Earlier this week I mentioned semiotics (also referred to as “literary criticism”) for interpreting the symbolism in a Coke ad. Semiotics can be defined as a product’s role in the verbal and visual communication of meaning; ways in which underlying messages can be communicated and interpreted. What follows is an example of an advertisement (actually two in a series) that demonstrates an interpretation of signs and symbols, ranging from their basic representation of a product, to what these signs connote and ultimately what they represent in an ideological context.
One of my favorite sayings in the branding and advertising business is that, at least in America, and especially in Los Angeles, “you don’t drive a car, you wear it.” So I looked for automotive ads that demonstrate semiotics. What I chose was a Jeep ad with a gas pump jutting out from a steep rock face high above a verdant valley. First, let’s consider that Jeep was originally an army vehicle, so Jeep’s ruggedness has been known of since its inception. Jeep sees this durability as their niche and that is their marketing focus, through the use of several different techniques (Associated Content website).
Cultural Note: The American experience with Jeeps is very different from the French and German experience 
because our cultures evolved differently (we have strong cultural memories of the open frontier; the French and Germans have strong cultural memories of occupation and war). Therefore, the Codes, “the meaning we give to the Jeep at an unconscious level” are different as well. (The Culture Code 2006: 3)
In my view, only since the real arrival of the Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) in the market about a decade ago has “rugged utility” taken to the city streets. Still, even though the wheels of most SUV’s today will never touch actual dirt, many people who drive them have an affinity for marketing messages that place their vehicle in the Great Outdoors. I know this partly as my own private focus group – I’ve owned a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Land Rover Discovery and a BMW X3.
Now, nature as a rhetorical tool is of course not a new idea in advertising, and Jeep’s advertising aim here, and across many of its campaigns through the years, is to suggest you can do anything you want in a Jeep, including going to the beach, having a picnic, or, well, driving up a mountain, as the Gas Pump ad suggests, with tongue firmly in cheek. Next, a closer look at the key points of semiotics in this ad.
Posted by: Colin Mangham