Semiotic Analysis

This semiotic analysis discusses the advertising of the women's perfume, Pleasures. The essay will analyze the advertisements in terms of its status as signs, whose meanings not only give a favorable impression of the product, but also are compatible with, and complementary to the feminine context in which they are intended. Although the advertisement does not physically represent the product, they all provide an important symbol of the product.
The ads use a variety of signifiers which publicize both the identity of the brand and the image. It is important to consider the thought of the text in which it appears as elegant, soft and romantic. The ads predominately feature a female model in her early to mid-twenties. In one ad, she is sitting on what appears to be a porch rail holding a puppy, surrounded by pink flowers with a joyful expression on her face. Adjacent to her is the product itself. The center of the product has the name ‘Pleasures’ written in beautiful text. The word ‘Pleasures’ appears large in consideration of the rest of the text. Underneath the image is the brand name of the product, ‘Estee Lauder.’ Directly below the brand name are the words: ‘Defining Beauty.’ Together these separate components form an effective and cohesive message.
The scene depicts that the model is definitely in a pleasurable place because of the perfume. The writer of the ad tries to convey the feeling of pleasure by capturing a moment when the model’s facial expression and body posture appear to merge with the aroma of perfume. The denotation of this ad illustrates a model with her hair flowing around her dress, which is almost the same color as the flowers. Similar colors seem to be the trend in the ad and the writer tries to capture the viewer by using one color, so that the viewer's eyes are not distracted by too much color.
Furthermore, the usage of floral as the background image of the advertisement is to express the feeling that life is sweet and wonderful. The