Taste the Feeling: A Semiotic Analysis

of Coca-Cola Billboard Advertisements

An Academic Paper presented to

Dr. Claudette A. Baluran

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course:

English 240 English in the Media

By: Sharmaine N. Moreno

ABE-4B
To date, every aspect of our life has been penetrated by advertisements, whose power it is that
makes people purchase the goods that they havent needed before, and the enormous and
seemingly mysterious impact of which likely urges people to spend much more money on
commodities of a particular brand rather than those of another at a lower expense.

There was this brand which was not only become a worldwide brand by remaining in the
obscurity of its humble beginning. Neither did the brand transmit itself into the nooks and
crannies of the world by any magical or mystical act. But it is the product of decades of
excellent advertising campaigns in different languages and different medium known across the
world. It was from the dense jungle of the Amazon in Brazil to the Australian outback, from
Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa and there is only one brand whose presence and
appeal cut across culture and religion and that brand is Coca-Cola.

Barthes ever put forward the argument Semiology aims to take in any system of signs,
whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the
complex associations of all of these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public
entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification.

Barthes developed significant-signifie theory from Saussure to be a theory of grammar and its
connotation meaning. The significant term was changed to be expression ( E ) and the signifie
changed to content (C). Moreover he said, there must be a relation (R) between E and C or
certain relation. Thus, it can form a sign. Barthes also took over the concepts of denotation,
connotation and metasemiotics from Hjemsleves. Typically, he also changed Hjemsleves term
metasemiotics to metalanguage. As for Hjemsleves, every system for Barthes, too, is a
language.

For Barthes, connotation is a tone of a text, the manner which has been decorated. It works
on the subjective level that makes its present cannot be realized. The reader can read easily the
connotative meaning as the denotative fact. Therefore, one of the semiotic analysis aims is to
furnish the analysis method in order to handle the misreading.

The researcher has applied Roland Barthes theory with regard to connotation and denotation on
the element of advertisement of Coca Cola billboards. Connotation produces the illusion of
denotation and the illusion of the signifier and signified being identical.

In this research, how did Coca Cola billboard advertisements able to use signs effectively to the
level that its brand is known across the world and also the catalyst behind the billboard
advertisements of Coca Cola brand will be investigated and analyzed in terms of signs, the
codes in which the signs are organized, and the users of the sign.
Coca Cola Billboard Signs Verbal ( V ) and Non Connotation
Advertisements Verbal (NV)
A Ngayong Pasko, anong wish It is the slogan of the product.
mong moment? (V) The bold letters indicates to
Translation: What is your ask the reader if what their
Christmas moment wish? wished moment for Christmas.

The coca cola logo in red and It indicates that this product is
the white ribbon under it. under the brand name of Coca
(NV) Cola and the white ribbon
indicates that the season of
the year which is Christmas.

B Open Coca Cal- An easy twist This slogan is pointed to the

cap (V) picture of the cap of coca cola
bottle which means they give
information to the readers
that the coca cola cap is easy
to open.

Coca-Cola litro- More This slogan indicates that

happiness para sa Pamilya! readers should buy the one
Translation: One liter of coke liter bottle of coke since it can
is for the whole family! (V) serve for the whole family.

The swishing of coca cola This indicates how many

drink from one bottle to servings can a liter of coke will
another bottle which is give and it can serve for the
connected to one liter of coke. whole family also.
(NV)

Enjoy Coca Cola in every glass They are giving exciting

(V) feeling to the readers to drink
and enjoy their product.
C Salamat sa lahat na nagbukas This indicates that they say
ng saya thank you for all sonsumers
Translation: Thank you for all that buy their product.
who open the happiness (V)

100 Taon (V) The product is celebrating

their 100 years of giving the
costumer happiness.

The sun with 8 rays and 3 It indicates of the location in

stars (NV) where the product is
 celebrating their anniversary,
which is in the Philippine.
Because the symbols can be
seen also in Philippine flag.

D Mag smile sa buhay This indicates to give

May coke araw- araw information to the readers
Translation: Give smile to lie, that their product can give
Drink coke everyday (V) happiness in their everyday
lives.

P 5.50 , P8.00 , from P12 to This indicates the prices of the

P10 (V) product form the small one to
the big one. And the last price
was less to 10 pesos which
was also a catching word for
the consumers.
The white smile under the It indicates the feeling of
prices (NV) happiness again when buying
the product at low prices.

E Open Coca-Cola Para sa This invites the reader to buy

energizing refreshment and open the product since it
Translation: Open Coca-Cola gives an energized and
for the energizing refreshment refreshed feeling.
(V)

The people are so happy to This gives invitation to the

eat and drink with coca cola readers how drinking coca
bottle (NV) cola can make you feel happy
and full while eating fries and
burger as seen in the picture.

The logo of Coca Cola and the The logo represents again the
boarders are colors white and brand of the product and the
red (NV) red border indicates the
official color for coca cola
drink.
Billboard A

The analysis begins with the understanding of the question What is your wished moment this
Christmas? It means the coca cola product will make it happen for you in that season which is
Christmas. The appearance of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza as the cover of the billboard
adds more excitement for the consumers if they have been idolized the two artists in the
billboard also. It affects their cognitive side of the consumers because their idols are happy to
drink that product together so they were going to do the same also. The sparks behind Alden
and Maine creates a positive vibe of feeling and their eyes which are directly looking at each
other gives the feeling of butterflies on the stomach of the people who idolized them. The
slogan connotes the wish fulfillment of every consumer if they were going to try the product.
Like for example, they can acquire the feeling of love and above all the feeling of happiness
they were going to share the coca cola product to their loved ones.
Billboard B

In this billboard, the slogan Coca cola Litro More happiness para sa pamilya! gives a strong
feeling that the product can serve happiness to all the family members. Especially the slogan
ends in an exclamation point which indicates a strong feeling while convincing the consumer to
buy a liter coca cola product. The five glasses of coca cola which are almost full indicates how
the product can satisfy each member of the family. The swishing of the drink from one glass to
another glass is linking arms from another unto another which connotes the solidarity of family
while linking arms together. It gives the complete vibe of how family should spend their time
together with the product coca cola and how it can bring happiness to each member. The Easy
twist cap words connotes that the cap of the bottle can be easily opened to an easy access of
happiness while drinking the coca cola product. Still the logo is there since it can give more
identity to the product, on which brand is it and what can it do for the consumers.
Billboard C

The verbal sign Salamats sa lahat na nagbukas ng saya, 100 taon, and Ituloy ang
happiness connotes that the product is celebrating their 100 years and they are thanking all
the consumers which patronized their product for 100 years. The non- verbal sign which is the
sun with eight rays and the 3 start indicates if where the products location in celebrating the
anniversary. Since the flag of the Philippines hay a sun with 8 rays also and there are 3 stars
also which means the 3 main islands in the Philippines which are Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
So it connotes that it happened in the Philippines. The Filipinos were still consumers who
patronized the product for 100 years already.
 Billboard D

The verbal sign Mag-smile sa buhay. Mag coke araw araw! connotes how the product can
affect the everyday lives of the consumers where they can experience happiness every day. The
logo of the product is their also to indicate the identity of the product but now there is a white
smiling face on it which indicates happiness again. The letters were printed in red and have a
background of color white. The red color catches attention where the eyes look first. Its
associated with movement and excitement. The white background is used to project the
absence of color, or neutrality. It is also associated with creativity and it is the compression of
all the colors in the color spectrum. So it gives a combination of excitement for anyone who will
perceive it. The prices of the product were printed in white also and under the price is a while
smiling face which again indicates the happiness.
Billboard E

The analysis will start on the slogan Open Coca cola Para sa energizing refreshment which
connotes the meaning of happiness when opening a bottle of coca cola drink. In this billboard
we can see 3 people who are enjoying doing their own stuffs, like for example the first boy is
concentrating drinking a one bottle of coke drink, the girl in front happily eating her fries while
the girl beside her is happily indulging the coke bottle also. Their facial expressions give the
vibe of being refreshed and excited to do lots of fun with their drink. Still the logo is there to
indicate the identity but in the logo, we can see the word open Coca cola so it will be stronger
to emphasize that opening coca cola drink can really give a refreshing feeling. The bubbles
while drinking the coke usually a way of a creative technique. The use of this design attracts
customer more attention by the interesting picture.
The research is aimed at knowing the relationship between denotation and connotation on a
Coca cola billboard advertisements and the message of advertisements that wants to be
delivered to the reader based on Roland Barthes theory. After analyzing the five
advertisements on Coca cola billboard advertisements, the writer is able to draw the conclusion.

Coca cola is a brand of the most popular beverage companies in Philippines. It is a company
has produces a total of the most popular beverage brand.

Coca cola billboard advertisements consist of two signs. They are verbal and non- verbal sign.
The verbal sign which can be analyzed on the advertisements is the text or the sentence.
Meanwhile, the non- verbal sign is not a word, sentence, or text. The presence of verbal and
non- verbal is to reinforce the advertisements message. These signs have their denotation and
connotation meaning which build the advertisement. The denotation meaning comes from the
signifier and the signified of the message and the connotation meaning comes from the
denotation as the signifier and signified.

The verbal signs on these billboard advertisements are more likely the same but the non-verbal
is much more different on each advertisement. The logo is still there to indicate the identity of
the Coca cola product. The better the verbal and non- verbal aspect of the advertisements, the
greater the consumers will be.
References:

Retrieved from http://thesweethostage.blogspot.com/2010/05/ ( Billboard E)

http://babblingpoint.blogspot.com/2012/01/coca-cola-tansan-billboards.html (Billboard C)

http://thesweethostage.blogspot.com/2009/10/ (Billboard B)

https://philnews.ph/2015/10/31/aldub-confirmed-endorsers-of-coca-cola-for-christmas-ad-
campaign-photos-video/ (Billboard A)

https://article.wn.com/view/2010/09/12/Coke_fans_a_huge_task/ (Billboard D)

https://medium.com/content-shailee/semiotics-analysis-of-the-iconic-marlboro-man-
ba933411d465

visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem01.html