Publications

Publication details [#12493]

Arning, Chris. 2009. Kitsch, irony, and consumerism: A semiotic analysis of Diesel advertising 2000–2008. Semiótica 174 : 21–48. 28 pp. URL
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
De Gruyter
ISBN
16133692

Abstract

The article provides a thorough semiotic analysis of six Diesel advertising campaigns released in years 2000-2008, and focuses on both rhetorical devices and representational tropes used in Diesel advertisements. As observed in the analysis, te same brand may construct twin codes, one positioning Diesel as a scurrilous and insightful countercultural observer that raises objections to the consumerist culture, and the other making Diesel a nihilistic and ludic mischief maker that attracts potential decoders into the wealth of irony and textual bliss. Thus, the proposed analysis becomes a toolkit approach to semiotics that blend theoretical grounding with pragmatism.