A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS ON COCA-COLA’S COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS A Thesis Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of Strata One (SI) BAHTIAR RIFA’I NIM. 105026000928 ENGLISH LETTER DEPARTEMENT THE FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2010
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A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS ON COCA-COLA’S COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS
A Thesis Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for Degree of Strata One (SI)
BAHTIAR RIFA’I NIM. 105026000928
ENGLISH LETTER DEPARTEMENT
THE FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA
2010
LEGALIZATION
The thesis entitled “A Semiotic Analysis on Coca-Coca’s Commercial
Advertisements” has been defended before the Letters and Humanities
Faculty’s Examination Committee on Friday, July 07th, 2010. The thesis has
already been accepted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Srata One (S1).
Jakarta, July 07, 2010
Examination Committee
Signature Date
1. Dr. M. Farkhan M. Pd (Chair Person) __________ _________ NIP: 19650919 200003 1 002
5. M. Supardi, SS, M. Hum (Examiner II) __________ _________ NIP:
iii
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief. It contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text.
Jakarta, July 07, 2010.
Bahtiar Rifa’I
iv
ABSTRACT Bahtiar Rifa’I, A Semiotic Analysis on Coca-Cola’s Commercial Advertisements, Thesis, April, 2010, Department of English Literature, Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University. The study in this paper concerns with the way the author explores the meaning of sign in semiotic signification. The writer focuses on five images of Coca-Cola’s advertisements and wants to know about the sign system and meaning in connotation and denotation level. The method used in this paper was descriptive qualitative analysis with textual and pictorial analysis where the writer describes and interprets the sign on the 10 images of Coca-Cola’s commercial advertisements. From the analysis, the writer concludes that each of the sign of Coca-cola’s advertisements has a system and formed by pictorials, texts, and contexts. These elements contribute a meaning in denotation and connotation meaning. Finally, the writer concludes that Coca-Cola’s advertisement support an idea about capital system, cultural and ideological term in connotation meaning.
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APPROVEMENT
A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS ON COCA-COLA’S COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS
A Thesis Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the
Advertising is everywhere, as it becomes more ubiquitous, we tend to
ignore it. But we tend to ignore it; advertisers find a new way to make it more
ubiquitous. As a result, in the television, no one is neutral about advertising.
We love or we hate it, many of us do both.
The term of advertising, according to the theory of mass media
communication, is a message which is published or broadcasted in the mass
media. It’s designed to provide information that will help to persuade people
to buy or accept goods, service or ideas. Advertising is paid for by an
identifiable sponsor, and it’s controlled, its means, the paying sponsor controls
when, where and how the ads appears. The advertising is impersonal, it
appeals to broad groups through mass media.1
In the term of globalization and consumer society, the number of
advertising to the consumer society is very close into their life especially, in a
big city where the societies live on. The advertising manifests about the
commercial product into the variety ways, the product manifests into billboard
all along the road, street banner, and even in the mass media such a
newspaper, radio and television, internet, with a very wide range of people can
watch it.
1 Thomas M. Pasqua, et al., Mass Meedia in the Information Age, (New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall, Inc, 1990), p. 185.
1
Afterward, the development of advertisement and advertising system
in the consumer society altered to the any problem of social and cultural
landscape. The problem primarily about the usage of sign, the image that
appeared, and the information that told, a meaning, and how the advertising
can influence the perception, understanding and people behave. Whether the
advertising extends the information about the product offered concretely or,
on the contrary, just extends about the falsifying the reality.2
In other word, the advertising would include and influence the
societies with the messages and the ideology systematically inherent in the
advertisement for a modern people. The advertising is no more promoting a
product that advertised in the media, but advertising created the system of the
idea with the specific values and stood on that system, autonomously.
The advertising produced for the audience contained with a certain
message. A message created with a many codes aimed to the audience for
understanding it. The code appears directed to influence the audience to buy
the product advertised, and this is not arbitrary codes, but it’s a code with a
message inherent within the advertising.
As codes that appears in the advertising for the mass consumer,
contained a message for us to interpret the sign from the advertising, the term
of interpretation of the sign in advertising recognized as semiology (or
semiotic, as it know better in America). The theory of semiology itself used
2 Yasraf Amir Piliang, Hipersemiotika Tafsir Cultural Studies Atas Matinya Makna,
(Yogyakarta: Jalasutra, 2003), p.280
2
for approaching the sign that appears in the advertising, especially for Coca-
Cola’s commercial advertisement.
Ferdinand de Saussure, as well-known as the father of modern
linguistics, look forward to a science that studies the life of sign within
societies, he called it Semiology from the Greek Semion “sign”. This is
general approach to the study of sign in every cultural life, and even of culture
as a sort of language. As quoted in his book, Course in General Linguistic, he
explains:
“Language is a system of signs which express ideas. Hence it is like writing, the deaf and dumb alphabet, symbolic rites, etiquette, military signal and so on, except that it is the most important of such systems. One may therefore envisage a science which studies the life of signs in the framework of social life….we shall call it semilogy (from the Greek semeion, ‘sign’). It will teach us what signs consist of, the law which they governed.”3
Afterward, Ferdinand de Saussure proposed a dualistic notion of the
sign, relating the signifier as the form of the word or phrase uttered, to the
signified as the mental concept. And it’s important to note that according to
Saussure, the sign is completely arbitrary, i.e. there was no necessary
connection between the sign and its meaning.4
The other semioticians that developed the theory of sign is Charles
Sander Pierce, he was a founder of philosophical doctrine known as
pragmatism. He preferred use a term of Semiotic, and defined the object sign
into tree categories:
3 Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistic, (New York City: McGraww-Hill
Paperback, 1966), p. 16. 4 Ibid. p. 67
3
1. Icon is the connection between sign and object because of its
similarities. For example, picture and map.
2. Index is the connection between sign and object because of cause
and effect. For example, smoke caused by a fire.
3. Symbol is the connection between sign and object because of the
agreement or convention in societies. For example, flag, a traffic
signal and linguistic sign.5
The term of Semiology/Semiotic definitely becomes more popular as a
new approach for decoding a sign. Roland Barthes as a well-known as the
scientist who practiced Linguistic and Semiology model of Saussurean. In his
book S/Z proposed another term to understand the sign by arranging and
grouping codes into five, there are a hermeneutic code, semantic code,
symbolic code, narrative/proairetic code and cultural code.
Interrelated with the theory of semiotic above, this thesis analyzes of
the meaning of the visual aspect and Linguistic of the Coca-Cola’s
advertisements. In this research, the writer applies the theory of semiotic
signification, and uses some of the semioticians’ theory. The writer uses a
Pierce’s theory to analyze the object sign in advertisement (icon, index,
symbol), Roland Barthes’s theory is to analyze the codes that appeared in the
code and cultural code), and Saussure’s theory is to find the meaning of the
5 Syukron Kamil, “Semiotika Teori dan Hubungannya dengan Sastra”, Al-Turas Mimbar
Sejarah, Sastra, Budaya dan Agama, Vol 07, No.11 (Januari, 2001), p. 40.
4
Coca-Cola advertisement in level of connotative meaning and denotation
meaning.6
B. Focus of the Study
In order to limit the research, the writer only focuses on the Coca-
Cola’s commercial advertisements in Coca-Cola Coke edition and takes three
image of it advertisement models. The next two images are from Coca-cola
Zero edition. Each of these editions consists of many slogans advertisement
that usually showed in billboard and street banner or even in the magazine.
The writer thinks that a coca-cola advertisement will be full of interpretation
to get the meaning from that advertising model. On the process of
interpretation of these Coca-Cola’s commercial advertising, the writer uses a
theory of semiotic especially in semiotic signification and focuses on the
aspect of an object of sign (Pierce), the codes (Barthes) and the meaning of the
advertisement in denotation and connotation meaning (Saussure).
C. Research Question
In order to get a meaning from the interpretation of the Coca-Cola’s
advertisement, the writer wants to explain and analyze each of the signifiers
that appeared in advertisement to get a denotative meaning. Afterward, the
writer interprets the advertisement in level of connotation to get a meaning of
whole sign appears in the advertisement. The questions are consists of:
6 Sumbo Tinurbuko, Semiotika Komunikasi Visual (Yogyakarta: Jalasutra, 2008), p. 23
5
1. What are the sign systems used on the coca-cola commercial
advertisement?
2. What do the signs in coca-cola advertisement mean according to
semiotic signification?
D. Objective and Significance of the Study
Based on the research question above, the writer has several objective
of the research as follow:
1. To know about the sign system that constituted the Coca-Cola’s
commercial advertisement
2. To know the meaning of the connotation and denotation level in coca-
cola advertisements.
Moreover, by analyzing the advertisement sign in the commercial
media in the term of semiotic, could give some of advantage for the reader
who is interested in the semiotic field for analyzing the cultural code that
manifests in various ways. Semiotic can be applied in analyzing many sign in
advertisement, linguistic codes, pop culture codes and many more.
E. Research Methodology
1. Research Methodology
The method which is used in this research is descriptive qualitative
analysis with textual and pictorial analysis where the writer describes and
interprets the sign on the Coca-Cola’s commercial advertisements
6
7
2. Data Collecting Technique
The method of data collecting technique in this research is analyzing
and observing the icon, index and symbol element that appears in Coca-
cola’s advertisement in “Coca-Cola Coke” edition and “Coca-Cola Zero”
edition. Beside it, the writer uses other resources in data collecting technique,
such as resources from any documents from books, journals, and internet.
3. Data Analysis Technique
To analyze the data, the writer analyzes the meaning of the pictorial
aspect and linguistic aspect of the Coca-Cola advertisements. Firstly, the
writer uses a Pierce’s theory to analyze the object of sign in Coca-Cola
advertisements from the icon, index and symbol sight. Then the writer
analyzes the codes that appeared in the advertisements whether it is a
hermeneutic code, semantic code, symbolic or narrative code. Finally, the
writer finds the meaning of the Coca-Cola’s advertisements by analyzing
connotation and denotation meaning.
4. Unit Analysis
Unit analysis, which is used on this research, is the collection of Coca-
Cola’s advertisement from Coca-Cola Coke edition and Coca-Cola Zero
edition (see appendices).
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Advertisement
1. Definition of Advertisement
The word “advertise” originates from the Latin advertere, which
means to turn toward or to take note of. Certainly, the visual and the verbal
commercial message that are part of advertising are intended to attract
attention and produce some responses by the viewer. Advertising is persuasive
and virtually impossible to escape.1
Newspapers and the magazine often have more advertisement than
copy, the radio and television provide entertainment but are also laden with
the advertisement. Advertisements also exist on billboard along the freeway,
in subway or everywhere. The persuasive of advertising and its creative
elements are designed to cause viewers to take note.
Advertising is form of communication used to help selling products
and services. Typically, it communicates a message including the name of the
products or services and how that products or services could potentially
benefit the consumer. However, advertising does typically attempt to persuade
potential consumer to purchase or to consume more of particular brand of
product or services.
1 Jorge Reina Schement, (ed.), Encyclopedia of Communication and Information
(Volume 1 ACA-FUN),(New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 2002), p. 10.
2. The Function of Advertising
Although the primary objective of advertising is to persuade, it may
achieve this objective in many different ways. An important function of
advertising is the identification function, that is, to identify a product and
differentiate it from the other, this create an awareness of the product and
provides a basis for consumer to choose the advertised products. The
identification function of advertising includes the ability of advertising to
differentiate a product so that it has own unique identity or personality.2
Another function of advertising is to communicate information about
the product, its attributes and its location of sale, this is function known as the
information functions. The third function of advertising is to induce consumer
to try a new product and to suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses,
this is as the persuasion function.
A Webster’s New World Encyclopedia defines the advertising related
to its functions and purposes:
“….any of various methods use by a company to increase the sale of its product or to promote a brand name. advertising can be seen by economist as either beneficial (since it convey information about a product and so bring the market closer to a state of perfect competition) or as a hindrance to perfect competition, since it attempts to make illusory distinctions (such as greater sex appeal) between essentially similar product.” 3
According to the advertising function and its definition, basically the
advertising is a form of mass communication due to the message laden in the
2Ibid. p. 11. 3 Kasiyan, Manipulasi dan Dehumanisasi Perempuan dalam Iklan (Yogyakarta: Penerbit
Ombak, 2008), p. 149.
10
advertising communicated through a mass medium to a large number of
people.
3. Advertising Effects
There are many critiques arguing that advertising places a burden on
society by raising the cost of merchandise and inducing people to buy a thing
they don’t need. There are four common of the advertising effect and
misconception.4
1. Advertising makes people buy things they don’t need
2. Advertising makes things cost more
3. Advertising helps sell bad products
4. Advertising is a waste money
Beside it, advertising has its detractor on its appearance and the a
message laden on it, here are the details of the common criticisms in
contemporary advertising and its effects:5
1. Advertising improper use of grammar debases a language.
A sentence “John tastes good like a cigarette should” may help sell
cigarettes, but its make like difficult for English Teacher.
2. Advertising makes people to materialistic.
It’s portrays the acquisition of things as the means to a happy life.
1. Advertising has the power to make people do irrational thing such as
buying product they don’t need.
4 Ralph E. Hanson, Mass Communication Living in a Media World, (New York:
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2005), p.413. 5 Thomas M. Pasqua, et al., Mass Meedia in the Information Age, (New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall, Inc, 1990), p. 187.
11
2. That is too much advertising, and this make life less pleasant that it
might be.
3. Many people find some advertising offensive or in bad taste.
4. Advertising perpetuates stereotypes, such as women being best suited
to housekeeping.
B. Semiotic
1. Definition of Semiotic
Semiotic (or semiology, as it better known in Europe) originate from
the Greek semion, which mean sign. Semiotics is a general study about the
signs as an essential part of cultural life and communication. According to
semiotics, we can only know culture and reality by means of the sign, through
the process of signification. Beside it, much of semioticians said that semiotic
is a theory related to the lie, fake or generally as a theory of the lie. Semiotics
is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to
lie.
Umberto Eco, write in his book A Theory of Semiotic, said:
“Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign. A sign is everything which can be taken as significantly substituting for something else. This something else does not necessary substituting for something else. This something else does not necessary have to exist or to actually be somewhere at the moment in which a sign stand in for it. Thus semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth. It cannot in fact be used “to tell” at all. I think that the definition of a “theory of lie” should be taken as a pretty comprehensive program for a general semiotics.”6
6 Uberto Eco, Teori Semiotika, Signifikasi Komunikasi, Teori Kode, Serta Teori Produksi
Tanda, (Yogyakarta: Kreasi Wacana, 2009), p. 7.
12
According to a definition by Eco, the theory of lie is in definition of
semiotic, but implicitly inherent in this definition as the theory of the truth.
Because if the sign couldn’t show it reality, it’s couldn’t show his lies. Finally,
even Eco define a Semiotic as the theory of the lie, implicitly he define a
semiotic as the theory of the truth.
As the theory of interpretation in the cultural life, semiotic has two
fundamental founders, between Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sander
Pierce. These two founders put the fundamental aspect in semiotic through
ontological and epistemological.
Between these two founders of Semiotic, each of them develops the
different type and characteristic of semiotic. Saussure as the founder of the
modern linguists build the semiotic based on the language as the system of the
sign. And Pierce build the theory of semiotic based on the pragmatic and logic
philosophy. Generally, most of the expert of the semiotic differs between the
semiotics of signification based on the Saussure, and semiotics of
communication which based on Pierce logical and pragmatic philosophy.
Actually, in these two differences has a same interaction each other, even in
the system of the language sign and in the communication as the language
context.7
7 Kaelani, M.S. Filsafat Bahasa Semiotika dan Hermeneutika, (Yogyakarta: Paradigma,
2009), p. 169.
13
2. Semioticians and his Theory
1. Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure, is well know as the father of modern
linguistics and the founding father of structural linguistic in Europe.
Saussure was born in Geneva in 1857, studied mainly in Germany,
taught for a number of years in Paris, and then returned to the University
of Geneva in 1981 and dead there in 1913. His importance work, not in
his detail explanation in linguistic, but in his general view of
representation and the way his model of language shaped the semiotic
approach to the problem of representation in a wide variety of cultural
fields.
There are a three element distinction from Saussure according to
his Course in General Linguistic book as the fundamental element of the
structural semiotic approach, between (1) signifier and signified, (2)
langage, parole, and langue, (3) synchronic and diachronic.
1. Saussure defined the linguistic sign as two side entity. One side of
the sign was what he called the signifier. A signifier is the
thoroughly material aspect of a sign. If one feels one’s vocal when
speaking, it is clear that are made from vibrations (which are
undoubtedly material in nature). Saussure describes the verbal
signifier as a sound image.8
8 Paul Cobley and Litza Jansz, Semiotic for Beginner, (London: Penguin Books, 1997),
p.10.
14
Inseparably from the signifier in any sign, engendered by the
signifier is what Saussure calls the signified as the mental concept. The
word “dog” in English made up the signifier /d/, /o/ and /g/, what is
engendered for the hearers is not the real dog but a mental concept of
“dogness”.
These two inseparable of the Signified (mental concept) and the
Signifier (material aspect) are described as the following diagram:
Signified Signifier
(Figure I. Meaning element from Saussure)
2. The general phenomenon of language (in French, langage) is made
up by two factor, between parole (individual acts of speech) and
langue (a system of difference between sign).9
3. According to Saussure, the linguistic research must concern in
Synchronic aspect before Diachronic aspect. Saussure describes
this vital distinction as: “Synchronic linguistic will be concerned
with the logical and physiological relations that bind together
coexisting terms and form a system in the collective mind of the
speaker. And Diachronic linguistics, on the contrary, will study
relations that bind together successive terms not perceived by the
9 Ibid, p.15.
15
collective mind but substituted for each other without forming a
system.”10
2. Charles Sander Pierce
Charles Sander Pierce, the founder of the philosophical doctrine
as pragmatism, he defines a sign in the term of semiosis as “...something
which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity...”.
In this term, Pierce determine the subject of the sign as the part that
unseparated from the proses of the signification. The Triadic model of
Pierce (representament + objek + interpretant = sign), show the
important role of the subject in the language transformation. The sign
according to Pierce is which stand in the proces of the unlimited
semiosis, or the proses of the unlimited semiosis series, which creating
the interpretant in the newest form.11
This is the triange model or the semiosis by Pierce:
Sign/ground
Interpretant Object
(Figure II. Meaning element from Pierce)
10 Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistic, (New York City: McGraww-Hill
Paperback, 1966), p. 99. 11 Yasraf Amir Piliang, Hipersemiotika Tafsir Cultural studies atas MatinyaMakna,
(Yogyakarta: Jalasutra, 2003), p. 266.
16
In the other name, a sign, is a fisrtnes which stand in such a
genuine triadic relation to a secondes, called it object, as to be capable
on determining the thirdnes, called representament.
From this triadic model, Pierce determines the sign clasification.
Ground or a sign itself clasified into Qualisign (quality on sign),
Signsign (actual event on sign), and Legisign ( a role or norm or a habit
on sign).
Based on it object, Pierce clasified a sign into Icon (the
connection between sign and object becouse its similiarities), Index (the
connection between sign and object its causalities and effect), and
Symbol (the connection between sign and object becouse the convention
on the social agreement).
On the interpretant, a sign clasified on Rheme (a sign interpreted
to represent based on the choises), Dicisign (a sign intrepreted to
rerresent based on the fact), and the Argument (a sign interpreted to
represent on the reason on something else).
C. Advertisements as the Semiotic Signification
Adveertisment as the langguage communiacation has a spesific
language structure. It express the message with the certain language and
sometimes contain of false expression than the real purpose of the
advertisment.
17
According to the semiotic signification, advertisment has contain more
than a signs, it consist of the language element which arraged from a signifier
or the a material element of the advertisment showed as picture, fhoto and
ilustration. And a concept of signified and the meaning beyond it signifier.
These structural element of advertisment is used to show a reality or even
falsifaying the reality of the advertiments. 12
Usually, an advertisments has three elements of sign. An object of the
product that advertise, contexts of advertisment aroud it object showed as the
things that gives the contexs of and object. And the text of advertismets in
written language. Beside it elements, advertisment has a levels of meanings, it
a denotative meaning, and a deepen meaning or connotative meaning when the
advertisment related to the cultural context and the undestanding of an
ideology.13
Beside it elements, advertising has indicate to a certain codes. The first
code that exist in usual texts is a linguistic code refer to what the texts
expressed. Generally, this code is express abut what is in the meaning of
dictionary or in linguistic order.
Roland Barthes, a well-known as the scientist who practiced linguistic
and semiology model of Saussurean and Piercian to analyze the secondary
code in cultural product such advertisements. In his book S/Z proposed
another term to understand the sign by arranging and grouping codes into five,
12 Ibid, p. 280. 13 Ibid.
18
there are a hermeneutic code, semantic code, symbolic code,
narrative/proairetic code and cultural code.14
Before he defines a sign into five codes above, he made two order of
signification of meaning to get a meaning in level of connotation and related
to cultural condition. In this order of signification, Barthes interrogate every
pieces of cultural and material product such advertisements and explained that
advertisements contribute to cultural myths as second-order signs.
First Order Second Order
Culture Reality Sign
Connotation Form
Signifier Signified
Denotation
Myth Content
(John Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, 1990.p.88)
The first order is based from Saussure work on semiology. In this first
order shows a relation between signifier and signified in sign and between a
sign with other reference in external reality. Roland Barthes called this order
with denotation. A meaning in denotation level may show a similarity except
14 Roland Barthes, S/Z, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990), pp.19-20.
19
in connotation level. In this case, denotation tends to be described as the
definitional, literal, obvious or commonsense meaning of a sign.15
The term of connotation is used to refer to the socio cultural and
association to ideological of the sign. These are typically related to the
interpreter’s class, gender, and so on. Sign according to Barthes are more
polisemic in their connotations than their denotations.16
These are definition of codes that Barthes proposed in his second order
of signification:
1. A hermeneutic code consists of all units which function is to
articulated in various ways question, its response, and the variety of
chance events which can either formulate the question or delay its
answer, or even, constitute an enigma and lead to its solution.
2. A Semantic code is a code of connotation which utilizes hints or
flicker of meaning generated of certain signifiers. Third is symbolic
code which code of recognizable groupings or configuration
regularly repeated in various modes and by various mean in the
text, which ultimately generates the dominant figure in the carpet.
3. Other code is a narrative/proairetic code. Narrative or proaretic
code is a code of action derived from the concept of proaresis, the
ability rationally is to determine the result of an action, and this
code is also embodied in sequence such as lexcia.
15 John Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies,(Jogjakarta: Jalasutra, 1990), p.
119. 16 Ibid.
20
21
4. The last code which Barthes called as cultural code, which code
manifest as a gnomic, collective, anonymous and an authoritative
voice which speaks for and about what it aims to establish as
accepted knowledge or wisdom.
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH FINDINGS
A. Description of Data
The writer uses the image of the coca-colas advertisements as the
object of the research. The data are collected from coca-cola coke and coca-
cola zero images edition that has an identical characteristic as sign. The data
of the images that the writer obtains can be presented on the table below:
Object Expression Form Content form/Interpret ant
Image 1 “Welcome to the Coke side of life”
- To invite an audience of the message to consume coca-coca’s drink product.
- To tell to the audience that coca-cola is better product of drink.
- To Influence to the audience that coca-cola is a part of people life.
Image 2 “Continuous quality is quality you trust”
- To claim coca-cola as the best quality that audience trusted.
- An icon of coca-cola factory and five-penny of each coca-cola bottle shows an idea of industrial capitalism.
Image 3 “How to liven up the day after the holiday, too!”
- Coca-cola’s product influences the audience that his brand is suited for a holiday and party times.
- Coca-cola’s product is suited for any American food.
- Coca-cola and American food (sandwich)
21
are extra taste to consume.
Image 4 “Taste so Much Like Coke”
- A new appearance of coca-cola zero edition with a black color as dominant element of the product.
- A new kind of coca-cola product
- Coca-cola Zero claimed a taste is better than a previous coca-cola coke edition.
- Coca-cola as a company sue themselves to the audience about a taste of coca-cola zero edition.
Image 5 “Real Taste and Zero Sugar”
- A new appearance of coca-cola zero edition with a black color as dominant element of the product.
- Coca-cola zero sugar claims as the real taste of coca-cola and with zero sugar.
- An audience persuade to consume a coca-cola zero sugar due to an ingredient of it mixture is safely for consume.
B. Data Analysis
In analyzing the data, according to the semiotic signification on the
advertisements, the writer analyzes the meaning of the pictorial aspect or an
object of the advertisement and the contexts that gives the context to an object
of advertisement, and the text of advertisement as the linguistic symbol.
An advertisement has a complex meaning when it appeared in many
ways. A semiotic signification had determined a meaning of advertisement to
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denotative meaning (an explicit meaning of sign) and connotative meaning (a
meaning of sign related to ideological and cultural term).
Due to advertising has it referring codes, then the writer analyzes the
code that laden in the coca-coca’s advertisements. This code may show its
hermeneutic code, semantic code, symbolic, cultural, or even narrative code.
Finally, finding the meaning of coca-cola’s advertising meaning is the final
step of this data analysis, whether it shows in denotative meaning or
connotation meaning.
1. Semiotic analysis on Coca-cola Coke edition, “Welcome to the Coke side
of life”.
(Image 1)
Coca-cola’s product is famous with its red color symbol. A bottle of
coca-cola’s products are generally in red color with other combinations to
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support its symbol elements. In the picture above, a bottle of coca-cola is
obviously colored with a red painting. Actually, it is important to be aware of
the concept of red color in coca-cola symbol as a fundamental principle of
coca-cola products to distinguish from other products.
It is obviously interesting according to context of the pictorial sign
above when a bottle of coca-cola explodes various colors in dynamic pencil
sign. According to Pierce a sign is something which stands to somebody entity
and determines a sign into triadic model of semiotic interpretation to
representament, object, and interpretant. Following to Piercian concept of
semiotic interpretation, a sign of pencil represents a coca-cola concept at all.
A sign of pencil pictorial symbol references an interpretant about
coca-cola personification products. A pencil colored with a red and light
prominently among others color shows the ideas about coca-cola is very
dominant product among others.
Another important of the pictorial elements above is the use of an
expression text ‘welcome to the Coke side of life’ in a middle of the pictorial
element and associated to general consumer of coca-cola drinks products. An
expression phrases explains an ideas about a persuasion that a coca-cola drink
is element of a people side of life.
The text on that coca-cola’s advertisement identified as signifier given
in the middle of the picture. The sign as a whole is the printed text: “Welcome
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to the Coke side of life”. The signifiers are the letters or words as individual
units and signified about:
1. To invite the audience of the message in order to consume coca-coca’s
drink product.
2. To tell the audience that coca-cola is better product of drink.
3. To influence the audience that coca-cola is a part of people life.
The first signified concept about invited an audience to consume coca
cola’s drink product can be understood by viewing the concept of the
advertising above. The signifier of pencils, or the signifier of the various
colors showed in that advertisement signified to something about coca-coca
audience or consumer. A concept of color and pencil, however, signified to the
people or some community that they consume the coca-cola’s drink products.
The second signified concept of special product, as represented in
coca-cola brand, showed in the bottle as a signifier of the advertisement.
Coca-cola, especially in Coke edition, however, is consumed by people around
the world in every countries. The advertisement of coca-cola find in many
ways of advertisement, people may find the coca-cola advertising in the
magazine and television. In addition, this why a coca-cola drink is the product
that so close to people life due to its advertising process signified for people to
consume and drink coca-cola.
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The third signified concept is the most important concept of the
advertisement above. The phrase about “Welcome to the Coke side of life”
Influences to the audience that coca-cola is a part of people life. This pictorial
symbol organizes the audience and influences their consciousness to consume
the coca-cola’s drink product as their part of life.
After identifying the signifier and the signified elements, the second
ways to understand the sign is identifying the connotation meaning. By
analyzing the signifier and the signified above or in denotation meaning, the
writer bear the meaning into connotation interpretation or what is the meaning
of the sign in cultural term or ideological term. However, as identified the sign
in level of the signifier and the signified, the sign above dominantly told about
the coca-cola as the drink product and also a product that consumed by a
whole people around the world, this is what the sign told about in connotation
meaning.
The last important thing of the advertisement sign above is the
referring codes of the advertisement. There are also certain codes, refers to the
sign of coca-coca’s advertisement above into symbolic code, and semantic
code.
In the term of symbolic code, the sign of coca-cola’s advertisement
under the phrase ‘welcome to the Coke side of life’ applied any symbols as a
dominant element of a sign. A picture of coca-cola’s red bottle as the first
symbol of the sign and a picture of colorful pencils, in connotative level,
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symbolize to someone entity. A red bottle, actually designated a coca-cola as
an industry of drink and a picture of colorful pencil designate to people whom
drink a coca-cola’s product.
2. Semiotic analysis on Coca-cola coke edition, “Continuous quality is
quality you trust”.
(Image 2)
In this advert, a very dominant through pictorial symbol consists three
elements, row of coca-cola’s bottle, coca-cola manufacture, and a coca-cola
coke labels with a red color. These three elements are object of the sign
according to Piercian model of semiotic because every picture of coca-cola’s
bottles, manufacture, and its symbol has a relation each other to a sign in
general coca-cola coke edition.
The writer agreed that an object of the pictorial aspect of the adverts
above has a sign and meaning. A bottle of the coca-cola has its interpretant, a
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factory and a label too, has its relation to interpretant element of Piercian
model of semiotic.
A row of coca-cola’s bottle is a represantament which related to a
coca-cola product as an object of the sign intention above. Based on the role of
the sign by Piercian model, if there are signs that represent on the reason or
something else, an interpretant element can identified as argument
interpretant. Actually, a pictorial symbol in rows of bottle is a symbol of
coca-cola general production.
The next object of a sign above is a picture of coca-cola factory and
red coca-cola logos. These two objects represent to an interpretant about coca-
cola units whole elements, including a factory activities and labels. Each of
three interpretants appeared in a sign above, pointed to coca-cola corporation
as a capital business. Including in a sign above, a theme told something about
trade system and a price of each bottle of coca-cola drinks.
How does the pictorial sign above have a meaning? To answer this
question, the writer determines these three pictorial sign and compared it with
a context which is appeared in a sign above. In these cases, between a picture
of coca-cola factory, its bottle and even its red label as a dominant, gives a
context to the audience in other to have an interpretation about coca-cola’s
capital system.
The texts on the coca-cola’s advertisement identified as signifier
element of a sign. The sign as a whole is the printed text: Continuous quality
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is quality you trust, Coca-Cola Coke, Ask for it either way…both trade-mark
mean the same thing, 5$, copyright the Coca-Cola Company. These signifiers
are individual units and indicate to signified about:
1. A phrase ‘continuous quality is quality you trust’ is a claim of coca-
cola drink products as the best quality that trusted by the audience.
2. A phrase ‘ask for it either way…both trade-mark mean the same thing’
is an idea of industrial capitalism that coca-cola had built is the best
among other drink products.
3. A phrase ‘Coca-Cola Coke’ is a Coke edition of coca-cola drink
products.
4. A word 5$ (penny) is a price for each bottle of coca-cola.