Semiotic analysis is useful for examining texts, to "unravel structures of meaning beyond mere presence or absence" (Van Zoonen: 74). In this essay semiotics will be used to discuss ways that gender is represented in a Nescafe advertisement published in CLEO. The idea of first, second and third orders of signification, as outlined by Liesbet Van Zoonen, can be used as one way to analyse this advertisement, by describing the literal elements of the image (denotation), interpreting the associations that the image draws upon (connotation), and finally identifying the manifest expression structuring the overall meaning of the advertisement.
Identification of relevant signs and their dominant aspects is the first step in making a semiotic analysis. This advertisement for Nescafè Espresso Coffee features male Greek/Australian celebrity Nick Giannopoulos (aka 'The Wog Boy'), striking a pose on the dance-floor.…
