A Theory of Semiotics, Term Paper Example

Connotation and Denotation: Ad Presentation Analysis Paper

Organization like McDonalds specifically create marketing campaigns that aim towards creating a reputation, creating a name or creating something that would catch the attention of the buyers while at the same time convincing them to purchase what it is that the company offers. Through the years, this approach to marketing has worked for the business goals of companies that are dedicated to ‘making it big’ in the industry. McDonalds, one of the most successful food chains around the globe, continues to become subjected to particular challenges of establishing a name even in the midst of tight competition. Every year, the organization faces the challenge of retaining its reputation and its name in the field of food chain industries.

With the many competitors it has to face [both the old and new ones], McDonalds need to pick up the pace to gear up and make sure that the organization’s marketing campaign is still in line with the concept that the organization specifically depends upon. To understand how the organization tries to survive such challenge, two particularly distinguished visual ads shall be considered in this discussion for examination and distinction in relation to the connotation and denotation of the meaning of each ad and how these factors affect the way the market envisions and accepts the products offered my McDonalds to the public.

This ad from the 1980’s has created the mark of what McDonalds was all about. Consider looking through the picture of the burger among all the other elements fond in the tray; notice how big and supposedly luscious it is. This picture began the campaign of showing and telling the public what McDonalds is ready to offer: some extraordinary recipe of burgers that are sure to solve hunger issues for those people who are on the go or for those who would simply prefer to ‘eat out’.

Depending on the essence of connotation, which adheres to the idea of mixing both the negative and positive aspects of giving meaning, this ad could be noted to provide a message of fast yet not so healthy eating. The birth of the fast food era during the early 1980s was considered to be among the most important revolutions in food service during the said phase of change. Following the impact of the industrial revolution on the culture of human individuals who embraced the chance of living big in the city came the new choices of food sources. People had lesser time to prepare their meals; hence, as a response to the dilemma, the emergence of companies like McDonalds came into the picture. McDonalds offered a new sense of seeing what ‘good food is about’. No matter how repetitively mentioned that the food they offer is ‘junk’ based on particular categories, people could not help it but enjoy the type of food choices they provide. ‘Comfort food’ as it is usually termed, the menu of McDonalds seem to give the comfort that their customers need and expect from eating out. Take note of the picture [ad] presented herein; the crew who holds the tray up seems to be offering [anyone who might be looking at the ad] the sumptuous delight of being served with the biggest comfort meal he has ever been given. Observe how the smile and everything else in the background promises more than just the food, but the comfort of being served by polite service crews as well. When passing by the ad in a street towards a store location of McDonalds, one might not be able to resist the temptation of actually going into the store and grabbing for himself ‘a big meal’ that would satisfy his cravings.

On the other hand, carrying into account the value of denotation, this ad makes a great indication of how much McDonalds’ product would be able to quench the thirst and resolve the hunger of its customers through the big meal. Inviting the public to indulge themselves into what the company offers, this ad makes sure that the people get what they want and that they get what they deserve. Notably, this makes an indicative impact on how the public views the value of the products or the food that McDonalds has to offer.

Through the years, the completion tightens more in the industry. McDonalds has to ensure its position in the industry as huge fast food chains come into the picture. Not to mention smaller scale food stalls that emerge locally and challenge the palate of the public through offering them something more than just comfort food. To make sure the company still captures the attention of the public, it is important to make sure that the new generation of food chain enthusiasts be given the chance to see what the company has to offer. In the ad presented herein, it could be seen how ‘the Big Mac’, McDonalds’ front liner product, is shown to be the one and the only best burger there is in the market. Observe how its size and its ingredients are shown into the picture.

In relation to connotation, this picture shows how the Big Mac is indeed ‘sinfully good’; sinful in a sense that it is packed with ingredients that are high in cholesterol and good in a sense that it is specifically grand in taste that it seems to be just right to cheat on one’s diet [or health] to have a taste of this extraordinary burger.

Considering the competitors in the market, McDonalds’ burgers may not be as different from what others offer anymore. Nevertheless, the company relies on the fact that they are one of the original ones that have offered the public with such a choice of comfort food. In relative connection to the denotation of this ad, the call is direct ‘to buy just the best and to indulge on what is the original taste of good burger’. McDonalds continue to boast of its delicate menu of burger choices that has lead to the birth of other food chains around the globe. Even though it has already been several years past the time when the company first made a break in the industry, it continues to uphold the value that it has developed under the course of being noted as one of the best burger creators in the food industry.

Through the ad samples presented in this discussion, it could be realized that the field of marketing makes use of both connotation and denotation at its best value. Making sure that their call for attention in the market is given attention to, the ads they create are extensively related to what they want to accomplish: to gain higher market popularity and develop their sales in an annual progressive state. Practically, understanding the position of organizations such as McDonalds in relation to the campaign that is able to define the course of operation of the business would make it easier for the buyers to decode the real meaning of their ads and be wise enough to decide on whether or not they would let themselves be attracted to such campaigns. Marketing will continue to thrive under these conditions of mindful influence; the impact they make on the public would depend on the people themselves.

Works Cited

Eagleton, Terry. (1983). Literary Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Eco, Umberto. (1976). A Theory of Semiotics. London: Macmillan.