Depiction of “Advance Generation” Children as Described by Television Advertisements.

Abstract

Television commercials, with their capability of conveying ideas effectively through the means of audio and visual senses, carrying both captivating and creative description of a product has become one of the most effective way to advertise a product or services. The implication of these type of commercials toward the audiences, however, is that its capable of implanting certain ideas or ideology inside the audiences’ mind to create certain image that could grow into a new believes, mysths or stereotypes toward certain community, ethnicity and even gender, ages, races and nationality. This paper is being written to present one example of such idea implantation inside the audiences’ mind. The paper utilizes descriptive qualitative analysis method based on Barthes’ theory of semiotics to describe examples of ideas and images about how a child or children from “advanced generation” should look and act the advertisement tries to describe visually and semiotically. The brand whose advertisement is being used as sample in this paper is the SGM brand formula milk intended for children, 5 years old or below, to consume, and describe the image the advertisement tries to imply about children of “advanced generation”.