A Chained Path of Connotations

In the written work Persuasive Signs: The Semiotics of Advertising by Ron Beasley and Marcel Danesi, the reader learns how to analyze ads that are incredibly subtle and hidden when it comes to their messages by breaking the ad down into “surface signifiers” (Beasley, Danesi 47).

A surface signifier is a single aesthetic element of the advertisement such as a nighttime background, sword, or a crescent, and that signifier is placed into a chain where it would trigger a “connotation which in turn evokes another, and then another after that, and so on” in an advertisement decoding technique known as “connotative chaining” (Beasley, Danesi 47).  Here is a mini example of what one would look like.

Bald eagle = U.S.A = Patriotic = Brave = Battle = War = War in Iraq

We take an element out of an advertisement and puts it on a chain full of connotations that lead to one another. Such chain creates the path that leads to the underlying message of the ad that was once a discrete mystery. Such technique is so intriguing because all it takes is one simple term, but it takes that simple term one simple connotation step at a time to reveal the big picture. As someone who likes to solve problems, I am fond of the concept of find complex solutions through simplicity.

A magazine advertisement featuring Tom Brady for the shoe brand UGG Australia that advertises their men line is an ad that does not have too obvious of a message.  It features Tom Brady wearing UGG shoes sitting in the bleachers of an outdoors athletic venue, surrounded by a gray sky. He is also wearing casual outdoor male apparel that consists of jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

One signifier to look at could be the stadium background setting. A stadium, because it is generally used to host sporting events, evokes a connotation of sports. Sports can evoke the relate term athleticism. Athleticism involves the term physical activity. Physical activity can be associated with the term strength so it invokes that. Finally, strength is a term associated with masculinity, invoking that term and ending the chain to give us an idea of the message. The chain can be seen below.

Stadium Background = Sports = Athleticism = Physical Activity = Strength = Masculinity

Another signifier to analyze is the text on the advertisement saying “For Gamechangers”. The text involves the term game changer, meaning someone who significantly changes something. This can lead to a connotation that is the term changing course, and that term can trigger revolution. Revolution can trigger the term revolutionary. The chain can end there and give us another idea of the message of the ad.

“For Gamechangers” Text = Game Changer = Changing Course = Revolution = Revolutionary

Now to look at these signifiers. The first signifier that analyzes the stadium background setting conveys the idea of a manliness and a macho attitude. As for the “For Gamechangers” text, the idea conveyed is one having to do with revolutionizing and significantly changing the way of things. Putting the two connotation chains together, it can be said the message is insisting that UGG Australia's men shoes allow men to appear masculine and hardcore as ever, making a statement that will forever revolutionize the industry of men’s shoes. This advertisement’s message, once complex by the first look of the eye, is now decoded not only by picking out elements of it, but by analyzing its signifiers' chained paths of connotations.