Semiotic Analysis Found in COVID-19 Advertisements by National Institutes of Health Websites

Abstract

This study concerns with the signifier and signified of verbal and visual signs in COVID-19 advertisements, also concern with denotative and connotative meaning in COVID-19 advertisements. This study has two objectives of the study they are: 1) to find out the signifier and signified of verbal and visual signs presented in COVID-19 advertisements by National Institutes of Health. 2) to analyze the meaning of denotative and connotative meaning in COVID-19 advertisements. The data used in this study were taken from the National of Institutes of Health Websites using the observation method. This study uses a qualitative method to conduct a clear analysis. The theory used in this study is the theory of semiotics by Saussure (1916), theory of meaning by Barthes (1967), and also the supporting theory of the theory of color terms by Cerrato (2012). The analysis was presented by informal method. The result of this study concluded that every advertisements have signifier and signified of verbal and visual signs. Where, the signifier and signified of verbal and visual signs will support each other to convey a meaning or message contained in an advertisement. In this analysis, denotative meaning often appears in verbal signs (word, sentence, or phrase), meanwhile connotative meaning often appears in visual signs (picture and color).