Applying Semiotics as a Technique of the Famous Starbucks Coffees Happy Hour

Promo to Encourage the Consumers to Buy the Product

An Academic Paper presented to

Dr. Claudette A. Baluran

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course

ENGLISH 240- English in the Media

By:
Mary Rose G. Palacio
AB English 4B
 As a language major, we tend to discover the hidden treasures that we have in our life.
We are not just an ordinary people who study grammar, sentence structure, language, culture
and etc. We should also focus behind the reality; we should dig more about anything in this
world. We shouldnt just be satisfied of what we have but rather, we should have deeper
understanding in our lessons.
Everything in this world plays an important role in our life. We, people need to really
appreciate what we have and we should also find some ways to help our ancestors to
contribute some ideas and to be progressive. We need to take action about this, we need to
study it well so that we can share it to other people who know this like our ancestors who
develop it. Our part is to expand the topics about Semiotics. Especially if you are not a
Language major, you will be having a trouble understanding if what it is, and what to do about
it. Its even harder to the Math questions that you dont know the formula and also dont know
how to solve it.
It is also my responsibility as a Language major to be aware of what we called
Semiotics, so that Language major will interact freely and easily. It is also important to
communicate to other people, if all of us can understand the beauty of Semiotics, people will
not have a misunderstanding towards each other.
Other people in this world dont know the value of Semiotics in our life. They dont care
about it and the saddest thing is they dont want to study more about it. they didnt know the
roles of this because they are not giving any signs of interests from it like the other majors.
Language majors should treasure it like a jewels because not all students have given a chance
to study this kind of topic, we just need to enhance our skills and we should really understand
it, and develop what we learn from our English major professors.

They say that we should plant a seed in order for us to gain something, and we will
know the result in the future of what we planted if its bad or good seed. Life is unfair we
should give an importance to everything. Because in this world all things have an important
even if the smallest thing.

Like Semiotics, it can help in our daily lives, it is also plays a big role in our society.
Especially in economics, like for example, in the business world. It can help the business tycoon
to endorse their products, to be the best seller in the market and to introduce to the
consumers.

We, Language majors, should also contribute about the Semiotics. Because it can help
every individual to be more progressive of their lives. We should also help the other majors, like
how our Language professors helps us to reach were we are and to feed their knowledge to us
in order for us to become knowledgably and become successful in life in the future. We should
be thankful because we had given an opportunity to know about Semiotics, not all people in
this world has a chance to know about it. So, as a student that studying Semiotics we should
really pour our time studying about it, because it is like a valuable property from our ancestors
and we, the language majors are the heirs.

If we really study more about Semiotics, we will be aware of everything. We can know
the meaning of different signs in our surroundings. We can know the message that the pictures
in the magazine, billboards, posters, and etc. what message are they trying to convey or what
message they want to say about their given products. If were going to study the beauty of
Semiotics, we will not become hypocrites any longer. We will become knowledgeable about it,
we can easily communicate to other people and life will become easy.

Ordinary people is having a hard time to understand whats behind the text and behind
the picture in our surroundings and what are they trying to convey. Not all people give attention
about Semiotics but business tycoons uses that one of the most effective technique in business
world to pursue the consumer to buy their product instantly without a doubts. Because people
are easily swayed by the media text, printable materials, and especially if there is a promo in
the business.

Semiotics is the saturation of images in our society through the media has been the
cause of much critical comment within philosophy, politics and sociology. This examination of
the image has been ongoing since the early twentieth century, as the consideration of how
images are used has developed into a distinct discipline. Images provide a means of
communication and representation, the study of these messages is labelled semiology. This
subject can perhaps be better described, though far more loosely, as the examination of signs,
the way signs are produced, disseminated and consumed.

'A science that studies the life of signs within society is conceivable...I shall call it
semiology (it will) ...show what constitutes signs, what laws govern them' (Saussure 1974).

The study of signs is particularly important in the consideration of the generation of

'media memories' as it is through the structuring, presence and absence of certain signs that a
perception of the past within the public sphere is generated by and through the media (Bignell
2003). The origins of semiology are located with the work of the French linguistic Ferdinand de
Saussure, his study, Course in General Linguistics (1974), set the agenda for the ways in which
signs are examined. Saussure analyzed the sign into its two basic components: a sound
component which he named the signifier, and a conceptual component, which he called the
signified. This conceptual component, the signified, is not a material object, but the thought,
the idea of an object, it is what is called to mind when an individual hears or uses the
appropriate signifier. Therefore, the idea of a cat is called to mind as a signified when the word
'cat' as a signifier is used. The signifier therefore constitutes the material aspect of language. In
the case of the spoken language a signifier is any meaningful sound which is made, in the case
of the written language a signifier is any meaningful mark written down, in the case of the
media a signifier is any image which is relayed to the audience. Signifiers and signifieds can be
separated in this way by semiologists; in the encounter of signs in everyday life however they
constitute a whole: a single sign.

The study of semiotics was also greatly advanced by the American philosopher Charles
Pierce, who analyzed the notion of signs to reveal underlying components.

'A sign or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some
respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an
equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. That sign which it creates I call the
interpretant of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object. It stands for that object,
not in all respects, but in reference to a sort of idea, which I have sometimes called the ground
of representamen' (Pierce 1955). These theories are important because they reveal the way in
which signs communicate ideas, attitudes and beliefs to us. In the context of television, film,
newspapers and other forms of media, semiology explains the way in which images are used to
represent and relay information to the audience. This of course is reliant on the assumption that
the audience possesses the necessary knowledge and appreciation, societal conditioning if you
will, to decipher these signs (Burn and Parker 2003). Therefore, the signs which are viewed in
the media by the public can be constructed to form certain meanings, meanings which appear
perhaps unconnected to the signs themselves. The philosopher Roland Barthes considered this
aspect in his study of the images relayed to the public through the media. Barthes proposed
that the use of signs in society was a means of expressing a particular way of normalizing the
world in line with a bourgeoisie perspective. This normalization was termed a 'myth', an
indication of both the fabricated nature of the message and the seductive power it holds over
others.

'Myth does not deny things, on the contrary, its function is to talk about them; simply, it
purified them, it makes them innocent, it gives them a natural and eternal justification, it gives
them a clarity which is not that of explanation but that of a statement of fact...it is natural and
goes without saying: I am reassured' (Barthes 1973).

Signs therefore, as relayed through the media, are able to communicate social and
political messages. Barthes for instance considered the image from a magazine cover of a black
man in French military uniform giving a salute. Barthes examined how the image communicated
to its audience a message of a liberal, understanding France, of inclusiveness and acceptance.
Far from the image of a black Frenchman conveying an image of a black Frenchman, the image
itself relays a variety of messages to its audience. The image acts to defuse any tensions about
inequality in society by emphasizing that anyone regardless of ethnicity can be proud of the
nation. In a similar way when images are viewed in newspapers, films or television programmes
the audience consumes and connects images to aspects of society. Signs therefore are a point
of domination as well as definition, as the production, dissemination and consumption of signs
in society acts to shape and inform the structure of understanding. With specific reference to
the media the manner in which signs are presented to the public, i.e. the camera angle, the
lighting, the background is all within the remit of the semiologist (Danesi 1994). The signs
relayed through the media are a very important area of study as they can form the basis of
public perceptions and understanding. Within a television programme for example, the viewer is
exposed to a number of signs which they are required to decipher and recognize (Lacey 1998).
The nature of this recognition is based upon the previous scenes in the programme, the manner
in which that scene is portrayed and the wider understanding of that scene within society.

According to Wikipedia, Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans,
which are the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. The genus Coffea is native to tropical
Africa and Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, and Runion in the Indian Ocean.

Most of the people cant complete the day without sipping a cup of coffee, especially if
you are a coffee lover. We, people, love to go to coffee shops, if we are studying we
automatically find a place which is quite and relaxing. So, the tendency is we always go to
coffee shops.

In my study, I am going to analyze the Technique of the Famous Starbucks Coffees

Happy Hour Promo to Attracts the Consumer and how to encourage people to buy a cup of
coffee using Semiotics as their ways to promote and introduced their products.
 As what I have understood on my sources, semiotics is the study of the images to
convey or express meanings to other people. It helps us to understand better what is the
message from the pictures that we see everywhere, but not just only in a pictures but also in
advertisements, billboards, magazines, newspaper, catalogs, and any other printed materials. It
also gives a meaning of how signs are understood by the media and the people. It helps us to
uncover the hidden message or meaning of the media texts that we see in any printed
materials.

As we can see in the 1st picture, the signifier is the three (3) different types of a frappe
and with different flavors. The signified is the phrase HALF PRICE HAPPY HOUR. As what I
said, we really love to have a cup of coffee a day, sometimes not just only 1 cup a day but
many as that, every morning and in the afternoon. Drinking coffee turns to hobby; we tend to
get addicted to it, and if we plan to stop it, we will be having a hard time to do that. We cant
deny the fact that the more we drink coffee the more we will get addicted. Business minded
people has a lot of choice to considered as a technique when introducing a product to the
consumers but one of this techniques in business world is what we called Semiotics. They are
using Semiotics because they are encouraging the consumers to buy their product without
having a second thoughts, business tycoons are like a man who is promising to the woman that
they wont leave the girl no matter what happens, so the result is the woman will believe to the
man. Just like in that picture, the signified is HALF PRICE HAPPY HOUR, as we all know
Starbucks Coffee is expensive but the Starbucks Coffees management think an idea of how to
sell their products easily. So they come up with a promo, if you will be going to buy a cup of
coffee on May 4-13 around 3-5pm you can buy the coffee for half of the original price of the
coffee. They also put the sample product there because it adds up more to encourage the
consumer to buy their product, they also put the different types of coffee there, so the
consumers will have a choice, the reason for that is the consumers have a different kind of
taste. Since Starbucks Coffee is an international coffee shop, the choice of their color is light
blue and white. I think, it is winter there. It really suites for the winter season, because white
color symbolizes for the snow. Light blue color symbolizes snowflakes.
 In this 2nd picture, we can see there the signifier which are the two cups of iced drinks
and it signifies the phrase This Friday, Try One On us. The product their I think is a new
product or special, they are trying to introduce it to the people who consumes it. They find a
way to sell their new products at the same time they are using it as a technique to get
feedbacks from the consumer, if the product is good or not. If they will sell it in the market
continuously or if they need to stop selling it. As you can see there, the two products have a
label or name, but sad to say the quality of picture is not clear. It is also a limited edition
product, they allotted 3 hours to sell it on July 13, 12pm-3pm. In this picture, they are really
encouraging the consumers to try their newly introduced product.
 In this 3rd picture, the signifier is the three cups of iced drinks with different types of
flavors that signifies the phrase Wake up your afternoon. The text which signifies the signifier
wants to convey the information to the consumer that they need to be energized by drinking a
cup of their product. Especially, if the consumer is having a bad day, they also want to tell the
consumer through that media text that it will take all away the negative vibes on that day. Most
of the people, if they are stressed or have a problem, they automatically eat just to ease the
problem that they encounter. In the present period, we called that Stress Eating. They come
up into that kind of media text to lighten up the mood of the consumer, and the consumer can
buy it half of the original price in the allotted time that they give.

In this 4th picture, the signifiers are the three cups of coffee which signifies the phrase
HAPPY HOUR IS BACK. Maybe they take away the Happy Hour Promo for a long time but they
decided to put it back on track. As we can see in the picture, there are a lot of blended colors
on the top of the drinking straw. I think it represents the different flavors of Frappuccino
blended beverage.
 In the last picture, the signifier is one cup of Frappuccino which is slightly bend and a
drinking straw with an ice cube beside of it, that signifies the media text Enjoy any
Frappuccino at half-price, during happy hour. The management of the Starbucks Coffee,
manipulates the people to buy their products. They are using different techniques so that their
products will be sold easily in a short period of time that they give to the consumers.

Thats how my mini-analysis went on, studying the meaning of the picture was not that
easy, it will take time to understand what the meaning of text trying to convey to the people
and the media. You should also think outside the box to really understand the meaning of every
picture, every text, every letters, and the symbols are the most important of all. As I said,
semiotics plays a huge part in our lives, so it is better to know the function and the importance
of the semiotics. Even me dont know at this first, but while doing this paper, I am totally
enjoying it and I learn a lot from it while reading some articles in the internet about semiotics at
the same time I had really having a hard time. It tells me how important is Semiotic, and how it
revolves in our daily lives especially, in the business world.

Semiotics is not easy, even though it is my 2nd paper about Semiotics, which I analyzed
pictures and media text. If you focus on it you will really understand what is behind on every
symbols in a given picture, what they are really trying to convey, what are the roles that they
are playing on it. Its like uncovering secret feelings toward the people you really like.

I learned a lot from Semiotics, because business tycoons play the life of consumers to
sell their product successfully. They advertise their products using Semiotics, as for me I think
that they are just only stating their media text but the truth is they are manipulating the
consumers. I also think that media text has a really big impact to the sales of the company, if
they are really conveying the message correctly, precisely, and clearly.

It is not just picture that we can see but in every choice of words, there are some
certain meaning that they want to relay through Semiotics techniques in business or corporate
world. Especially if they are going to endorse a new product, because buyers will not able to
buy a product if he/she is not familiar with it, he/she havent see a product, and if/she is not
introduced to the product. So the business tycoon uses the strategy or technique to promote
and endorse their product, they are using media text to pursue the buyers to buy the product.
Even me will not going to buy the product if I am not familiar with it, if I havent see it, and if
someone has not introduced it to me, I am not that easily swayed if they just talk to me about
the product but I am easily swayed when I see an advertisement, commercials and picture.

That is the hidden secret of Semiotics, it really plays an important role in our lives. You
cant deny that fact. Not just only to language majors and business minded people, but it is also
essential to the ordinary people. On the other hand, people dont know how to value Semiotics,
they dont care about it. They just simply ignore it, but they didnt know that Semiotics will help
us in future even in present time to become successful human.

In the business world, the business tycoons use different techniques to endorse their
products in the market. One of them is what we called Semiotics. You will be having a hard
time to introduced a newly product, especially if it not from a well-known company.

If you are a business minded person, you will do anything to sell your products. Even it
will take you time but the important goal is that, your product will be introduce to the public so
that many people will consume it. They will really buy it if you successfully persuade them, even
the price of the product is expensive. Consumers will buy the given product if; 1st if it is well-
known, 2nd if it is delicious, has a great quality and quantity, 3rd if the company is trustworthy.

Business minded people study well the techniques of Semiotics because it really helps in
their business. Semiotics helps their business to grow and go out in their own shells. Semiotics
is really useful in every way, not just only in business or economics but also in all aspects of our
life. Semiotics is not simple; you need a deeper thinking skills in order for you to really
understand it well. At first, you will think that it is easy as true or false but no, it requires you to
have a critical thinking skills.
References:
http://www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/media/methods/semiotics.html
www.wikipedia.com
Barthes, R. (1973) Mythologies. London. Paladin.
Bignell, J. (2003) Media Semiotics: an introduction. Manchester. Manchester University Press.
Burn, A. and Parker, R. (2003) Analysing Media Texts. London. Paladin.
Danesi, M. (1994) Messages and Meanings: an introduction to semiotics. Toronto. Canadian
Scholars Press.
Lacey, N. (1998) Image and Representation: key concepts in media studies. Houndmills.
Macmillan.
Peirce, C.S. (1955) Philosophical Writings of Pierce. Editor by J. Bachler. New York. Dover
Publications
Saussure, F. de (1974) General Course in Linguistics. New York. Philosophical Library.