A Lesson in Semiotics

My qualitative classs required that we search journal articles reflecting semiotic analysis.

I located an article "The male heart and the female mind: A study in the gendering of antideprressants and cardiovascular drugs in advertisements in Irish medical publication" by Phillip Curry and Marita O'Brien . They showed how messages directed to an audience are created to influence consumers - in this case how signs were used to influence the consumers of medications. Signs are associated with meaning and are associated with "codes" we pick up. Distinct images are used by advertisers in medical publications to identify patients at risk of or suffering from depression and cardiovascular disease. Content analysis in advertisments displaying humans showed that 91.17 percent of the users of cardiovascular medication were male and 85.7 percent using anti-dperessants were female. This showed the difference was highly significant and there was an extremely strong relationship between gender of user and the category of the drug advertised. Women in anti-dpressant medication ads are shows as being passive, sad and helpless. Men in cardio-vascular medication ads are shown in control, engaging in activities such as dancing and jogging - think of our own American ad with the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart and the doctor jogging with his son. The images focused on activity rather than on the individual. Also signifiers, such as clothing - outdoor clothing for men engaging in outdoor activity imply a continuation of a healthy lifestyle whereas women are depicted as aging and becoming depressed, becasue of it, and are shown wearing grey and sitting on a floor holding their knees. In Ireland men have a higher suicide rate than women, yet men are shown less in ads for anti-depressants. it is interesting to note that in the Republic of Ireland the legislation controls drug advertisements and those advertisements are only permitted in medical publications. Think of how we are bombarded in the US with pharmaceutical advertisements in every magazine from Newsweek to Family Circle.