A Semiotic analysis of a Vogue Advertisement

Through the process of being advertised, a product becomes a representation of everything the reader desires to become. "What the advertisement clearly does is thus to signify, to represent to us, the object of desire" (Williamson 1978, p. 60). It could therefore be argued that the most important concept in advertising is the notion of ‘me’. In order to be successful, advertisements need to portray an image of ‘me’ and tell us how to make it even more appealing, attractive, sexy etc. In this way the product is given personality, communicating not only information but also image. Due to the fact that it i

When we talk about ‘ideology’, in the sense of a dictionary definition of the word, we are generally talking about shared ways of thinking by a class of people or a society.

Often magazines such as this adopt their own identifying slogan which appears on the spine of every edition. For example, Marie Claire magazine carries the slogan ‘for women of the world’ and the magazine Cleo has adopted the slogan ‘she’s smart, she’s sexy, she’s cleo’. These slogans themselves are also signs and connote values and qualities such as youth, confidence, sociability etc. In contradiction with this, however, Vogue has not assumed such a slogan. The reason for this may simply be that the name of the magazine is considered significant enough. In the dictionary alone the word ‘vogue’ is defined as meaning; fashion, style, the latest rage, fashionableness and popularity, to name just a few. In a case where the title of the magazine alone carries such positive connotations the possibility that an additional slogan is found unnecessary is not surprising. It is through the use of titles such as Vogue and any accompanying slogans that further notions of feminine identity are projected. It is important to remember that "the function of women’s magazines is to provide readers with a sense of community, comfort and pride in this mythic feminine identity"(Bignell 1997, p. 61).

For the purpose of analysing an advertisement I have chosen an advert for Louis Vuitton. The advert is taken from the magazine Vogue Australia (Oct 2002). Vogue is one of a group of magazines aimed at women from any ethnic background, aged between approximately 18-35, who have money to spend on clothes and cosmetics. Vogue Australia is internationally recognised as the fashion and beauty bible. This said, however, it is important to remember that in most cases the magazine is not only read by the purchaser but often by a variety of other readers, and that "not all the readers will belong to the group of women which the magazine targets, and some readers will be men" (Bignell 1997, p. 58). Messages are rarely read in the way by everybody who perceives them.

This double page advert for Louis Vuitton denotatively shows a blonde woman very smartly and immaculately dressed, carrying luggage, appearin

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