Fashion and Reflexive Advertising Essay example - 3369 Words

Ads are ubiquitous. Contemporary media-literate audiences know that one-third of a half-hour sitcom will be commercials, that magazines will contain more ads than articles, and that they will be bombarded with advertisements on the internet. The pervasiveness of ads has created spectators who are: increasingly media-literate, cynical, and alienated...and because the number of ads continues to increase (clutter), advertising has undermined its own effectiveness by unintentionally negating the ability and the desire of viewers to respond (Goldman and Papson, 83). Advertisers have appropriated this post-modern discourse of alienation, giving it a sign value that they can attach to their product. Alienation consequently becomes a means†¦show more content†¦Although the purely denotative image does not exist, it is a useful concept in illuminating complex signs. The non-coded iconic message is apparently innocent of connotation. It is what would exist if one were able to remove everything from an ad except for ones knowledge that the image represents identifiable objects. More importantly, these signified objects function as signifiers in the more latent message of the advertisement (Williamson, 43). A description of an advertisements denoted message thus involves the cataloguing of its signifiers. These signifiers have no meaning in themselves; they rely on ones lexicon of cultural knowledge in order to gain meaning or connotative significance. The linguistic message has two central functions in relation to the image: anchorage and relay (Barthes, 11). Anchoring text stabilizes the multiple meanings, or signifieds, that one might find in any image. Relaying text connects the image to another sign or series of signs. The coded iconic message, or the rhetoric of the image of the ad involves understanding the connotations, or signifieds, of the signifiers in the image. It is essential to understand that signifiers constitute discontinuous or...scattered traits: reading the signifiers does not exhaust a cultural code (Barthes, 17). The images in advertisements are polysemous in that they yield multiple meanings. The reader is engaged in a process of signification with an ad - and th us with the product it promotes -Show MoreRelatedCreating Meaning and Identity through Consumption Essay1307 Words   |  6 Pagessaid, fashion is an important element of identity formation. Young people are commonly feared of being seen as outdated and seek for acceptance from the peers and the society. According to Erikson’s theory of personal social and personal development adolescences and young adults see peers as a critical influence, acceptance of peers can lead to security of identity and self-esteem. This essay is going to examine how young people shape or form their identities through the consumption of fashion. 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