Analyzing UOZ Kafa Domestic Violence Advertisement using Barthes'

Three Semiotics Messages

1. Linguistic Message
This advertisement carries both linguistic message, relay and anchorage.
The relay is message of the advertisement: everyday, 1 of 2 women in
Lebanon suffers some form of verbal abuse. The relay delivers the
meaning or message of the advertisement otherwise only available in
the visual element. Due to this relation, in order to understand the
message, viewers must first analyse the visual element. The visual
element, similarly, is a stylized and conceptual image. This essay
attempts to explain the concept and context of this advertisement using
Halliday's three metafunction.
Ideational Function
The participants in the image can be categorized into interactive
participant because the participant participates in the act of
communication. The participants of this advertisement are that of
interactive participant with actor and goal. The process described is the
reactional process with the reader as the actor and the phenomena of
verbal violence as the goal. Therefore, it can be said that the goal of
this advertisement is to make the readers aware of the verbal abuse
phemomena in Lebanon and how it costs Lebanese women who
becomes a victim of the abuse.
The concept of the image is the simbolic representation. The woman in
this image only poses to the camera. It means that the main purpose of
the concept is to establish identity. The identity established in the
advertisement is revealed in the linguistic message: a woman who
suffets from verbal abuse.
The representation and interaction in this advertisement can be
described as follow: the participant gaze demands the viewer's
attention. The image is close distance, new inform ation. The image aims
to tell the viewer the identity of a verbally abused woman: on one side
is a scar that forms the sound of the word whore with the black eye,
while the other side is a normal and unscarred face. It means that even
though verbal abuse don't leave visible scar to the body, but the pain is
equal to physical abuse and the victim suffers from it. The angle of the
image is taken from oblique angle, signifying the woman as not a part
of the viewer's world. Thr viewers may be people who don't experience
the verbal abuse or from the culture in which verbal abuse is not a
common occurence. It is confirmed by the message that reads: 1 of 2
women in Lebanon suffers some form of verbal abuse. Followed by the
anchorage: Log on to www.kafa.org.lb for support, it explains that this
advertisement seeks to help from the viewer who is not a part of the
phenomena for support or help.
2. Coded Iconic Message
4. Non-Coded Iconic Message