they perceive reality (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:174).

The ideology of this image suggests that only cool and fun people drink Primus, people with no responsibilities or people that love to have fun and let loose. They are all around a similar age, stipulating that they may all have the same views on reality, values and moral and therefore all of them enjoying partying. The ideology of being young also represents that all youngsters party with friends and drink beer and if you don’t you are abnormal to society. The audience that Primus is aiming their advertisement at is most likely to be between 18-30 years. Their target audience according to the image is youthful and fun and still enjoys partying with no responsibilities or a care in the world. Which can clearly be seen within this image because even at devastating times they can still enjoy themselves if there is a Primus, because any day of Primus with your buddies is a day of Primus with your buddies, which suggests that no matter what happened life, continues because that is what it is supposed to do with Primus?

 

The Intertextuality of this advert suggests that it is always party time with Primus, it doesn’t matter what is going on around you, if there’s a Primus, and one must celebrate and party with the buddies. Intertextuality is the process of knowingly referring to other texts of interpreting one text in the light of a related text. It means that some signs extend beyond themselves and incorporating references to other text on their meaning in some ways (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:145).

The anchorage of the image can be seen through the Intertextuality as well suggesting that it is always party time with Primus, it doesn’t matter what is going on around you, if there’s a Primus, and one must celebrate and party with the buddies. The anchorage of an image ties down the image to a certain meaning for the viewer; it also shows us how to view the image. It introduces, interprets and explains what we see in the image. It focuses on the relationship between the words of the image and the image itself, which in this case is buddies partying with their friends with a Primus beer in their hands, showing no care in the world even after their ship crash (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:146).

 

The context of the image refers to the image and its relationship with similar images or meanings. It influences the meaning. This image stipulates fun and excitement as these youngsters are all having fun and drinking on their little piece of wood. It is showing people having a good time, even under terrible circumstances (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012:149).

We need to use semiology because it helps us to portray the media’s underlining message. There are advantages to using semiology when analysing images from the media, these include the following. Semiology is helpful for taking images apart and determining the underlining message, it serves as a guide through a maze of meanings. Semiology’s insistence on connotation draws attention to the way texts relate to the wider social meanings and to the role that readers and audiences play on constructing meaning. It also shows us the relationship between the signifier ad the signified; how something always stands for something else. Semiology helps a person to become more media literate and therefore our minds will not be manipulated as easily by the media than they would like.