Analysis of Halkbank’s “Mother’s Day” advertisement in terms of literary semiotics

Abstract

Advertisements are not only texts that reflect the cultural, ideological, and social values of the societies in which they are produced, but also fictional constructs. The semantic dimensions of these texts emerge through the articulation of this fictional structure. Therefore, before ideological and social analyses, it is considered necessary to examine the structural functioning of the text and the processes through which meaning is produced. For this reason, the present study analyzes Halkbank’s “Mother’s Day” commercial within the framework of literary semiotics. In doing so, the structural processes of meaning-making are revealed. The analysis was conducted in three stages: discursive, narrative, and deep structure. As a result of the semiotic analysis, it has been determined that the constitutive elements in the discursive structure—such as actor, space, and time—have a positive impact on the mothers, who are the main narrative subjects in the commercial. In the narrative structure, mothers were identified as the subject, children’s well-being as the object, and Halkbank as the helper element. In the deep structure, the fundamental opposition of the text was determined to be between the “attentive mother” and the “neglectful mother.” The concepts of motherhood, self-sacrifice, children’s happiness, and care are culturally affirmed in the commercial. The bank is presented as a figure that embraces and supports these societal values. In conclusion, the study reveals the meaning that advertising texts construct through their fictional and structural organization, as well as the processes through which this meaning emerges. In this respect, literary analysis can be considered a preliminary stage in the examination of other types of texts, including advertisements.