Monday, March 2, 2009
Semiotics, The Golden Arches, and Baby McFry
Semiotics is the study of signs. Roland Barthes is the main theorist of semiotics.He saught to decipher the cultural meaning of visual signs, particularly those perpetuating dominant social values. Before Barthes a swiss theorist designed the components that make up any analysis of a sign, his name was Saussare. Saussare said in every analysis of a sign there is a signified and a signifier.The chapter really explores more of what Barthe called mythologies of the sign, for instance the symbol of the "yellow ribbon". I found it so interesting how it's meaning was deconstructed over time. it still begs the question how did that start? In my search for representative media for semiotics I found much of it dealing with simply the sign and the signifier, and signified, but I am really interested in Barthes idea of the mythology for signs. Something I considered comparable to the "yellow ribbon" are the world famous McDonalds "Golden Arches", because in it's simplest form it is really just a letter M, but when it became the golden arches the implications became so much more. It now has a mythology. I think in some ways just the word arches denotes it's like a "wonder of the world" the 8th, right up there with the statue of liberty and the Taj Mahal. it sounds crazy, but it is so engrained in us as actual arches that the word and image have that power. It's really a stroke of advertising genuis. Arches meaning always welcoming, and big enough to house the whole world. This may be going too far but there is also something spiritual, biblical, angelic in the figure of a golden arch, like walking under it will bring health, etc, and to think it's really just an M in the word McDonalds. i think the arches are half of the reason McDonalds is the biggest fast food chain in the world. This is a theory of my own, i guess, and I could not find anything specific linking the arches to semiotics, but just when I'd about given up hope I came across this, baby McFry. So what can we see in this image, what are the signs saying? I think a lot.
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I have to agree with Brian that the McDonalds arch has truly become a mythological symbol for them over time. To say that it is one of the leading reasons as to why they are ranked the top fast food chain in the world is an understatement, and yet it does seem foolish seeing as it just a silly yellow “M.” It is incredible how much money goes into advertising nowadays and how much thought is behind ad campaigns to try and grab the attention of the consumer into buying a certain product over another. Just last week, a $3 million ad campaign for Tropicana was completely destroyed due to an unhappy response from consumers to the new look of the Tropicana carton, and they are now returning to the original to keep customers happy. To think that something as small as the look of an orange juice carton could really turn someone off to buying a product further is almost ridiculous in itself, especially right now with the current state of the economy. I remember when I was younger though and on family road trips, how happy I would be to see the big “M” for McDonalds when I was hungry in the morning and wanted a breakfast sandwich. It is silly how something as simplistic as a big “M” can really catch the eye of someone and really symbolize so much for someone, and yet it has become a true reality in the world today.
ReplyDeleteThe golden arches that have become the symbol of McDonalds is a great example. Having read this post, I actually looked up the history of the arches. As Brian pointed out that arches represented "always welcoming, and big enough to house the whole world," the arches were actually a part of the restaurant itself. Although it has now been reduced to solely the symbol, I can see the significance or meaning of arches, and why it could have been chosen to represent this brand.
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ReplyDeleteMcDonald's golden arches are a great example of the transformation from one semiological system to another. The ideology behind the arches, that consumers accept, is part of a mythic semiological system. I think it is amazing how this secondary system will forever be linked to the McDonald's experience and the McDonald's brand. Truly this adoption of the golden arches is a genius marketing tool because it recreates a positive sign and transforms it into a branding tool for McDonald's. It seems that Mcdonalds is a corporation built on several different connotative signs. The food itself (Big mac, french fries, Chicken McNuggets) and the restaurant logos all seems to be part of a system of signs which attach new ideology to common images or symbols. Another example of a company creating a secondary system for an image is the Camel Cigarette company and their adoption of Joe Camel. The image of a camel used by Camel will usually always be recognized as the company's logo and will represent a specific connotation.
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