Easier on the eyes:http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/images/jezebel/2008/07/badvertisingPLANB070308.jpg
I figured finding an advertisement that stood out to me could be a good start to this blog assignment. I could use the advertisement as my cultural object, explain the position I developed from studying the advertisement, and I could explain how I came up with this position.
In this circumstance, the sign is the drug "Plan B", the signifier is the advertisement (which I think can also be called subject or object), and the signified is the meaning I have developed of "Plan B". If I understand the sign/signifier/signified relationship correctly, the signifier and signified are helping to support the sign.
What is my meaning and how did I come up with it? The conclusion I have drawn from this advertisement - including the print in the bottom half of the advertisement - is that "Plan B" is an emergency contraceptive, obviously. There are 2 pills - one that you take as soon as possible within the "72 hour window" and one that you take 12 hours after the first pill. The company doesn't want "Plan B" to be referred to as an "abortion pill", which I can clearly see printed under "what it isn't." "Plan B" could probably be considered a morning after pill. I say this because from what the advertisement says, you take the "Plan B" drug within the "72 hour window" - of which apparently we can prevent pregnancy in - after sexual intercourse with the circumstance of a failed birth control method. This therefore makes the intended audience women, who have just recently had an experience with failed birth control method(s) within the last 72 hours. It could also be argued to just be sexually active women...since they may always have the "Plan B" drug held in their mind as an option.
I wouldn't consider "Plan B" an abortion, because of what the tiny print on the bottom front says. "Plan B isn't effective if you're already pregnant, and it won't terminate an existing pregnancy." I bet if you flip this advertisement over in a magazine to look at the back of the page, there will be a shrunken 5 page paper amount of text (which I learned is called a PPI, also known as "Patient Package Insert" - requirements for this are set by the FDA), kind of like a disclaimer, explaining all the health risks and technical things people are recommended to read before taking this drug. Matter of fact, I just realized this advertisement really does have a PPI - as admitted on the front where it asks us to "Please see important product information on adjacent page." If you can understand what this text is telling you, it may be proving that the company cannot confidently say some of the things on the front because there may be circumstances that can prove the text from the front wrong.
The "Plan B" company is obviously trying to prove that this drug is a smooth approach to dealing with such a stressful situation - like birth control failing and dealing with the possibility of an unexpected pregnancy. The woman in the picture not only appears very calm, but is spelling out the "b" in "be calm" with her fingers - which coincidentally looks like a position one might rest their hands in while doing yoga. On top of that, this woman appears to be reclining in a luxury vehicle (the seat material and interior side of the door look fancy). Also, I forgot to mention - the car she's sitting in has the top down, which would make it a convertible. Convertibles are obviously relaxing because you can drive down the street with the top down and the wind blowing in your hair. The background of her setting consists of calming colors like a soft dark blue with a smeared white stripe across the middle - which coincidentally looks like it could be argued to be representing a sunset. This woman's face appears so peaceful, too. It tells us, the viewers, that "Plan B" is okay for us to use if we need to. No worries.
In conclusion... this advertisement, used as a sign, sets a culture of it's own. There are many signifiers used in this advertisement to draw us a picture of what the "Plan B" company wanted to set as the culture of their "Plan B" drug. They wanted to remind us that we can "be calm", "if your birth control method failed". This is the gist of what has been signified to me.
Side note: Circuit of Culture was used in the creation of this blog. :-)
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