Semiotics analysis of the iconic ‘Marlboro Man’

The Marlboro Man is considered as one of the most iconic and impactful brand image of the past century.

Before I carry out the semiotic analysis of this ad campaign, let me provide some background regarding Marlboro.

Marlboro is manufactured by Philip Morris USA and is the largest selling cigarette brand globally. But this huge success stands on the foundation of a very interesting story. Marlboro was launched as a cigarette brand for women in 1924. At that time, filter cigarettes were promoted as being ladylike. But in the 1950s there was a huge uproar against smoking after various studies had been published, directly linking smoking to lung cancer.

Philip Morris took this opportunity to reposition Marlboro as a men’s cigarette brand. The idea was to appeal to that male audience which was concerned about the harmful effects of smoking and was looking for a safer option. Research conducted during that period also supported the move, indicating that men were increasingly pondering about making the switch from unfiltered to filtered cigarettes but were not comfortable being seen smoking a cigarette that was promoted towards women.

Leo Burnett was assigned the task of repositioning Marlboro as a men’s brand. It was then that the sun dawned on the Marlboro man and a series of illustrated advertisements, some of which are showcased above, were created.

Advertising uses distinct signs to appeal to the human subconscious and send across the desired message. Semiotic analysis of the Marlboro ad sheds light on some these signs and their hidden meanings.

Saussure’s Dyadic or Two-Part Model

According to Saussure, a sign is composed of a signifier (the form which the sign takes) and a signified (the concept it represents). A sign and its meaning will not be complete without the aforementioned 2 components.

Let me apply this model to the 2 illustrated ads of Marlboro.

In the first ad, the signifier here is the image of the male (popularly known as the Marlboro Man) as well as the physical environment. What we see in the first ad is the dominant visual of a macho hunk. By the style of dressing, particularly the hat we can make out that the man is a cowboy. He is strong and muscular. His facial expression and style of pose brings out an air of confidence to overcome any challenge. His overall look exudes assertiveness and builds an aura of style, glamour and adventure.The assertiveness aspect gets highlighted further by the object in his right hand which is a tool used by a cowboy to keep the horse under control. The background seems to have been used as a tool to enhance on the adventure part. The environment shown in the background is natural, free as well as challenging. It brings out a sense of freedom, independence, as well as a feel of an entirely different world altogether (breaking away from the routine, mundane life).

The ad in all fills one with the sense of adventure, fearlessness and independence with masculinity being stamped all over it. There is also the image of Marlboro cigarette boxes and a message that says “Come to where the flavor is”. The cowboy also holds a cigarette in his left hand. All this plays into our mind and sends across a message that having a Marlboro cigarette will give you all that is signified.

In the second ad, the signifier is the cowboy riding a horse and the background which includes natural, fresh scenery and splashing water.The cowboy riding a horse features prominently in this image. It is very significant as it clearly demonstrates that the cowboy is in total control of the horse. The level of power exuded by the cowboy is enhanced by the whip in his hand. The depiction of his left arm seeks to highlight his physical strength that he is using to tame the stallion. The splash of water and the stretched legs of the horse indicate that they are riding at a breathtakingly swift pace. Also, the wilderness and the speed illustrates that he is a fearless rider. There is also a feeling of sexuality that arises from the color of his shirt which is red — a color having characterised this quality since a long time. Again, the image brings about a sense of independence, individualism and adventure.

After viewing the image, one just feels like “I, the Marlboro man with a Marlboro cigarette can explore and leap beyond boundaries. I can ride the world and ride in the wild, be the free-spirited cowboy that Marlboro signifies. I can be myself, think for myself and get what I want.”

Roland Barthes Theory

It is important to bring here the denotation and connotation aspect. I have applied Roland Barthes theory with regard to connotation and denotation on the element of cowboy here. Roland had written that denotation is not the first meaning but it pretends to be the first meaning. Connotation produces the illusion of denotation and the illusion of the signifier and signified being identical. Barthes also brought out the notion of ‘myths’ which he explained as being hidden values and conventions via which meanings appear to seem natural and universal when they are actually just specific to certain groups. These set of values impact and influence the way we perceive the advertisements we come across. A cowboy denotes an animal herder from North America who on horseback executes a plethora of ranch-related tasks apart from the primary activity of tending to the cattle. However, due to the historical and cultural context regarding the image of a cowboy, the connotations of a cowboy bring out strong associations with words and thoughts like masculine, American independence, rawness, adventure, physical strength, in control, sexuality, cool, daredevil, active, independent and proud individualism. These strong felt connotations of the cowboy in the hearts and minds of the audience have been leveraged perfectly by Marlboro in their promotions.

Conclusion

By doing semiotic analysis of the Marlboro Man ad campaign, one can clearly see the huge value that signs bring and the importance of understanding them in order to not just make effective advertisements but any form of art/communication like music videos, films, paintings and so on.

References:

1) Critical Analysis of the Marlboro Man: http://mattrhysdavies.com/critical-analysis-of-the-marlboro-man/

2) Critical Theory: http://changingminds.org/explanations/critical_theory/concepts/signifier_signified.htm

3) Noth, Winfried (1990).Handbook of semiotics.