Television Commercial Semiotics Analysis Media Essay

Television Commercial Semiotics Analysis Media Essay In 2004, former Playboy centerfold and American reality television character Anna Nicole Smith starred in a 30-second television commercial for Trimspas diet product X-32. The principal had recently lost a significant amount of excess body weight after having appeared throughout an American reality series that seemed to capitalize on the shock value of her metamorphosis from a Playboy centerfold and fashion model to obesity in the years preceding her re-emergence as a sex symbol, presumably as a result of her use of the advertisers diet products. The dominant elements of the advertisement consisted of Smith attired in flamboyant gowns and posed provocatively in various postures and in conjunction with textual images superimposed over the visual images. A seductive female voice also emphasized the words displayed in the text. The textual component of the advertisement consisted of the words sexy, powerful, and attitude in connection with SPA portion of the manufacturers name suggesting a pneumonic connotation. The only other textual component appears in the form of the phrase Be Envied in the last frame of the commercial. A male voice is also heard saying Cutie; wont you come inside? A semiotic analysis of the commercial would focus on the psychological and social relevance of the sexual imagery and the connotations to gender roles, sexual desirability, and also to suggestions of wealth and privilege. More specifically, the advertisement highlights the reliance on gender roles and gender-based expectations in relation to independence and power, social class, and (especially) pop culture-based recognition and the influence of the link between celebrity, notoriety, and positive product association. Key Visual and Textual Elements of the Commercial and their Connotations The primary visual content of the commercial presents Anna Nicole Smith dressed and coiffed in a style that is apparently intended to draw connections (whether conscious or unconscious) to mid-20th century American film icon Marilyn Monroe, to whom Smith already bears a general likeness. From a semiotics perspective, the visual component of the commercial incorporates at least three distinct aspects of social codes (bodily, commodity, and behavioural codes); two aspects of representational or textual codes (genre and mass media codes); as well as both main aspects of interpretive codes (perceptual and ideological codes). More specifically, the commercial emphasises bodily codes (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, 2003, p.266) associated with sexuality, sexual aggressiveness, and sexual availability as Smith engages in exaggerated sexually provocative postures, gestures, and facial expressions. It also relies heavily on commodity codes (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, 2003, p.266) represented by the high-fashion gown worn by Smith and on behavioural codes (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, 2003, p.266) such as the dynamic between photographer and high-fashion model and the focus of attention on her. In that regard, the behavioural code consists of the portrayal of the respective roles of the photographer engaged in capturing images of the model on a set designed to suggest high-fashion and social privilege. To a certain degree, the use of social codes merges with textual codes, illustrating the basis of the traditional argument in favour of a broader interpretation of all semiotic codes as social codes (Hawkes, 1977, p.104). In that respect, the commercial exploits the perspective of both genre (in the apparent connection to Marilyn Monroe) and in its closely related reliance on Smiths notoriety from her (then) recent television series and her high-profile will contest proceedings over the estate of her deceased former husband, oil and business magnate J. Howard Marshall that eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court a decade after his death in 1996 at the age of 90 (Newman, 2007). It was Smiths controversial marriage to Marshall barely a year before his death and the decade-long media coverage of her claim to his entire estate and the probate contest it precipitated that apparently catapulted Smith to infamy more than anything else (Newman, 2007). Although the case was ultimately decid ed against her in 2006, her claim to the fortune likely generated the popular perception that Anna Nicole Smith represented fabulous wealth and privilege. That image, or more precisely, the consumption of that image by the American public as a function of perpetual tabloid coverage, provided the social framework for the connotations intended for exploitation by the advertiser. Finally, with respect to semiotic coding, the commercial images rely on interpretative coding in the form of both perceptual codes and ideological codes. More specifically, the body postures and facial expressions adopted by Smith throughout the commercial trigger hard-wired psychological responses in the areas of sexual signaling and sexual arousal (Gerrig Zimbardo, 2008, p.276). The obvious intent is to establish a deeper association in that regard than merely conscious absorption of the explicit messages in the commercial. Moreover, ideological coding is used to convey one of the most important take-aways intended by the advertiser to appeal to a hegemonic female audience: namely, through the notion that the product is associated with a departure from traditional ideological views and expectations of females as passive and dependent on males, particularly for their sexual identity and power. This use of both perceptual and ideological coding (specifically in relation to human sex uality) is one of the most powerful and common themes in product advertising; it has been since the dawn of the modern advertising age (Kahle Lynn, 2006, p. 27; Ogilvy, 1982, p.26). Thematic Interaction of Commercial Elements to Convey Meaning The commercial includes superimposed text in the form of three words (sexy, powerful, and attitude) in conjunction with the individual letters in the SPA portion of the manufacturers product. While the relevance of the word sexy is literal, the words powerful and attitude both rely heavily on the discursive concepts originally introduced in the context of semiotics by Michel Foucault (Harvey Evans, 2001). According to that analysis, the choice of language in the commercial fits within a discourse, or representational system that is a function on socially relevant codes and an interpretive repertoire of concepts, values, and myths that give them meaning (Harvey Evans, 2001). The notion of power is clearly meant to appeal to women primed to value or strive for the sexual autonomy of a feminist perspective. Likewise, the notion of attitude also represents an expectation or a right to have things as they wish rather than as they may be expected by society. The only other words that are audible besides those spoken by the female narrator who breathlessly repeats sexy, powerful, attitude are delivered by a male voice who says Cutie, wont you come inside? The relevance of that phrase is also a function of Foucaults discourse concept (Harvey Evans, 2001): it is likely meant to suggest a connection to an invitation (such as from a doorman) to enter an exclusive social club or other opportunity that is only an option for beautiful members of the privileged class. Given the other elements of the commercial and their relation to the discourse pertaining to female sexual independence, it may also be meant to suggest a much more sexually explicit concept as well. The last textual image of the commercial consists of the superimposition of the phrase Be Envied in the last frames. No formal analysis is necessary to identify the discourse upon the strategic purpose of that phrase relies. Specifically, envy is a natural human response with direct connections to perceptual codes as well as to commodity codes (Hawkes, 1977, p.107). In that respect, the impulse of envy is closely connected to the related desire to inspire envy in others (Ogilvy, 1982, p. 119) and, like sexuality, it is a very common (if not universal) discursive feature in modern advertising and product marketing (Ogilvy, 1982, p. 120). The contextual relevance of the phrase is simply that users of the Trimspa product will lose weight and become more beautiful, more sexually desirable, more sexually powerful, and more envied by others in society. Conclusion The 2004 Trimspa X-32 commercial features an extremely recognisable American cultural icon believed to embody beauty, sexuality, wealth, and privilege. The fact that she happened to lose a substantial amount of weight (whether or not with the help of cosmetic surgery as had been rumoured) fit perfectly within the scope of the advertisement. The commercial emphasizes a wide range of semiotic social codes, representational or textual codes, and interpretive codes. It exploits a connection to a another former American film icon as well as several different discursive elements in relation to the modern rejection of traditional roles of and social constraints imposed on women in patriarchal societies. Those semiotic elements merge with explicit connotations associated with promises of enviable beauty and sexual desirability as well as with the exploitation of the human failing represented by the natural impulse to envy others and to inspire theirs.

Aerosol Spray Cans :: essays research papers fc

Aerosol Spray Cans   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spray cans produce an aerosol, the technical term for a very fine spray. They do this by means of a pressurized propellant, which is a liquid that boils at everyday temperatures. Inside the can, a layer of gaseous pressure increased, and eventually it becomes so high that boiling stops. when the nozzle is pressed, the gas pressure forces the product up the tube in the can and out of the nozzle in a spray or foam. The propellant may emerge as well but, now under less pressure, it immediately evaporates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First patented in the US in 1941, aerosol spray cans have been used as convenient packages for an ever increasing range of products including paints, insecticides, and shaving cream to name a few. The can is filled with the product to be sprayed and the propellant, a compressed gas such as butane or Freon. The gas is partly liquefied by the pressure in the can, but there is a layer of free gas above the liquid. As the can empties liquefied gas vaporizes to fill the space.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The valve is normal held shut by the pressure in the can, and by the coil spring directly below the valve stem. When the push button is pressed, it forces the valve stem down in its housing, uncovering a small a small hole which leads up through the stem to the nozzle in the button. This allows the product to be forced up the dip tube by the gas pressure in the can. The nozzle is shaped to give a spray or a continuous stream.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To produce a fine mist, a propellant is used which mixes with the product. The two leave the nozzle together and the propellant evaporates a soon as it reaches the air, breaking the product in to tiny droplets. The same technique used with a more viscous liquid and a wider nozzle results in a foam. For a continuous stream of liquid or more viscous material, a nonmixing propellant is used, and the dip tube reaches into the product.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The widespread use of aerosol cans using Freon as the propellant led scientists to believe by the late 1970s that the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere, which filters out harmful Ultraviolet radiation from the sun, could be destroyed by the large quantities of fluorocarbons in the gas being release into the air. Federal controls were introduced to ban the use of Freon, and other propellants are now employed, notably butane which, however is dangerously flammable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Among young people in United States, conventional drug or alcohol abuse has given away-for an increasing number of teen-agers-to a practice called

Land for Human Needs or Endangered Animals

Some people may own the idea that since animal is inferior to human beings, human has the rights to deprive lands which the animals living in. I can not confute that human needs lands eagerly, however, we still have the responsibility to call back the endangered animals. Species evolved slowly with thousands of hundreds of centuries of development. Certain species has certain type of living. As a result, hardly can it be alive when we suddenly changed its living pace. Certainly we know it, whereas, we are still changing their living place by cutting down trees, polluting the water, and using land which originally belongs to theirs to build metropolitans for us to stay. Now that human can be aware of the danger the animals are facing, we should protect the habitats of endangered animals. Another important reason to protect endangered animals is that they keep the ecological balance of the very area which might be harmed by their extinction. For instance, if people destroy the forests the birds are living in and use it for growing crops, the number of pests will increase sharply, resulting from the decrease of birds. The result is, not only did birds lose their homes, human have also be harmed. Thus, to prevent this kind of tragedy happen, why not try to cut down the demand of land? Maybe you just did a tiny thing, but you made a big progress. Moreover, I think it is cruel to show the specimen of a panda to our descendants, or point to a sample in a museum and tell them this is the Siberian tiger. We are able to see the real one while they cannot, and the cause of this inequality is owing to the destruction of land. What a shame! Therefore, I cannot agree with the idea that human needs for farmland, housing, and industry are more important than saving land for endangered animals.

Company collapses essays

Company collapses essays Over the years, there have been many situations where companies have decided to inaccurately alter its reporting of costs and measurement of revenue in order to achieve a greater level of profitability on paper. This may have come as a result of the increased level of competition within businesses, which also brought about changes within organisations in general, with organisations looking to new costing systems such as Activity Based Costing (ABC) as a means to increase their levels of efficiency and profitability. Traditional costing systems were seen to be highly inaccurate due to the large focus on labour intensive jobs, however as of late, with the move to less labour intensive focused jobs, it has highlighted the importance of the management and accountants role in reporting costs and measuring its revenue accurately and timely. Although there are no enforceable rules, management and accountants are expected to present a true view of the business financial position, in order to provide those involved with the organization a outlook on the state of the business and the level of profitability. With HIH not recording a great level of its costs, and including revenue in which it shouldnt have, this led to a great outlook on the organisations financial position in which it really didnt have. Although this was good in the short run, it eventually led to the collapse of the business, because the way in which costs were reported, and revenue was measured was not acceptable. Critically evaluate this statement: Since there are apparently no enforceable standards and rules for management and cost accounting, whatever the company and accountants want to do in reporting costs and revenue measurements must be acceptable. Evaluating the above statement requires an in-depth look at the main features of the subject which include management and cost accounting. This essay attempts to highlight the...

Technetium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Technetium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements Technetium (Masurium)Â   Atomic Number: 43 Symbol: Tc Atomic Weight: 98.9072 Discovery: Carlo Perrier, Emilio Segre 1937 (Italy) found it in a sample of molybdenum that had been bombarded with neutrons; erroneously reported Noddack, Tacke, Berg 1924 as Masurium. Electron Configuration: [Kr] 5s2 4d5 Word Origin: Greek technikos: an art or technetos: artificial; this was the first element made artificially. Isotopes: Twenty-one isotopes of technetium are known, with atomic masses ranging from 90-111. Technetium is one of two elements with Z 83 with no stable isotopes; all of technetiums isotopes are radioactive. (The other element is promethium.) Some isotopes are produced as uranium fission products. Properties: Technetium is a silvery-gray metal that tarnishes slowly in moist air. Common oxidation states are 7, 5, and 4. The chemistry of technetium is similar to that of rhenium. Technetium is a corrosion inhibitor for steel and is an excellent superconductor at 11K and below. Uses: Technetium-99 is used in many medical radioactive isotope tests. Mild carbon steels may be effectively protected by minute quantities of technetium, but this corrosion protection is limited to closed systems because of technetiums radioactivity. Element Classification: Transition Metal Technetium Physical Data Density (g/cc): 11.5 Melting Point (K): 2445 Boiling Point (K): 5150 Appearance: silvery-gray metal Atomic Radius (pm): 136 Covalent Radius (pm): 127 Ionic Radius: 56 (7e) Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 8.5 Specific Heat (20Â °C J/g mol): 0.243 Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 23.8 Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 585 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.9 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 702.2 Oxidation States: 7 Lattice Structure: Hexagonal Lattice Constant (Ã…): 2.740 Lattice C/A Ratio: 1.604Â   Sources: CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.)Crescent Chemical Company (2001)Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952)Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001)

The Organization System - Organizational Change and Stress Management Term Paper - 1

The Organization System - Organizational Change and Stress Management - Term Paper Example The response to the first and the ninth question indicates that physical exhaustion is the major reason which is pushing me towards job burnout while mental exhaustion is also taking over as indicated by the response towards the second and the last question. Everybody experiences job burnout at one point in their career. It is a kind of job stress which affects a person physically as well as emotionally. A person feels utterly exhausted and doubts his abilities and competence. Job burnout was identified in the early 1970s and since then has become a topic of study with researchers and psychologists trying to determine the various causes and factors which often leave a person frustrated and drained. Job burnout is a global problem but is treated differently in different societies. In some countries it is considered a social problem while others treat it as a medical problem. At first it was thought that job burnout was restricted to those workers involved in human services such as nur ses, policemen, social workers and legal workers etc. However, as further studies were carried out, it was noted that job burnout was not restricted to people associated with social and health services only; even entrepreneurs, managers and white and blue collared persons suffered from a deep sense of depression and depletion in their jobs (Schaufeli et al, 2009). Job burnout reduces productivity as the worker begins to question his own talents and abilities and fails to come up with any useful contribution let alone face challenges. Although job burnout is quite common and is a hazard that plagues every occupation, the professionals who suffer from this emotional trauma the most are those associated with the police department and nursing. Pines (2005) devised the Burnout Measure or the BM method comprises of twenty one items pertaining to feelings and attitudes such as physical exhaustion; feeling weak or sickly and losing sleep; emotional exhaustion such as feeling depressed and h opeless and mental exhaustion such as feeling worthless like a failure and disappointed with people (Pines 2005). The answers were judged on a scale of 1 to 7 with responses ranging from never to always. According to Pine, a score of 4 indicates a burnout. The BM is the most commonly used burnout inventory and also enjoys a high internal consistency. A study of correlation between various work stressors and BMS scores in table four showed that the work environment factors contributed strongly towards burnout. The people examined were Israeli Jews and Arabs who were involved in police work force, nursing or were MBA students. Table 4 showed the responses of the police workforce and it is evident that the personnel are experiencing high job burnout which may affect the safety in jails and prisons. Poor working conditions, under staffing which means working under pressure to complete tasks such as cell searches, inmate count, paper work, security rounds and apathy and lack of interest from superiors led to job dissatisfaction and growing negative feelings. The Burnout Measure devised by Pines is the second most important measure of job burnout; the first one being the Maslach Burnout Inventory which according to Schaufeli is the â€Å"gold standard to assess burnout† (Schaufeli et al, 2009). Researchers and practitioners view burnout differently; according to some, exhaustion is the only force behind job burnout

Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Palestinian-Israeli Conflict - Case Study Example Several peace solutions were made since the PLO was granted the observer status in the UN as the delegate of the Palestinian Arabs in the year 1974. Along with the UNRWA which was set up in 1949 for relief of the Palestinian refugees, numerous UN institutions were set up to support the cause of the Palestinians. The UN General Assembly resolution 3379 in 1975 which declared Zionism to be a form of racism caused the UN to lose the complete credibility as a neutral mediator in the eyes of Israel and the peace process was never an easy task for the international community. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 after the US mediation, for which Israel returned the Sinai Desert to Egypt. The secret negotiations in Oslo resulted in an agreement between Israel and the Palestine in which a Palestinian National Authority was established under the leadership of Arafat and the PLO in 1994 and Israel was agreeable to gradually transfer land to this authority. However, theOslo peace proc essgot slowed down as both the parties did not stick to agreements they made and the leadership on both sides failed to build confidence and to prepare their own people for the necessary compromises. Thus, confrontations continued and the peace process gradually dragged on towards the negotiations on Camp David in 2000 which was also a failure. The then US president Bill Clinton presented the 'bridging proposals' in December 2000 which suggested the parameters for a final compromise that included a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and about 97% of the West Bank, division of Jerusalem and no right of return to Israel for Palestinian refugees. Whereas Israel received this proposal in principle, Palestinian was not ready to accept the suggestion. The two sides failed to reach a settlement in the last minute negotiations at Taba in January2001, in spite of further Israeli concessions. Both the sides, in a joint communiqu, agreed that they had never been so close to an agreeme nt, though issues such as the refugee issue remained. The peace process continued and new negotiations were made in the course of time. "Although both parties accepted the 'Road Map to Peace', launched by the Quartet of US, UN, EU and Russia in 2003, no serious peace negotiations have taken place in recent years between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon did take unilateral measures such as the disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but he demanded an end to Palestinian terrorism before he would engage in negotiations with Arafat's successor Abbas concerning final status issues." (The Arab-Israeli Conflict) However, the peace process for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is still going on and the international community is expecting a miracle in the solution of the long struggle and the ongoing dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The most pertinent obstacle among the various obstacles against a final and peaceful conclusion to the Palestinian Isra eli conflic