The 1952 Van Heusen advertisement has the tagline “The world’s smartest shirts,” an example of a midway stereotypical advertisement. The advertisement is promoting a class of men’s formal shirts. The advertisement reflects mass stereotypes that prevailed globally in earlier times. Semiotic and cultural theories from Saussure, Peirce, Barthes, and Hall can be used to analyze stereotypes in detail. A detailed critical analysis will be carried out through the dissection of advertisement elements using semiotic elements and cultural theories. A breakdown of elements will be done using Barthes’ ideas from his essay “Rhetoric of the Image,” in which he mentioned that the coded and non-coded messages will be discussed and linked with our advertisement. The audience interpretations discussed in Stuart Hall’s theories will also be implemented for our advertising article, and the link to them will be derived. 

       The Van Heusen 1952 advertisement, which promotes “The world’s smartest shirts,” was created during an era where traditional societal norms were still broadly valued alongside economic growth following the end of World War II in the United States. The advertisement, made by the advertising agency Calkins and Holden, was directed toward American men who belong to the middle class, which also reflects the era’s upward social mobility and homogeneity characteristics (Berger). The Van Heusen 1952 advertisement can also be discussed regarding its visual elements and how they relate to the period. Its design reflects the dominant aesthetics of the decade, using bold colors and large, straightforward fonts. The imagery follows the ideals of masculinity and the characteristics of innovative and sophisticated men (McDonald et al. 585-609). The text and elements chosen for the Van Heusen 1952 advertisement cater to the audience intended to be reached while promoting social hierarchy and the racial as well as gender stereotypes that accompany it. Socioculturally, the United States in the 1950s was centered around a gendered and racialized social structure that upheld hierarchy. The economic prosperity after World War I shifted social focus to consumption, and advertising became a significant tool for representing and maintaining common perceptions and established ideologies (Berger). The Van Heusen 1952 ad campaign represents a time and place where ambition and conformity to the American dream were socially expected features, and its target audience was middle-class white people (Yan and Hyman 185-199). Media portrayals often used racial motifs, and the common representations accepted them, reinforcing existing ideologies and perceptions (Davis). Overall, the climate of representation in the 1950s in the United States shaped the advertisements and influenced their perception, as people were expected to perceive such cultural phenomena as the existing norm. 

       The advertisement for Van Heusen 1952 utilizes a careful layout and organization of visual components to establish its intended meaning. The objects in the advertisement, including the dress shirts, are the most salient as they are the central signified that symbolize the intended meaning of elegance and high-class status. Additionally, the models in the advertisement are positioned to reinforce the social characteristics of the 1950s dress shirts as white male shoppers are dominant, fulfilling the notion of social orders and standards of 1950s America (Davis). The background and setting of the advertisement are also carefully utilized with a focus on geometric shapes and muted colors, which is representative of Barthes’ notion of the “rhetoric of the image,” where there is an entire message created by the setting components (Guibourgé). The typography plays a role in the image complementarity as the font selected also uses bold and high-class letters to enhance the overall meaning, thus playing a role in bringing both the coded and non-coded iconic messages. The advertisement undoubtedly plays into the outlined meanings that connect with the hierarchy of needs the audience may possess.

       In the Van Heusen 1952 advertisement, racial stereotypes are evident in the choice of models and visual representation. The advertisement features only white male models, which positions the clothing brand as a representation of upper-class, white masculinity. This aligns with societal norms and expectations of the 1950s, where whiteness was often associated with privilege and authority (Davis). By adhering to these visual codes, the advertisement reinforces the perceived social hierarchies and marginalizes other racial identities. Barthes’ concept of the “rhetoric of the image” provides insight into how visual representation in advertisements can be used to perpetuate social constructs and stereotypes (Guibourgé). The use of homogeneous racial representation reinforces the idea that this image of masculinity is the norm, further embedding racial stereotypes within the advertising narrative. 

       The advertisement of Van Heusen in 1952 can be analyzed using semiotic terms to expose the message it was ostensibly trying to convey to its target audience. The advertisement’s ciphered signs, such as the portrayal of white male models, were signifiers of success and sophistication, therefore endorsing the racial stereotyping of the era. The signified elements associating these models with notions of social and economic status communicated a message confined to the dominant codes of the 1950s (Davis) • Given Hall’s encoding-decoding model, it can be assumed then that there were contradicting receptions of the advertisement among the audiences: and indeed, it was dominant, where various audiences accepted these stereotypes as social norms (Oktayusita et al. 125-132). The other set of audiences, nevertheless, brings in a set of oppositional or negotiated readings, which challenge the racial and gender biases embedded within the advertisement’s very imagery and message. 

       The analysis of the Van Heusen 1952 ad explains how it promotes racial stereotypes, abiding by the societal norms with which it cockled in its era. The use of white male models in this advertisement as symbols of success further cemented the racial biases already extant, acting according to the leading cultural codes of 1950. Initially, the audience for whom the advertisement was developed may have perceived the stereotypes as mere portrayals of societal norms, such as work wherein one can see the dominant reading that Hall might present. Nowadays, one might think about an oppositional reading countering the racial and gender biases implicit in the images and meanings conveyed within the advertisement. Ultimately, the negotiation of the reading of the advertisement encompasses the recognition of the contemporary and historical perspectives on race and representation. 

Annotated Bibliography

Berger, A. A. “Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising’s Impact on American Character and Society.” Books.Google.Com, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020.

Davis, J. F. “Representation Matters: An Illustrated History of Race and Ethnicity in Advertising.” Advertising & Society Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 3, 2020,

Guibourgé, J. “Semiotics Applied to Advertisements.” Hal. Science, L’Harmattan, 2020.

McDonald, R. E., et al. “The Interplay between Advertising and Society: An Historical Analysis.” Journal of Macromarketing, vol. 41, no. 4, 2021, pp. 585-609, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0276146720964324.

Oktayusita, S. H., et al. “Reception Analysis of Millennials Generation to Ads in Social Media.” Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi, vol. 17, no. 2, 2020, pp. 125-32, http://www.jurnal.upnyk.ac.id/index.php/komunikasi/article/view/3696.

Yan, Q., and M. R. Hyman. “How Can We Minimize Visual Stereotypes in Ads?” Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, vol. 43, no. 2, 2022, pp. 185-99, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10641734.2021.1957044

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