Assignment 01: Semiotic Analysis Part 2 (Local)

Basically this advertisement is to tell information about smoking habit. This advertisement is about two men and a women who was a smoker. They are hardcore smoker that they had suffered with terrible diseases. Two men had to cut their leg because of cancer. The women was suffered mouth cancer that she cannot talk even to his son. This advertisement is intended to the audience who are smokers and also to the non smokers to showed that smoke is a bad habit. This advertisement want to showed message that smoke can make our body damaged. The people who are in the advertisement are really suffered of their disease but only now they realized that they had important responsibility and family. By this action, smokers maybe can stop to smoke and for the non smokers, they are scare or have the point that smoke is a bad habit and dangerous to people. They also can tell other people who are start to smoke or smoke to stop smoking and have a good living life. People who watched this advertisement also will automatically realize that they have family and special people beside them. The cultural assumptions for the smokers who read the text can be something a bluffing or jokes because there are hardcore smokers who are living good health but for non smokers, they are scare to start smoke because they saw what will happen if they start to smoke. Smoke is a bad habit that you should not to start and it is your responsibility to stop it.

The important of the background information in this video is showing the feeling of someone who care about the smoker life, the things that happen in the world that people don’t see unless it happen at their surroundings, these background information give the feeling and awareness of what will happen to them if they continue doing smoking and what will happen to the people who love them, their feelings and thought, the background information bring out the true colors of the message in the text of being shown, it give more conveyable feeling and understandable massage why they need to listen to the warn or message they wanted to convey to the people or smokers, so they can rethink their action of what they doing and make it more interesting to see rather than just a plain wording.

The reality of the text construct is saying that by smoking, people can get lung cancer, mouth cancer and gangrene. It the fact of what happen to the people who smoking, the causes and effect, it also bring harm to others, either directly or indirectly, example like people surrounding and how the people sees the smoker. What will happen to them, the text construct is desperately asking for people to stop smoking and thinking of other people who thinking of them, as like smoker are continuing destroying themselves and other people feeling by stating the causes and effect and the rejecting words like “Tak Nak Merokok!” and “Quit Now” at the end of the video and making it big enough to clearly stated what is their message focusing at.

How far does the text reflect or depart from dominant cultural values?

From my point of view about the video, what exactly meaning on this video is community. It includes all races that were Malay, Indian and Chinese. From that message, the video shown on how each races alert regarding what happen on them. The message realizes these three races on how the effect going when they stuck in disease that called ‘smoking’. From what they got by smoking, they realize and regret. They depart from dominant cultural values because all they fault. Smoking is like trend for all these three races, they usually did not aware what big effect on the smoking.

The alternate readings in the video are the full meaning on how it going to delivered to the audience. At first, the video does not spoil what the video going to tells about. It was using the metaphor likes what happen on the patient and why they stressing about. Each patient has their pair, the patient feel regretful on their worst condition and thinking like guilty on their love people. Others, I can saw that meaning by watching the patient with no leg and the Chinese girl with broken mouths. The last one is the nurse watching their son take the smoke cigarette case and his mom tell to him ‘don’t break my heart’. His son feels weird and throws out the cigarette case in the rubbish.

First of all this text had influenced many peoples and yes this text been read extensively outside the intended audience. This text is originally to tell the smokers to stop from smoking because it had causes and bad effects to their life. As an example, heavy smokers can have a lung cancer or bronchitis or even worse mouth cancer. So in my opinion for the unintended audience which means the people who are been exposed to the smoke that been released by the smokers around them. The smoke actually can harm their life also so they also take the text or the message been delivered by the poster seriously to protect their life and their beloved ones. Besides that the reading may be different for the smokers who are never been sick or experience all the diseases been mention above. All of them would deny the truth that smokings are dangerous because it not affect their life. Moreover, from my opinion the text that has influenced this text is “no smoking” because from the text no smoking the people actually does not see the effect of smoking to their life. So with this text it tells you the effect from smoking which is bad to their life. Furthermore, this text have been an influenced to the likes of text that been used by other people to know smoking are bad and extremely dangerous to our life.

The meaning of this text will change over time because every person in this earth have their own way of thinking. Some think it in a good way, and some may think it in a bad way. For smokers nowadays, they seem to void this commercial about the bad outcome of smoking. They still not afraid of the disease that they might get when they smokes.

This is because it has not happen to them yet. But if they was infected by the disease, they will think it in a different way. They will start to feel scare and regret.

The influence of this text on reality or humanity is that people are shown about what kind of disease they might get if they smoke cigarette. When people know about all this, they can start to think about the danger and start to slowly quit smoking.

Maybe it was hard for them to quit smoking, but when they see more signs and symbols like this commercial, they might have the will to quit smoking as soon as possible before it was too late.

When I relate this text to my own values, I am quite satisfied with the communication they use to send the context or messages to the receiver which was the smokers.

In this scene, we can see that a box of cigarettes has been thrown away in the dustbin. Which shows that all the smokers need to do the same so that they don’t break their love ones heart. The fonts are not very scary to warn the smokers about all the disease they might get when they started smoking.

Assignment 01: Semiotic Analysis Part 1 (International)

For this semiotic studies assignment 1 we have to choose an image to analyze, to comment and to understand what embedded behind the image and what message the image would like to deliver.  For this assignment our group choose an image portraying the Nike motto "Just Do It" which is by its own word portrayed a lot of different meaning based on what you are thinking. The image show a boy with his dog simply peeing at the wall besides the logo which make sense to us that the boy influenced by the logo simply do what he want where he want. Relating to this concept, the readings of Arnheim, Barthes and McCloud and their discussion on semiotic, Arnheim says " the terms sign, symbol and picture do not stand for kinds of images, but rather, describe the function fulfilled by the images.

            Based on the picture given, the audience that intended to the text is the audience that used Nike as their main product or on the other hand, people who hated Nike. Perhaps we can said or assumed that the users is a sportsman. We can see the Nike's symbol and the text that is ' Just Do It'. The text means that just do whatever you believe or just make something until it finished but in the term of Nike, the text mean just wear the Nike products. The symbol of the Nike also is like a true sign, so it is correspond with it text. The text intend message for people to do something without think what people want to say or critics. From the semiotics sign principle, symbol is 'All words, sentences, books and other conventional signs are symbols'. It means that Nike's icons give users feels some feeling that tell them they wear the right products. The icons and the text give many impression for people, this is show how semiotics works.

            Codes are maps of meaning, systems of ideas that people use to interpret their own and others' behavior. For example, might be a particular ideas about how the kid doing in the picture. It is about doing that. The dog seeing him doing that and the title “Just Do It” is meant for the advertisement on what impossible thing we do, we just do it. For sure it delivered message to audience. The advertisement means to make people do it even have proper condition or bad condition. The important background information to read this text is the text “Just Do It” combined with the kid what he doing without feel ashamed about his doing. When the audience looks at the advertisement, audience will expect the advertisement is bad but when looking the text maybe it will be acceptable.

            The function of the text to show that the reality the positive thinking by stating that nobody can stop you by the word “JUST DO IT”, the word can be hold in various meaning depending on how the people interpret it, in this case, “JUST DO IT” hold the very deep meaning of self-confident on their be doing, it feel like it stating that all is right but it can be not, the text is to show positive thinking not to judge what right and what wrong. The text reflect more than departing from the dominant cultural values, it directly shows that what are the meaning behind the text displayed by giving a statement what is are being advertised.

            An alternate reading is any reading that differs from the mainly or commonly accepted interpretation. The alternate reading of this picture is when people think of this picture out of the box. It is means that people have kind of thoughts about this picture. As an example, a student in a school have a differ thought of something in their syllabus which can make people see something from a different side of perspective. It also gives them some ideas which can expand their mind and always make the student to think outside of the box.

As for the picture we choose, it can be differ and can be read extensively outside from the intended audience. For us this picture send a big meaning that we actually can do anything by ourselves and achieves something but for who those does not think out of the box, for they send them a message that people can pee anywhere and anytime they want.

            Based on this advertisement, by Nike , with the tag-line “Just Do It”  and also the with a swoosh symbols can be interpreted many meaning. Every signs have donatives and connotative meanings and are used as codes. The donatives for this tag-line “Just Do It” can be do not think, do not talk about it, do not regret it, just win it and many else. The victorious is the right mean for connotative. It is because by “just do it” can have a chance of winning than losing. This text usually heard by athletes because their career is sport so to living on the game must win. So  by winning it they will get bonus. That make this text so influenced.   This text can be so meaningful. It is because just by a little word can change over something. For example, football games. Team A is losing, their mentality is so down but if their coach say ‘just do it’ maybe the games can turn over. This quote can inspired the player. For this picture, that boy can pee everywhere he want. Only thing left just do it and think later.

            The influence of this text on reality or humanity can be positive or negative. It becomes positive when people look at it as something good. Which means every person in this world have their own freedom to do what they want and anywhere they want.  As in the picture, it may show that the logo “Just Do It” is saying that you can do it without any hesitation. While the “right” symbol are saying that you are doing the right thing which was peeing anywhere you want. But, it become negative when younger people like kids who are still learning the right way of being a sane human see this text. They might misunderstand the concept and they may think that they can also pee anywhere they like which are very rude. This text related to my own values in its own ways. I can see the connotative and denotative in the text “Just Do It” and the symbol “right (correct)”. The signs are related to the kid who are peeing next to the sign because the sign says that boy can just do it. So the boy just pee right there, thinking that his action was right. If we look it using values, the action of the boy is not good for public because it has its own negative and positive meanings

            The tagline "Just Do It" although simple but it stand for much larger meaning which is don't think, don't ask, don't talk about it, don't regret it, just do it. Nike who are always portrayed athlete or celebrity for their advertisement or their icon try to embedded a message through their advertisement and campaign. An athlete are always seen as having supreme power and mentality at the top of their game. They seem to have the desire to be free, independent and trying to overcome all obstacles coming and one can see this as motivation for them to be an athlete or to become a greater athletes.

Nike had been doing a good job in playing with their signs that show us that signs are really important to us in daily life. The embedded message hid behind their signs is becoming a motto or the way of life for the new generation thus inspire them to be good, to be better.