A semiotic and structuralist initial analysis of the Tide advert

Let's all get used to looking at this image, because you will need to know it inside out!

•  The heading ‘Tide’s got what women want’ stereotypically places the female target audience in the position of traditional values; that women should complete household chores. 
• While the advert features 4 separate images of women, there is no explicit representation of men. The only symbolic signification that men exist is the MES of the men’s clothes, which in the context of the time this advert was produced (the 1950’s) could be assumed to belong to a man
• The text at the side of the picture occupies less space than the main image. However there is a lot of text on this advert, a convention of 50s advertising. The amount of text functions as a proairetic code, suggesting the complex formula of this powder will clean clothes better 
• The three points on the right of the image is a good example of the rule of three: three memorable points to help the target audience understand the value of this product
• The red font and the MES of the red packaging has symbolic connotations the housewife’s passion for the product. Here passion functions polysemically: it means both enthusiasm, but also a sexual lust.
• This lust is encoded through the signification of red lipstick, which has connotations of sexual passion. This use of red here links to the headline, also in red ‘Tide’s got what women want’. This is also polysemic, suggesting that women not only want to clean clothes, but are also passionately and even lustfully involved in the cleaning process. This is reinforced through the ‘kissy hearts’ jumping out of the housewife’s head, iconography of cartoons, and the red lipstick, stereotypically symbolic of passion.
• The woman is a housewife. She is situated in a home environment, reinforced through the MES of the washing line, the washing machine, and she is wearing clothes which stereotypically and symbolically suggest she is a housewife. 
• The most important words are highlighted in red, symbolically suggesting that these are most useful (and most passionate!). For example, ‘clean’ is highlighted, suggesting the important cleaning power of the product. 
• The language used is hyperbolic, including the MES of the sheer amount of bubbles emerging from the washing machine, proiretically suggesting the extreme cleaning power of Tide.
• The advert was made in the 1950s in America. Immediately post world war two, the patriotic symbolism of the red white and blue colours (a classic example of the rule of three) will appeal to Americans in a post-war climate
• The heading also functions as a slogan: Tide’s Got What Women Want, symbolically suggesting that the women reading this advert will benefit from owning and using this product. 
• The product itself is washing powder. However, the advert constructs washing powder as exciting. The use of block capitals addresses the audience in an exciting and over the top way. Furthermore, the hyperbolic claims of the subheadings (“world’s cleanest wash”) makes ridiculous claims about the quality of the product. 
• The colour red, used throughout the advert, is symbolic of love, and even passion. This is anchored through the red of the box, symbolically encoding excitement and passion. Further, the gesture of the woman hugging the box is reinforced through the MES of the model’s bright red lipstick, functioning as a proairetic code, suggesting she’s going to kiss the box. Finally the cartoonish lovehearts blasting out the woman’s head confirm her passionate love.
• This advert carefully constructs society's expectations of women in America in the 1950s. The sole expectation for women in the world of this advertisement is laundry, washing and hanging. However the housewife appears to be excited about the hard work that she is forced to accomplish. 
• The advert presents a misogynistic ideology: the hatred of women. The only function of women in this advert is to clean clothes: a clear example of objectification, with  the housewife character never given a name.
• The model is highly stereotypically attractive, which is reinforced through the MES of the glamorous makeup of the model. Symbolically connoting a night on the town rather than cleaning up, it reinforces the assumption that women should be presentable, that is to be shown off to men at all times