Roland Barthes’ “Rhetoric of the Image“ essay from Image – Music – Text, Translated by Stephen Heath. Hill and Wang, 1977. (excerpt)
In the reading the author breaks down an image from Panzani from the elements that make this image to convey the message to the audience. The image was broken down into the objects that were in the image and what they added to what they are trying to convey to the audience. The way the objects were arrange and even the name of the brand help to convey the message to the audience. For the specific image that the author talks about the message that they are trying to convey is that the products high quality and that they are Italian based.
The reason why I think they focus in the products being Italian so much is because Italian pasta is known to be very good and to associate with their products that would give the message to the audience that its good products. Images are often use in advertisement to show the products to the audience. Some of the ways that the products are shown changes for example there might be a picture not directly showing the product but what the product does and the audience is able to associate the image with the product. This can help to persuade the audience to think highly of the product and want to buy it. For the example that the author is talking about the audience does need some prior knowledge about Italian culture or at least one of the things that people would often think about Italy.
The pasta and the other object lead the viewer to connect the two. The name of the brand sounds Italian which is just another clue to guide the audience. As the audience all of this it can influence us with all of this elements to view the brands and products a certain way that could lead us to be more likely to think that we should buy their product.
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