Semiotics - Michael Hearn

Having read a little bit about semiotics in a previous Sociology class, I understood what these two articles were explaining about the idea of symbols having a perceived effect on people. Much like the article "The Semiotic Method", I mostly read about semiotics involved in advertisement, how advertisement companies and ad campaigns specifically target certain audiences or show appeal to specific desires or standards that we feel should be met by what we want to purchase. The more obvious examples are good looking people on ads for health products, or cool and extreme sports activities on energy drink campaigns. Semiotics can also be more deceptive or subtle in their use in advertisement, and in some ways that can lead to controversy. A good example is how Camel cigarettes advertised their product with a camel character who was carefully designed to appear cartoonish enough to appeal to kids. Semiotics also plays a very large role in how people judge or are affected to other people due to things such as fashion or appearance. Since symbols continue to affect people in ways they might not initially understand, semiotics is clearly an important study since it can help explain why specific symbols or appearances cause the reactions they do, and could help people realize why exactly they're being affected like they are. Of course, it also could be used to secure a career in advertisement.