DISTOPIAN SIGNS
Global advertising and its discontents
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
These are the main objectives of the seminar:
1) Briefly introduce two recent advertising campaigns, one of them relatively global
(meant to promote a brand for the world market), the other one relatively local (meant
to promote a brand for the Eastern, and mostly the Indian market);
2) Show how these two campaigns, although working for brands that belong to the
same corporation, adopt strategies that associate these brands with contradictory
values: a global ethics of “esthetic sincerity” on the one hand, a local ethics of
“esthetic insincerity “ on the other hand
…in order to demonstrate that a) many corporations transform ethics into an
argument for marketing and advertising rhetoric; b) many corporations mould ethics
according to the market they address; c) semiotics can turn out as useful for the
analysis and de-mystification of these strategies.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty was launched by Unilever in 2003, to coincide
with the expansion of the Dove brand from soaps and other cleansing solutions to
health and beauty products in general, including deodorants, shower gels, hair-care,
and skin-care products. The first stage of the campaign focused on a series
of billboard advertisements, initially put up in the UK, and later worldwide. The spots
showcased photographs of “regular” women (in place of professional models), taken
by noted portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The ads invited passers-by to vote on whether a particular model was, for example,
“Fat or Fab” or “Wrinkled or Wonderful”, with the results of the votes dynamically
updated and displayed on the billboard itself.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
[VIDEO 1] Pro Age: semiotic analysis
DOVE beauty
Youth
Old age
Conventional
BEAUTY
Conventional
UGLINESS
Non old age
Non youth
DOVE beauty
This semantic structure is expressed by a careful selection of the bodies represented in
the spot, as well as by a careful way of representing bodily “imperfections”.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
[VIDEO 2 and 3] Little girls and Daughters: semiotic analysis
DOVE self-esteem
How one is
Low self-esteem
DIssatisfaction
Satisfaction
Cosmetic self-esteem
How one would like to be
DOVE self-esteem
This semantic structure is expressed by a careful selection of the girls represented in the spot, as
well as by a careful way of combining images and verbal descriptions of “imperfections”.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Evolution is an advertising campaign launched by Unilever in 2006 as part of
its Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, to promote the newly created Dove Self-Esteem
Fund. The core of the Unilever campaign is a 75-second spot produced by Ogilvy &
Mather in Toronto, Canada. The spot was first displayed online on October 6, 2006,
and was later broadcast as a television and cinema spot in the Netherlands and the
Middle East. Evolution was directed by Canadian director Yale Staav, with sound
design handled by the Vapor Music Group, and post-production by SoHo.
Evolution is the first advertising video that points at the causes of the low self-esteem
of women (according to Dove): the advertising discourse produced by the beauty
industry.
The message that Evolution conveys is therefore paradoxical: Dove is part of the
beauty industry, yet it produces an advertising message that accuses the advertising
discourse of the beauty industry, considered as responsible for the low self-esteem of
the women of the world.
[VIDEO 4]: Evolution
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Semiotic analysis of Evolution
The spot turns around two semantic categories: immanence (to be versus not to be) and
manifestation (to appear versus not to appear). The square of veridiction, elaborated by
Greimas and Floch, is very suitable to analyze the way texts express the interplay of these
two categories.
TRUTH
To be
To appear
SECRET
LIE
Not to appear
Not to be
FALSITY
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Semiotic analysis of Evolution
TRUTH
To be
To appear
SECRET
LIE
Not to appear
Not to be
FALSITY
Two possible paths of persuasions: persuade that 1) what appears is actually not
(passage from truth to lie); 2) what does not appear actually is (passage from secret to
truth).
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
[VIDEO 5] Onslaught: semiotic analysis
Onslaught proposes the semantic opposition mothers versus the beauty industry:
the discourse of mothers versus the discourse of the beauty industry
love the way you are versus change yourself
beauty industry versus Dove
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Demystifications of Dove discourse
1) The aesthetic demystification: Slob evolution by Simon Willows;
2) The ecological demystification: Onslaught(er) by Green Peace;
3) The cultural demystification: Fair and Handsome
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Demystifications of Dove discourse
1) The aesthetic demystification: Slob evolution [VIDEO 6]
The piece was directed by Simon Willows, known for his work on the Volvic mineral
water television and cinema commercials, and was produced by Claire Jones with
the production company Blink Productions. Post-production work was done
by Framestore CFC. The slob actor is Matt Craigie.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Demystifications of Dove discourse
1) The aesthetic demystification: Slob evolution
Here the “timic category” is projected onto the
square of veridiction in a different way than in
Dove’s Evolution:
DOVE Evolution
SLOB Evolution
TRUTH
To be
TRUTH
To appear
SECRET
LIE
Not to appear
To be
To appear
SECRET
LIE
Not to be Not to appear
FALSITY
Not to be
FALSITY
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Demystifications of Dove discourse
2) The ecologic demystification: Onslaught(er) [VIDEO 7]
3) The cultural demystification Fair and Lovely and Fair and Handsome.
http://www.fairandlovely.in/Foundation/Foundation/overview.aspx
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Demystifications of Dove discourse
3) The cultural demystification Fair and Lovely and Fair and Handsome.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
Demystifications of
Dove discourse
3) The cultural
demystification Fair
and Lovely and Fair
and Handsome
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it
DISTOPIAN SIGNS – Global advertisement and
its discontents
CONCLUSIONS: the same multinational corporation, the same global capital,
spouses an ethics of aesthetic sincerity in the West (stay as you are) and an ethics of
aesthetic insincerity in the East (change the way you are).
SEMIO-ETHICS: expose the way ethics is transformed into a marketing strategy in
order to produce more human advertising.
Massimo Leone – University of Turin
Sozopol, EFSS 2008
massimo.leone@unito.it