Semiotic Analysis of Capital One Television Commercial THE TEXT: A 30 second television commercial, viewed on YouTube  Released 2007 in Canada  Visuals: live action, colour, video/film, 16 shots  Audio- Monologue – Voice of exterminator -Voice over narration, male voice - Music – Capital one theme music Written text: On van, car, screen Semiotic Analysis of Capital One Television Commercial THE TEXT: A 30 second television commercial, viewed on YouTube  Released 2007 in Canada  Visuals: live action, colour, video/film, 16 shots  Audio- Monologue – Voice of exterminator -Voice over narration, male voice - Music – Capital one theme music Written text: On van, car, screen Semiotic Assignment

SignsType of sign Vanicon Van signa-z is symbol Van action Breaking sound Street SignsType of SignModifiers of signs VanIcon – (looks like what it is) White – connotes service vehicle Van SignageA-z – symbol Rat – icon Target- icon Van Action- enters from left of screen stops in centre of frame. Icon -Jarring stop – connotes emergency Sound of breaks- Index (of stopping, or stopping abruptly) Setting – residential neighborhood -Icon of location- index of wealth/stability

shot one White van drives into scene and stops: Index/icon White van: icon Van signage: A—z pest control: symbol Rat : icon target: symbol/icon denotes Service vehicle white Connotes – good Signifies that the van belongs to a company that exterminates all kinds of vermin Treed neighborhood: icon Rat Signifies the rat will be target (agrees with text) connotes: Dirt germs Filth Signifies residential area Connotes class Together these signs means that an exterminator is coming to a single family home to exterminate some kind of pest

Signs – shot 1 The whole ad is live action, so it is indexical of real people and things. The image of a van is an icon because it looks like what it is the colour (white) of the van is a sign (symbol) In the sense that white van, by convention, is a signifier of often a service vehicle White in film often connotes “good ” Rat painting on van– is an icon – by virtue of the fact that it looks like a rat The target on the rat is an icon because it looks like what it is. The rat sign & target sign together indicated that rats will be targeted

Signs – shot 1 The rat connotes dirt, disease A – Z pest control is a symbol. A- Z means that any animal that is a pest (whose name starts with any letter in the alphabet) will be controlled. The location (trees & single family home) is a sign (icon) of a residential area. (Because it looks like what it is. Connotes (or is an index of) wealth Together these signs modify each other and indicate that the good pest controller has arrived in a service vehicle to target rats and or any type of pest

SignsType of signs Modifier of signs Man wearing white shirt, with badge, hat and compressor thing Icon – looks like what it is Codes of dress- denotes serviceman equipment denotes exterminator Woman in shirt and pony tail iconMan & women together connotes couple/traditional Woman in front connotes matriarch manicon Hall wayiconPainted in designer colors – connotes home ownership Hole in wallIcon/index (of vermin) Size – index of large vermin Body language - Pointing Symbol/indexPointing at hole denotes to look at hole Words – “you guys see this” symbol Shot 2

Service man enters hall of clean home, with red walls, followed by woman with black hair, followed by man with black hair. Large clean well furnished home. FASHION COLOR PAINT ICON/INDEX Large round hole in bottom of wall. INDEX Text: You guys see this: symbol/index Means “ look at this hole” SIGNIFIES INFESTATION OF LARGE VERMN Connotes MIDDLE CLASS COUPLE, WOMAN IN FRONT, MAN FOLLOWS ICON MAN IN CAP, ROLLED UP SLEEVES, /ICON Body language SIGNIFIES MATRIACHAL DOMINANCE, OR EQUALITY CAP SIGNIFIES/denotes SERVICE PERSON ROLLED UP SLEEVES signifies READY TO DO HARD WORK or GET HANDS DIRTY POINTING SIGNIFIES LOOK IN THIS DIREDTON denotes TASTE AND VALUES OF RESIDENTS Couple Connote Target audience Connotes person who will help couple SHOT TWO: SIGNS Pointing Symbol

Shot 5 Shot of hole in wall with money in front. Two men reach through hole revealing heads and shoulders and five hands. Men are wearing dark grey suits, grabbing ten dollar bills: index, icon, symbol Hole signifies rodents INDEX Large size signifies large rodents Men in hole ICONs Acting like rats – Indexical signifies that the men are rats, or rat-like. Grey suits, white shirts, older males denote (through stereotypes, statement by exterminator, and previously learned denotations) that these are bankers All signs together denote that the greedy bankers have access to your home and can destroy your house and take your money. They are destructive rats and must be dealt with. They are sub human. Grabbing money ICON/ INDEX of greed Extra hand INDEX denotes there are more men/rats then you can see Men crawling around house connote robbery, vulnerability, invasion, destruction Money, symbol of trade/value, index of transaction

Who is the intended audience of the text? What is the intended message? What cultural assumptions, or codes, are called upon to read this text? What background information is important to read this text? What sort of reality does the text construct and how does it do it? How far does the text reflect or depart from dominant cultural values?

What are alternate readings? Has this text been read extensively outside the intended audience? If so, does this reading differ, and why? What texts have influenced this text, and what texts have been influenced by this text? How did, or will this text’s meaning change over time? What is the influence of this text on reality or humanity? How does this text relate to your own values?