| Abstract [eng] |
The object of this study is food-related cultural meanings in food advertising. This study attempts to theoretically establish the food-related cultural meanings that are being created via advertisements and to analyze them using the instrumentation of the semiotic method. In this study two main semiotic schools are introduced, including their development, main directions, most significant authors, the instrumentation of the method, main concepts that will be used. There has been a concept of advertising as such analyzed, also its development, main principles and the role it plays in a consumer society. The functions of food in a contemporary society and food-related meanings in different cultural layers have been investigated. It was investigated both how food advertising creates the cultural meaning and what social/cultural codes work in this process by using the semiotic method. The analyzed scientific studies show that the semiotic model is suitable for exhibiting the creation of cultural meanings in advertising. In order to examine the food-related cultural meanings, various works of sociology, anthropology, culture and other fields of science were taken into account. The findings of those works were systematized using the Geert Hofstede’s model (Hofstede, 1984). Food separates both the cultures and layers or individuals in a culture from each other. In the contemporary society, food is a marker of private and public spaces, as well as feminine and masculine fields. Food and food-related rituals reflect gender roles in a culture. In this study the Hofstede‘s model is employed to prove that food-related cultural meanings are being created in all (symbols, heroes, rituals and values) cultural layers. The semiotic food advertising analysis performed in this study reveals the creation of cultural meanings in the layer of values. Two different groups of advertisements were analyzed followed by the closer examination of differences between the cultures targeted by the advertisements. For example, a comparative analysis between chocolate advertisements in Lithuania and United Kingdom with the same subject (a woman) has revealed that in Lithuanian advertisements a woman’s role is constructed in relation to a man’s role, and in the corresponding United Kingdom advertisements no such dependency is found. In the other group of advertisements, the created meaning relies on cultural codes. Those other advertisements try to relate to the core, pre-established values of the target culture. The analysis of them unfolded the differences of the target cultures. |
