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Essay / Semiotic Analysis of the “Greenpeace: Ocean of the Future” Campaign
This essay will analyze a global charity campaign – “Ocean of the Future” by Greenpeace using the semiotic method which concerns the meaning created by signs. and symbols. The campaign was just launched in April by Ogilvy UK and Greenpeace, which urges supermarkets and the public to limit the use of plastic packaging across the UK (Greenpeace, 2018). By breaking down the campaign, the level of denotation of the video where the signs are identified according to Saussure's theory will be analyzed first, then a second level of analysis will focus on the ideas with which the public associates which constitutes the level of connotation. The last level of analysis will refer to Roland Barthes' theory of myth which is the recognition of the ideologies to which this campaign is linked. This essay will demonstrate that the “Ocean of the Future” campaign arouses public sympathy and warns them to act to protect the environment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization that aims to ensure a peaceful and sustainable world for future generations (Greenpeace, 2019). The campaign features a short storyline about a group of young students going on a field trip to an aquarium to see an “Ocean of the Future” exhibit. At the beginning of the video, the students were very excited and curious about the sea creatures before entering the aquarium. However, when they entered the aquarium, they only saw plastic in the water, reflecting the "ocean of the future." This campaign uses a range of signs to create messages for the public to recognize the harmfulness of plastic and take action to create a better environment for the future. The following paragraphs will begin by breaking down the video and analyzing scenes that demonstrate how the advertisements communicate with the audience using semiotic language. The video begins with a sign with large blue and white font "welcome to the ocean of the future" placed below the sign. ocean which presents to the public the theme of this campaign. The first scene concerns the students being interviewed before visiting the exhibition. “I want to see the penguins…”, “I can't wait to see the catfish…” (Greenpeace UK, 2018), the children's language and facial expressions were happy and optimistic, meaning the aquarium will be interesting . and arouses public curiosity about the exhibition. The background music also represents excitement before visiting the aquarium as the music is bright and happy. When children enter the aquarium, they see plastics floating in the water. Their expressions and the background music immediately changed into a depressed and sad character. This change in atmosphere highlights the shocking vision of plastics everywhere in the water. The contrast between the children going from a happy expression to a dismayed expression highlights the idea that the future environment will not be like the one expected. Both the facial expression and the music are the signifier where the audience is signified with the idea of the serious damage to the future ocean. This can refer to Saussure's theory that "Every time you hear, read or see the signifier, it correlates with the signified" (Halls, 1997, page 31). The camera then focuses on plastics, including water bottles, plastic bags floating in water. water with serious melody. The level of connotation of this scene is about connecting with the audience, because these plastics are objects that we use in our daily lives and bring the audienceto think about its involvement in the generation of plastics. Statistics such as “UK supermarkets generate 800,000 tonnes of plastic every year”, “a truckload of plastic ends up in our oceans every minute” (Greenpeace UK, April 2018), were informed to the public. These facts are a warning sign about the amount of plastic that threatens our environment and also evoke public guilt for being part of the damage caused to the ocean. The camera continues to move around the aquarium and captures the panels on the wall. These panels explain the different plastics found in the ocean and how they pollute our environment. The connotation here is about the sarcasm of the signs on the wall. The signs are usually used to introduce sea creatures into the aquarium where they now provide information about the different types of plastic that pollute the ocean. At the end of the video, one of the students mused "there should be millions of fish and zero percent plastic", as this shows the naivety of the child, this is juxtaposed with the originality of the ocean where children's thoughts about the world are always natural and clean which emphasizes the problem of plastics harming the natural environment. The campaign shows that the different forms of elements can all be seen as a signifier that leads the audience to be signified to an idea. Advertisements aim to evoke the feelings of the audience and convince them with a particular idea. In the campaign, every camera movement and visual can be interpreted by the audience with meanings that fit Halls' theory: "every signifier given or encoded with meaning must be meaningfully interpreted or decoded by the receiver." (Hall, 1980). Not only can language or visuals give meaning, but also the things we listen to. In the “ocean of the future” example, the background music was meaningful because the music changed from a happy melody to a serious melody when the children saw the plastics in the aquarium which could be interpreted by the audience as well. the change of atmosphere highlights. the seriousness of this problem and the sad reality of the ocean. The campaign uses symbols to construct meaning and connect the meaning to their main idea. In this case, they use children as a symbol of the future, which is related to the “ocean of the future” theme, because children can represent the future and are capable of changing the future. This campaign is aimed at the UK audience as it is a TV ad shown in the UK. However, children may be a specific target audience because the main characters are children and they can gain knowledge about plastic pollution from a young age. may make changes in the future. People who always go to the supermarket can also be considered a targeted audience, as the campaign aims to stop supermarkets from using plastic bags so that customers can make a powerful movement to support their goal. Advertisements deal with “fragments of an ideology” and the ideas signified. are “very close to communicating with culture, knowledge and history” (Halls, 1977, page 39). Barthes believes that the meaning of signs is given by cultural society. The concept behind the “Ocean of the Future” campaign follows a Greenpeace petition calling on supermarkets to reduce their use of plastic (Greenpeace, 2018). The video mentioned ocean plastic pollution which had been collected during a clean-up of the local beach in Dingle, near the aquarium. He points out that “British supermarkets generate 800,000 tonnes of plastic packaging each year”, which/.