Search

This essay aims to explore the use of neolocalism and social terroir by small-scale, independent breweries in Sweden. This will be achieved through a collection of quantitative data, semiotic analysis and discourse analysis of a selection of beer labels from breweries located in Skåne. A total of 22 beer labels are analysed through quantitative analysis and four are further analysed through semiotic- and discourse analysis. The results show that neolocalism and social terroir is used by a few of the researched breweries. These breweries use graphic elements such as images, product names and text with a local, historical and cultural connection in order to appeal to their targeted market.

Online sports betting is an industry that has seen a huge surge in popularity in the US since 2018, and the companies behind this surge have enjoyed exponential increases in profits. Accompanying the increased interest in and profits of online sports gambling is a large spike in advertisements created by companies that offer online sports betting services. Although gambling is an activity that is recognized as highly addictive and potentially destructive for certain individuals, the companies that offer sports gambling services in the US face little to no government regulation in how they advertise their services. This study aimed to investigate the advertising narratives deployed by the four most popular online sports betting companies in the US (FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook, and BetMGM) in terms of their frequency, using the precision afforded by the method of qualitative content analysis. Additionally, this study deployed semiotic analysis with the constructionist approach to representation and the concept of myth to examine how the most frequently used narratives in online sports betting advertisements draw on broader systems of meaning in order to persuade audiences. This study found that FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook, and BetMGM most frequently used narratives of online betting and celebrity feature in their advertisements. Using semiotic analysis, this study found that the narratives of online betting and celebrity feature often translated to mythologized and often unrealistic depictions of sports betting which represented it as an activity that allowed sports bettors to align themselves on the same hierarchical level as professional athletes and Hollywood celebrities, while largely ignoring the risks that are inherently attached to gambling. The findings of this study stand as an exploratory accounting and examination of the currently unregulated advertising practices of the largest sports gambling companies in the US.

In today’s media, menstruation tends to be portrayed in different ways. Periods are either portrayed as being natural or as a problem that must be solved. When these different portrayals are made, questions about the normalization around menstruation are being raised and there are doubts if the menstrual taboo is really gone. This thesis will analyze how menstruation is represented in two different commercials for menstrual products and further discuss if a menstrual taboo is still present in commercials today. Through a semiotic analysis the study shows that menstruation is being represented in different ways and that one company is more progressive than the other, however signs can be found in both commercials which indicate that a menstrual taboo is still present. The differences can on the other hand also demonstrate the positive change that has come out of questioning the menstrual taboo.

Denna studie är en visuell semiotisk analys av tre olika märken av tequila i tre olika länder och hur deras flaskor presenteras och representeras visuellt. Studien tittar på de mest sålda tequilaflaskorna i respektive land och genom det kanske man förstår vad det säger om det landet och deras förhållande till tequila men även Mexiko. Eftersom den mest sålda tequilan är José Cuervo i de utvalda länderna kommer denna studie att fokusera på de näst mest populära märkena. De näst mest populäraste märkena i utvalda länder är Cabrito blanco från Mexiko, Patrón från USA och Sierre tequila silver från Sverige. Det kan vara intressant för företag och andra designers att förstå de olika marknaderna och deras tequilakultur. Med den kunskapen kommer de att få en bättre insikt i hur de visuellt kan presentera sin egen tequila om det behövs. Studien visar att flaskorna med tequila representeras och presenteras olika baserat på marknadens kunskap om tequila. Mer specifikt visar det att en kultur med låg kunskap om tequila som Sverige, använder fler stereotyper av Mexiko och tequila. De höjs och överdrivs. I en kultur med högre kunskap som Mexiko å andra sidan, visar inte flaskan många tecken om Mexiko eller tequilan. Det visar också hur Sverige fortfarande har en kultur där tequila representerar fest, shots, citron och salt medan man i USA har flyttat mer bort från den kulturen och närmare den i Mexiko. Detta märks på flaskan med Patrón tequila som har en mer elegant stil men som fortfarande är uppenbar för en icke spansktalande konsument vad det är för produkt., This study is a visual semiotic analysis of three different brands of tequila in three different countries and how their bottles are presented and represented visually. The study is looking at the most sold tequila bottles in each country and through that maybe understand what that says about that country and their relationship to tequila but also Mexico. Since the most sold tequila is José Cuervo in the chosen countries, this study will focus on the second most popular brands. The second most popular brands in selected countries are Cabrito blanco from Mexico, Patrón from the USA and Sierre tequila silver from Sweden. This might be interesting for companies and other designers to understand the different markets and their culture of tequila. With that knowledge they will get a better insight in how to visually present their own tequila if needed. The study shows that the bottles of tequila are represented and presented differently based on the market’s knowledge of tequila. More specifically, it shows that a culture with low knowledge of tequila like Sweden, uses more stereotypes of Mexico and tequila. They are heighten and exaugurated. In a culture with a higher knowledge like Mexico on the other hand, the bottle doesn’t give away a lot of signs about Mexico nor the tequila. It also shows how Sweden still has a culture where tequila represents party, shots, lemon and salt while in the USA they have moved more away from that culture and closer to the one in Mexico. This is noticeable on the bottle of Patrón tequila that has a more elegant style but still is obvious to a non Spanish speaking consumer what the product is.

By use of qualitative, semiotic analysis of screenshots taken from Part I of the three-part anthologyfilm The House (2022), an adult stop-motion animation using puppets, the clothing of the charactersis analysed to examine how they convey class and power based on theory by Stuart Hall, PierreBourdieu, Beverly Skeggs and Marita Sturken & Lisa Cartwright. The text further uses fashionhistory to contextualise and interpret visual references to British monarchs Elizabeth I and Henry VIII. The study finds Part I of The House portrays the anxiety and exploitation of the working-classcharacters through the colour, number of layers, fabrics, references and changes in the characters’costumes in a way that lines up with the arguments presented by Bourdieu and Skeggs about culturalcapital and popular representation of the working class. Part I’s construction of class may not reflectthe diversity of class experiences found in the real world, but through further analysis including thetwo other parts of The House this reading may differ as those include other characters and settings.

Uppsatsen har gjort i syfte att undersöka porträtteringen av kvinnliga antagonister samt protagonister i två Disneyfilmer för att se om porträtteringen skiljer sig filmerna emellan. De filmer som varit aktuella för undersökningen har varit Snövit och de sju dvärgarna (1937) samt Trassel (2010). Materialet har analyserats utifrån representationsteori med nedstamp i stereotyper, genus samt mise-en-scéne inom animation. De valda metoder för analysen är en narrativ samt semiotisk analys där karaktärernas handlingar samt utseende tolkats för att sedan jämföras. Antagonisterna och protagonisterna från båda filmerna porträtteras likadant och har liknande narrativa funktioner, där antagonisten är kontrasterande och binär gentemot protagonisten som ses som filmens normala., The purpose of this essay has been to analyze the female antagonists and protagonists in two films from Disney to see if the portrayal of these characters differentiate. The films fitting for the analysis are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Tangled (2010). The material has been analyzed through a perspective of representation theory as well as stereotypes, gender and mise-en-scéne in animation. The methods chosen for this essay are a narrative analysis and a semiotic analysis where the characters’ actions and appearance are being interpreted and compared. The antagonists and protagonists from both films are portrayed in a similar way and have narrative functions that are similar, where the antagonists are contrasting and binary opposite the protagonists who are viewed as the normal.

Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera hur djävulsgestalten används som visuell metafor för depression i den animerade kortfilmen How Have You Been? (2020) skapad av Polly Nor och Adam Baker. Detta med målet att skapa bredare förståelse för hur visuella metaforer kan användas inom visuell kommunikation för att gestalta känslor. Studien utförs med hjälp av en semiotisk analys samt metaforanalys med teoretisk utgångspunkt i semiotik och metaforteori. Uppsatsen resulterade i kunskap kring hur den visuella metaforen förstärks genom personifiering av depression samt en stark relation mellan protagonist o antagonist. Även förvandling av djävulsgestalten har stor betydelse för hur den visuella metaforen tolkas. Ytterligare framkom det att filmskaparna använder symboler samt ickeverbal kommunikation för att förstärka den visuella metaforen., The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the devil figure is used as a visual metaphor for depression in the animated short film How Have You Been? (2020) made by Polly Nor and Adam Baker. This with the goal to create a wider understanding about how visual metaphor can be used in the field of visual communication to portray emotions. The study is carried out with the help of a semiotic analysis as well as a metaphor analysis with a theoretical basis in semiotics and metaphor theory. The thesis resulted in knowledge about how the visual metaphor is enhanced through the personification of depression and a strong relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist. The transformation of the devil figure is also of great importance for how the visual metaphor is interpreted. Furthermore, it became clear that the filmmakers use symbols and non-verbal communication to enhance the visual metaphor.