Semiotic Analysis of the "Come as You Are" McDonald's Campaign

Semiotics is the study of signs.  Signs are used in everywhere in our everyday life to relay information to us because we understand these signs subconsciously.  In advertisements, signs are use to relay ideas to us without directly informing the audience of the ideas.  The advertising campaign that I will be analyzing is he “Come as You Are” McDonald's campaign.  

Above is the first advertisement that I am discussing.  This advertisement shows 5 images of a man dressed in different styles with the “Come as You Are” text and McDonald’s logo in the bottom right corner.  The different styles, starting at top left and working over, appear to be a musician or artist, then an average joe or geek, followed by a hippie, and then starting at the bottom left are a business professional and finally a surfer.  These five archetypes in American are prevalent in the media and recognized by everyone.

The Business of Media

Media is anything that can be used relay or store information.  In the ever changing culture that we live in now a days, the use of media is crucial and ever present in our everyday lives.   There are many mediums that are present to relay current information, be it the internet and television to the printed media such newspapers and magazines. 

                Media is used so abundantly used in our culture because we live in a consumer culture which means that the idea of business and goods are quite prevalent in much that we do.  Cultural studies is a very important concept when discuss the idea of media because it is the study of have people perceive and interpret the media in the lives.  Theorists in cultural studies believe that the media reflects the beliefs of the dominant class in a culture which in ours happens to be the big business and corporations.  This reflects in the media by creating the need for profit as the foremost motive.  This is why ads have progressed from just trying to sell an item to a consumer to being is own form of entertainment and works of art themselves.