Use of Symbolism and Semiotics in 1980 Print Advertisement - Essay Example

Here Here March 19, Mixed Messages in Denim: Deciphering the Semiotics in a Famous 1980 Print Advertisement According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the concept of semiotics is defined as “a general philosophical theory of signs and symbols that deals especially with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages and comprises syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics” (2012). When translating this definition to the world of journalism, marketing and advertising, the principle of semiotics can be in the notion of determining how to interpret the intended message of advertisement for consumers. For the purpose of this assignment, the advertisements to be analyzed are the famed 1980 Calvin Klein print and television advertisements which featured the then 15-year-old Brooke Shields in a skin tight pair of the designer’s denim jeans. Tagged with the slogan “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing,” these advertisements capitalized on using the symbolism of sex and sexuality to equal the power and attractiveness of clothing. In order to demonstrate this notion, this paper will analyze the use of symbolism and semiotics through this advertisement as well as discuss the ramifications this famous advertisement had through the public and determine what the effects of those issues had on the Calvin Klein brand. Print Advertisement Description In beginning this essay topic, the first step is to discuss the content of the advertisement itself. While by current standards the content of this advertisement is essentially mild, in the days of 1980 the image of a 15-year-old girl with a partially open shirt exposing her bare stomach and highlighting a pair of skin-tight Calvin Klein jeans was quite a shocking image (Huffington Post, 2012). When the photograph was coupled with the slogan “Nothing comes between me and my Calvin’s,” the public was obviously startled by the idea that a teenage girl was the focus of such a sexualized advertisement. With Shields being a famous and well-known actress, especially at the time she posed for this advertisement for Calvin Klein, the public was fully aware of her young age and considered this as an immense factor when taking in the overall intended message of the print advertisement. As is evident in the advertisement itself, the highly sexualized pose that the young actress is resting in is the first indicator of the purpose of the Calvin Klein jean ads. Despite the pose itself, an in-depth analysis of the symbolism and semiotics within this picture will demonstrate the intended symbols the public was meant to take from this advertisement. Symbolism Examples Within this print advertisement, there are three distinct examples of symbolism that come to the forefront as the intended message for consumers. These concepts include the symbolism of this advertisement as a catalyst for the progression of sexual influence in popular culture, the social pressures created for women due to the use of over-sexualized nature of advertisements and finally the notions of clothing equaling heightened sexuality and power. Symbolism of Calvin Klein Ad Campaign as a Catalyst for Future Ads With both print ads and television commercials, the 1980 Calvin Klein jean advertisement campaign began a major, nationwide sense of symbolism in the notion that this style of advertisement campaign created such an incredible fury of popularity that it represented what the future of advertising campaigns would be. According to the featured actress herself, Shields, in a September 22, 2010 interview on the Ellen Degeneres Show for the 30th anniversary of the advertisement campaign, said that this Calvin Klein slogan and advertisement presentation was essentially one of the first of its kind. “That was one of the first times they had sort of smart and provocative television commercials” (Shields, 2010). With this realization from Shields herself, it is evident that the impact of the 1980 Calvin Klein advertisement campaign transcended just ads about jeans. By using her star power and innocent, yet overt, sexuality for the main context of the advertisements, Calvin Klein capitalized on a thought that captivated audiences everywhere – the notion that wearing Calvin Klein jeans could allow consumers to buy that same myriad of attributes of innocence, youthful beauty and burgeoning sexuality that Shields promoted all while wearing her pair of second skin Calvins. Upon the release of these advertisements, popular culture became awash with controversy surrounding the images of a 15-year-old girl whistling the tune “My Clementine” and then declaring that nothing comes between her and her favorite Calvin Klein jeans. With the overwhelming success of this advertisement campaign, the Calvin Klein brand transformed their marketing efforts and became known for their progressively sexualized marketing. Stemming from the success of Shields’s advertisements, other marketing campaigns have included teenage models in sexualized poses attempting to sell Calvin Klein denim. While these advertisement campaigns have created incredible public buzz and discussion over the brand, some of the attention has not always been favorable. According to the Media Awareness Network, the brand hit its biggest public relations obstacle when Klein released a children’s underwear line (2010). With the advertisements for this line featuring children in their Calvin Klein underwear the underlying sexualized nature of these advertisements ignited a fury of outrage from the public; these advertisements were quickly and effectively pulled from magazines, billboards and television stations. Although the 1980 advertising campaign starring Shields was the catalyst for the progression and future of Calvin Klein marketing, it is clear that the clothing designer has had to understand and be sensitive to the expectations of the American public in regard to how he promotes his clothing through sexualized images of youth. While the renown designer has faced this struggle in his advertising choices, the realization is that even when he is choosing images which are bordering on being pornographic the public outcry and coverage of these advertisements only does more to bolster the popularity of the Calvin Klein brand. Social Pressures for Women from Overly-Sexualized Advertising A 15-year-old, Brooke Shields was the epitome of a beautiful young woman filled with the promise of youth and the figure of a teenager. While stunning in the photos and television commercials, Shields certainly does not portray the body image of the average American woman. For a grown woman mirroring the physical image of Shields is a difficult task. According to Deborah Rode of the Brennan Center for Justice, it is images such as these that create immense social pressures that women feel they have to live up to. “The public’s repeated exposure to airbrushed, surgically enhanced fashion models and Hollywood celebrities further reinforces unrealistic standards. Only five percent of American women are in the same weight category as models and actresses, and efforts to replicate their figures often lead to eating disorders and related psychological dysfunctions. The media’s sexualized portrayals of prominent women, including everyone from athletes to politicians, also carries a cost. Overemphasis of their appearance deflects attention from their performance and reinforces sex-based double standards. That the highest paid member of Sarah Palin’s vice presidential campaign was her makeup “artist” speaks volumes about our misplaced priorities” (Rhode, 2010). With this sentiment, it is clear that the impact of sexualized advertisements has had dramatic ramifications on society’s views towards women and the expectations placed upon them. Although women are subjected to these standards, certain organizations within society have made efforts to combat the body image pressures the female gender faces on a daily basis. For example, the Media Awareness Network released an article entitled “Beauty and Body Image in the Media,” where they highlighted the growing percentage of women being diagnosed with eating disorders, undergoing plastic surgery and developing distorted body images to cope with and attempt to obtain the images of the female form that are portrayed to them through popular advertisements of the day (2010). Along with this information, the article also discussed how “researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions, for example, found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel. A real woman built that way would suffer from chronic diarrhea and eventually die from malnutrition” (2010). With this understanding, it is clear that while advertisements like Shields’s Calvin Klein campaign are popular, they also symbolize the social pressures women face. Clothing Equaling Heightened Sexuality and Power As the popularity and controversy surrounding the 1980 Calvin Klein advertising campaign proves, sex sells. The notion of being able to purchase an article or brand of clothing and suddenly become a person with sexual prowess that one did not have before is an attractive idea to nearly any human being. In addition to the lure of obtaining increased sexuality, these ads symbolize the connection people create between dressing a certain way and being viewed sexually a certain way. According to Tallim, provocative clothing advertisements often objectify women to a state where only their physical bodies matter, but that process creates a syndrome in society where both men and women have an underlying feeling that the physical body dressed a certain way equals sexual power versus a person’s actual sensuality and persona (2003). When considering the way in which women are constantly objectified in these advertisements, the way in which Shields brandished her own sense of sensuality in her Calvin Klein campaign only did more to promote her as a symbol of a young woman in touch with her own sexuality. With this issue being what roots ads like this in controversy, it is clear that the Shields ad symbolizes the notion of using a brand to heighten sexuality when looking at an advertisement from today which attempts to do the same thing. Released in 2011, the Marc Jacobs advertisement which featured 17-year-old Dakota Fanning in an over-sexualized pose was an attempt to use perfume to show women how to increase their own sexuality and power (Beck, 2011). As the object to be sold, a perfume bottle is placed on Fanning’s lap, resting over her groin, it is clear that the intent of this ad was to have a teenage girl portray a sexually dominant Lolita figure. Upon the release of this advertisement, the controversy surrounding the overt and blatant sexual presentation of a 17-year-old girl caused the print ad to be banned in many markets including Europe. While the 1980 Calvin Klein advertisement campaign does symbolize the fact that using this type of marketing tool does allow clothing to eventually equate a heightened sexuality and power, the reaction to the very recent Marc Jacobs advertisement does demonstrate that the public does have morality standards which they expect to be considered by advertisers. Upon review of these three symbols which are encompassed within an analysis of the 1980 Calvin Klein advertisement campaign that featured Brooke Shields, it is evident that over-sexualized advertisements led to many repercussions throughout society which have negative connotations for women. Beginning with a false hope for increased sexuality, these advertisements create symbols which promote unrealistic expectations for women to attain as far as their physical appearance is concerned. Perhaps, the most telling example of this symbolism lies in the fact that Shields, herself, felt insecure about her appearance due to social pressures. Shields has famously discussed that her body image issues were a leading factor in her decision to remain a virgin until she was 22 years of age (Mail Online, 2009). When considering that at this time, the actress was regularly considered one of the most beautiful women in the world it seems remarkable that social pressures could cause Shields to doubt herself. The importance of identifying the symbols being presented in advertisement campaigns like this is to show women that they are more than a piece of clothing or any other object. Bibliography Beck, (2011). Marc Jacobs’ ‘Lolita’ Dakota Fanning Ad Banned In England, As It Should Be, Mommyish, (21 March 2012), . Beauty and Body Image in the Media, (2010). Media Awareness Network, (21 March 2012), . Brooke Shields On Her 1980 Calvin Klein Campaign: ‘I’m Still Kind of Shocked,’ (2010). Huffington Post: Style, (21 March 2012), . Calvin Klein: A Case Study, (2010). Media Awareness Network, (21 March 2012), < http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/handouts/ethics/calvin_klein_case_study.>. Daily Mail Reporter, (2009). Brooke Shields: ‘I was a Virgin Until the Age of 22 Because I Didn’t Like the Way I Looked.’ Mail Online. (21 March 2012), . Merriam-Webster, (2012). Semiotics. (21 March 2012), . Marino, M. (2010). Brooke Shields Still Fits Into Calvin Klein Jeans From 1980 Ad, Stylelist, (21 March 2012), . Rhode, D. (2010). The Beauty Bias – The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law. Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. (21 March 2012), . Tallim, J. (2003). Sexualized Images in Advertising. Media Awareness Network, (21 March 2012), . Read More