Roland Barthes’ “Rhetoric of the Image“ essay from Image – Music – Text, Translated by Stephen Heath. Hill and Wang, 1977. (excerpt)
In this excerpt, we get an understanding of the difference between denotation and connotation in the advertising language. We also get an understanding of the messages offered to us through this image.Â
In this advert, we see a variety of products that the general public would strongly consider symbolizes the Italian culture. We see multiple packs of pasta, a can of salsa, a pack of cheese, one very, very red tomato, onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Similar to what Roland Barthes states, the bag holding all of these products makes it look like the carrier just came from the market. One look at the advertisement and viewers are being reeled into either a familiar or brand new lifestyle. All of that is done through connotation. Connotation is used to portray a symbolic or cultural meaning. It is easy for viewers to identify what the image is trying to say to us. The text within the packaging designs are very apparent to the world what it might mean at first look. In advertising, this is very good use of branding since not much mental work is needed to be done and viewers instantly understand and relate to what the visual message is. I believe that denotation, on the other hand, is used in the headline or tagline on the bottom of the page, where it states, “Pates, Sauce, Parmesan”. Denotation, in this case, refers to the literal message that the text reveals. That message puts a stamp of approval to the minds of anyone who didn’t understand the image at first glance. However, what throws viewers off is the text below in French, “A L’italienne de luxe”. It would be funny to see the reaction of those who don’t speak or understand the native tongue once they realize what language the headline is…. despite the “Italianicity” of the ad.
Barthes states that in this image, we were given three forms of messages: a linguistic message, a coded-iconic message, and a non-coded-iconic message. All of these messages work together to gives viewers a clear understanding of what is being shown.
Leave a Reply