The title of this print advertisement is Deathbed. Deathbed is a production to serve as a brand for The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s anti smoking campaign. Chi&Partner London UK is the advertising agency for this print advertisement. The official website of CHI&Partner London UK is http://CHI&PARTNERS.COM. The respective creative director is Ewan Paterson. Main art concept is directed by Dave Masterman. Ed Edwards is the copywriter for this print advertisement. This advertisement uses stock photography from various sources. This meaningful, eye-catching and stunning print advertisement is designed by the famous designer - Kylie Mclean. On 23/03/09, Deathbed is published/released/aired on worldwide websites and newspaper.
Deathbed primary targets are public and smokers because everyday these people are related to cigarette and smoke. There are a few intended messages of Deathbed. The advertisement want to tell the audience that smoking will slowly lead them to the hospital bed because of the consequences. Other than this, Deathbed will alert the self-consciousness inside their hearts. This print advertisement also will create awareness to public so that they are clear about the cons of smoking. Deathbed also let people know the risks of smoking.
Many people smokes is because the influence by friends. They think smoking as a trend, a lifestyle, a way to release tension but they ignore the bad effects of smoking. The “trend” of smoking is a code to identify this print advertisement. Most of the people will understand this print advertisement because they’ve seen their friends or people smoking in front of them. Besides that, people must know the color of cigarette (white and orange) and hospital bed to read this print advertisement correctly. Deathbed is constructed in a brilliant way because it uses realism and common sense in it. It shows if one man smokes, there is a high possibility of dying earlier than a man not smoking. Smoking will brings serious diseases which infects health badly to smokers. For pregnant mothers, smokes will cause abnormal growth of fetus and the fetus will be born as an incomplete baby.
The reason of Deathbed is published is to makes more people to support the anti-smoking campaign around the globe. However, not every people will read this advertisement in the way creator does. Some people might think alternately, maybe they will think this is a new type of hospital bed or perhaps cleanliness of a patient room. It depends on people in various thinking. Each individual will thinks differently vary from the angles or perspective they stand. This can be an isolated room, not a patient room. This also can be a room in a mental illness center. Quarantine situation might appeal also. A single bed represents the loneliness? This can be true too.
The rate of smoking in the world is increasing every minute. Almost 20 percent of world populations are smokers. 1 out of 5 people will be a smoker. This is a dangerous level. Because of the fast increment of smokers, it influences the world anti-smoking organizations to create more anti-smoking campaign to raise awareness of public to cigarette. The campaigns created will make the smokers to quit smoking slowly; hence the number of smokers will be decreases. What if some people misread the meaning of Deathbed? This problem won’t exist because the aims of Deathbed will remains the same unless one day the design of hospital bed changed to other shape and colors, or maybe the cigarette is not longer cigarette, it’s in another color and form. At the time, all the anti-smoking campaign including Deathbed will not working anymore. They will need a new campaign then. Anyway, Deathbed probably won’t have any influence on smokers who does not have symptoms of lung diseases or cancer. These people are not afraid of this campaign because they have not attempted the feeling of sick and helpless. But, in more or less, it will influence those people with symptoms. This group of people mostly near to death and they have the determination to quit the smoking habit. On personal values, self conscious and self discipline will be related to this print advertisement.
Semiotic theory is compatibles in Deathbed. Few signs are found in this advertisement. A sign is the association of signifier and the signified according to Saussure. The signification is the process of the association. Pierce had three important types of signs which are symbol, index and icon. Deathbed, hospital bed itself is a sign. The bed is an icon to a bed. The function of the bed is to let people rest on it. Hospital bed can be the symbol of patient. The bed also indicates hospital, illness. It denotes an object for patient in the hospital to lie down and it connotes the patient’s serious disease and in bad condition; it can be lung diseases or heart diseases. Other criteria might be applied to rank these three forms differently. Different people will judges the advertisement in many ways. People might think it denotes surgery is in operation and connotes to accident happened.
Peirce and Saussure the famous two semiotician have different interpretation of symbol and icon. Saussure refused to refer the symbol to arbitrary linguistic signs while Peirce’s idea is symbol is a general idea that refers to the original object. The wheel is another sign. Wheel indicates that the thing is moveable. The bed can be move here and there, so this is the denotation. It connotes to unstable condition of the patient or an unexpected event is going to happen soon. This signified the patient is at the edge of his life. Other than that, bed frame in this advertisement is a sign too. The texture is stainless steel. The frame itself together with the bed indicates that this is a hospital bed. Without the frame, the bed will be like a common bed. Some people might just think it is a mattress with white cloth on it. The frame denotes to a strong bed frame while the connotation of it is the stable and strong frame is supporting the weak patient. Pillow on the bed is a sign like the bed frame, it indicates relax and rest and can be denotes to sleep. But somehow, if we think in other way, in connotation, it’s related to rest in peace. Example, the pillow links to dead people lying or resting forever in a coffin. The important sign in Deathbed is the color of the bed. The color of the bed is the color of the cigarette, thus it is a symbol of cigarette. It has a special connotation meaning. Smoking will get you on hospital bed some day; the color of the bed is like a complete cigarette, when a cigarette is burned out, all it left is filter. So when the blanket fully covers the patient, the bed is completely in orange color, means the patient is dead. Plain white background of this advertisement can be signifying emptiness and loneliness. It denotes to an empty and lonely space. In connotation, it is a lonely patient is waiting to cure one day and also smoking will make you lose everything and at the end you have nothing left.
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