Concept of Beauty in Two Advertisements of 'Citra' Product.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Skripsi ini membahas makna yang terkandung dalam dua buah iklan body

lotion Citra. Kedua iklan itu adalah Citra Spotless White UV dan Citra Body

Lotion Teh Hijau.

Penelitian yang dilakukan bertujuan untuk menemukan arti di balik setiap tanda-tanda dan menemukan konsep yang menjadi dasar dari kedua iklan tersebut. Saya menggunakan teori Semiotik karya Ferdinand de Saussure untuk mendasari analisis yang saya buat.

Dalam kedua iklan ini saya menemukan adanya konsep kecantikan sebagai konsep besar yang mendasari kedua iklan ini. Selain karena tanda-tanda yang terdapat pada iklan mendukung kepada konsep ini, pada faktanya kedua iklan ini merupakan produk kecantikan. Namun, saya menemukan adanya perbedaan konsep kecantikan dalam kedua iklan tersebut. Dalam pada iklan Citra Spotless

White UV, saya menemukan bahwa konsep kecantikan yang ditampilkan pada

iklan adalah kecantikan alami yang sempurna. Sedangkan pada iklan Citra Body

Lotion Teh Hijau, konsep kecantikan yang ditonjolkan adalah kecantikan yang

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ii Background of the Study ... 1

Statement of the Problem ... 3

Purpose of the Study ... 3

Method of Research ... 4

Organization of the Thesis... 4

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Semiotics ... 5

Ferdinand de Saussure’s Semiotics ... 6

Theory of the Meaning of Composition... 7

Theory of Interpersonal Meaning is Systematic Functional Grammar... 8

CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPT OF BEAUTY IN TWO ADVERTISEMENTS OF CITRA PRODUCT... 11

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION... 41

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 45

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Saussure’s Model of the Sign………...……….. 6

Figure 2. Concept and Sound Pattern……….…………... 7

Figure 3. Example of a Clause Analysed with Clause as an Exchange Theory 10 Figure 4. The Advertisement of Citra Spotless White UV………..…. 12

Figure 5. The Image of the Model 1………... 13

Figure 6. Citra Product 1………... 16

Figure 7. Camellia Flower………... 17

Figure 8. Image of Camellia Flower………... 17

Figure 9. Image of Flowers on the Left Side of the Advertisement………… 18

Figure 10. Images of Real Camellia Japonica Flowers………. 18

Figure 11. Image of Real Yellow Camellia Japonica……… 18

Figure 12. Image of Grains on the Right Bottom Side of the Advertisement... 19

Figure 13. Image of Real Grains………... 19

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Figure 15. Image of Real Mount Fuji……….... 20

Figure 16. The Text in the Advertisement 1………... 21

Figure 17. The Text on the Bottle 1………... 23

Figure 18. Image of Japanese Rice……… 24

Figure 19. The Advertisement of Citra Beauty Lotion Teh Hijau……… 26

Figure 20. The Image of the Model 2……… 27

Figure 21. Image of Flowy Skirt………... 30

Figure 22. Image of Pink Wedges………. 30

Figure 23. Citra Product 2………. 32

Figure 24. Green Tea Leaves……… 33

Figure 25. Image of Real Green Tea Leaves………. 33

Figure 26. Image of a Street Light on the Right Side of the Advertisement…. 34 Figure 27. Image of Street Light………... 34

Figure 28. Image of Flower Ornament upon the Pole of Street Light………. 35

Figure 29. Advertisement Background 2……….. 36

Figure 30. Image of Skyscraper Buildings……… 36

Figure 31. Image of a Bajaj in the Advertisement Background……….. 37

Figure 32. Image of a Bajaj………... 37

Figure 33. The Text in the Advertisement 2….………... 39

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APPENDIX

DATA 1

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52 DATA 2

Citra Body Lotion Teh Hijau

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

An advertisement is something that we can see every day and everywhere. Based on Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, advertisement refers to “a notice, picture or film telling people about a product, job or service” (“Advertisement,” def. 1). Advertisements can be found on television, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and even along the street. Advertisers make them attractive so as to get people’s attention. Therefore, I am interested in using advertisements as my data in this thesis.

The topic of my thesis is Concept of Beauty in Two Advertisements of

Citra Product. I choose this topic because I find the message in an advertisement

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mind, I try to analyse these advertisements to find out the meanings or the messages that the advertiser wants to convey to public.

In this thesis, I use two advertisements as the source of data. The first is an advertisement of Citra Spotless White UV Hand & Body Lotion, which is taken from Aneka yess! magazine February edition in 2012. The second advertisement is Citra Beauty Lotion Teh Hijau which is taken from Kawanku magazine April edition in 2007. I choose these particular data for three reasons. Firstly, Citra is one of some famous products that are often used by Indonesian women. Second, I choose these two advertisements because both of them present the products of Citra, the ingredients of which are nature-based and originally from Asia, and have been believed since ancient times to give benefits for skin. The third reason is because Citra has received some various awards such as Indonesian Best Brand Awards, Indonesian Consumer Satisfaction Award, Indonesian Consumer Loyalty Awards in 2006 and many others (Unilever). These facts show that Citra is a local brand that has good quality and can satisfy its consumers.

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natural ingredients, which means that their basic ingredients are taken from nature, such as from bengkoang, green tea, milk, olive oil, and Japanese rice.

Since my topic belongs to Semiotics, I use the specific theory of Saussure. Saussure (in Chandler 3) defines Semiotics or Semiology as “a science that studies the role of signs within society; it would be a part of social psychology and consequently of general psychology.” In Saussure’s Semiotics theory, it is explained that sign consists of signifier and signified. Signifier is the word that spoken or written down and signified is the concept of the object or the idea that appears in our mind when we see or hear the word itself (Strinati 83).

By writing this thesis, I hope the readers will realize the message that is tried to be presented through an advertisement and also they will be more critical in choosing products which are advertised.

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Statement of the Problem

Based on the background of the study, the research problem is formulated in the following questions:

1. What are the linguistic signs in each of these advertisements? 2. What are the signifiers and signifieds of these signs?

3. What is the signification of these advertisements?

Purpose of the Study

The study has two purposes:

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2. To find out the signifiers and signifieds of these signs 3. To find out the signification of these advertisements

Methods of Research

This study used the methods of library research. I learned some theories from books dealing with Semiotics. After that, I searched for some advertisements in some magazines and the Internet, and then I selected Citra Spotless White UV Hand & Body Lotion and Citra Beauty Lotion Teh Hijau advertisements as the source of my data. I observed all the elements in the advertisements and analysed them by using the theories I had chosen. Finally, I wrote the research report.

Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I present the conclusion of my analysis of two advertisements, which are Citra Spotless White UV and Citra Beauty Lotion Teh Hijau. In Citra Spotless White UV advertisement, the visual signifiers are the image of the advertisement model, the Citra product, the flowers, and the advertisement background showing the images of Mount Fuji, the sky, rice field, also the combination of blue and green colors. In Citra Beauty Lotion Teh Hijau advertisement, the visual signifiers are the image of the advertisement model, the Citra product, the green tea leaves, the street light, and the advertisement background showing the images of the skyscraper buildings, a busy street, and the pavement. Besides the visual signifiers, there are also some textual signifiers that I have analyzed. By using Semiotics theory, I find that all of those signifiers support the concept of beauty.

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advertisement, the concept of feminine beauty can be seen in the image of the model’s natural make up, the white top, Camellia flower, and the white color appearing in the first advertisement, also the words putih and white as the textual signifiers. In the second advertisement, the concept of feminine beauty can be seen in the image of the model who wears natural make up and has long hair, the tank top, the accessories, the skirt, the pink wedges, and the bright tone colors those appear in this advertisement, also the words beauty and kecantikan as the textual signifiers.

Besides the concept of feminine beauty, we can see there are some similar signifiers that are used in these advertisements, such as an Asian woman as the advertisement model. In my opinion, there are some reasons why the advertiser uses the figure of Asian woman in the advertisements. Firstly, Citra product is a product which has women as the target market; therefore the advertiser uses a woman as the model of the advertisement to get the attention from the woman viewers. Secondly, Citra has been in Indonesia skin care market since 1984; therefore, the advertiser uses an Asian woman as the model of the advertisement for Indonesia is part of Asia.

On the other hand, there are some differences between these advertisements. In the first advertisement I find the concept of natural perfect feminine beauty, but in the second advertisement, the signifiers do not refer to that concept, but they more refer to the concept of modern feminine beauty.

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minyak bunga Camellia as the textual signifiers. The idea of perfection is found in

the picture of Camellia flower, Mount Fuji, the white color appearing in the first advertisement, and the words putih and white as the textual signifiers. In the second advertisement, I find the concept of modernity that can be shown through the image of the model’s accessories and the wedges, the street light, the skyscraper buildings, a busy street, and the word antioksidan in the textual signifier.

The other difference between the two advertisements is the setting that the advertiser uses as the advertisement background. In the first advertisement, the advertiser uses the open nature as the advertisement background. In my opinion, the reason why the open nature becomes the background in the first advertisement is because the nature relates to the concept that the advertiser wants to bring out through this advertisement. While in the second advertisement, the advertiser chooses the setting in a big city as the background of the advertisement. In my opinion, the reason is because the advertiser wants to bring out the idea of modernity in this advertisement.

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I suggest that future researchers should find reliable theories to support the analysis. As a matter of fact, in Semiotics analysis different interpretations may be resulted from similar approaches. Thus, it is needed some theories that suitable with each data that is going to be analyzed. For example, to analyze visual signifiers it may be needed some special theories such as the theory of composition, theory of colors meaning, and other theories those write about advertising. Besides, to analyze the textual signifiers it may use the dictionary meaning and also specific theory like what I use in this thesis which is the theory of clause as an exchange. Furthermore, it is also advisable for the researchers to analyze every data thoroughly, because as what I have experienced in writing this thesis, it is not easy to find the concept that is suitable to all of the signifiers in the advertisement.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sources of Data

“Citra Beauty lotion Teh Hijau.” Kawanku. 23 Apr 2007. Print. “Citra Spotless White UV.” Aneka yess! 12 Feb 2012. Print.

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