Signs in the "British Villains" Jaguar commercial: Have We Mentioned That We Are British

So, semiotics.
Sounds dirty. Actually useful.

I didn't realize this was the term for "this thing symbolizes another thing" until Advertising class. I'd learned all the pieces of it without actually learning the name.

Let's break it down into its easiest parts. Semiotics says that all communication is based on signs and the things those signs signify. I learned it in English classes by way of the word "tree." I say the word "tree," an image is conjured in your mind. I can't control what kind of tree it is unless I throw some more adjectives in there--say, tall pine tree. That still won't 100% do it, because maybe you think of a redwood and I'm thinking just like, you know, a really tall Douglas fir, man. But then if I say "really tall Douglas fir," how tall do I mean? And are we talking about a healthy tree? What if you don't know what the hell a Douglas fir is? And what if you decide to get nitpicky because firs aren't pines? See, that's where all communication gets tricky--we can never achieve our desire of full and clear communication, and so desire remains imaginary and remote from us, a sort of objet petit a to invoke Lacan's psychoanalytic theo--

Wait, wait. Advertising. Semiotics.

So, "tree."

Saying "tree" (I'm saying it, you just can't hear it), writing "tree," and providing you with a visual, digital representation--these are all signs which signify the arboreal outgrowth the vast majority of us are familiar with.

But to suggest "tree" just conjures its corresponding image is only half of it. "Tree" can signify any other number of things--life, growth, primacy, whole forests, even all of nature, freshness, Christmas... just to name a few. This is where that whole "picture is worth a thousand words" thing really comes from.

To tie this into advertising, marketers have only thirty seconds to get your attention, deliver a message, and make that message stick. It's a lot of information and they have to rely on visual (sometimes audial) shorthand to get it across. As an example, I'm going to use one of the commercials from the recent Super Bowl and drag a couple of signs out to show you. The commercial itself actually does quite a lot to explain what a particular sign (cliche, even) signifies in popular media--the evil British dude.

There's some extra reasons they don't go into as to why American media is so Anglophilic right now, but we'll stick with the visual and audial cues. 

Fair warning, most of these come down to "Much villain. So money. Very England, wow."

Sign: Black clothing

Signified: Mystery, rebellion, taste.

Sign: (female!) butler

Signified: Service, wealth, sex appeal
(why not maid? Maid would be signified by feminine dress! See how this is already complicated?)

Sign: "Mary"

Signified: British queens, virginity

Sign: Red lights
Signified: "Stop," danger

Sign: Jet
Signified: Private jet means wealth, freedom, speed
Sign: White (car and jet)
Signified: Purity, cleanliness, modernity

Sign: Green lights
Signified: "Go," or money, if you're F. Scott Fitzgerald. Which Hiddleston was, at one point. COINCIDENCE?
Sign: Arrow
Signified: Direction, speed, forward

Sign: Helicopter
Signified: Mobility, reconnaissance, private helicopter means wealth

Sign: Lamp (in a damn helicopter?)
Signified: Luxury, wealth, detail

Sign: (Gilded) teacup
Signified: Fragility, Britishness, sophistication, wealth, elegance

Sign: [Roaring of car engine]

Signified: Speed, power

Sign: Bow tie
Signified: Masculinity, class, wealth
Sign: Hologram/projection
Signified: Technology, surveillance, power, intelligence
Sign: Shadow (from Kingsley)
Signified: Mystery, domination, darkness, to be overshadowing
Sign: Chandelier
Signified: Design, wealth, luxury

Sign: Buckingham Freaking Palace
Signified: Britain, Great Britain, Pretty Nice Britain, England, the UK, Lady Britannia, the Queen Mum, pip pip cheerio, Royal Baby Watch, royalty, wealth, luxury, sophistication, pomp, class

Sign: Gold light (on Victorian Memorial)
Signified: Warmth, wealth, fire

Sign: BIG FREAKING BEN
Signified: GUYS DID WE MENTION WE'RE IN ENGLAND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT
Sign: Nighttime
Signified: Darkness, covert operations, secrecy, evil
Sign: Tom Hiddleston

Signified: Tumblr


And what are we to get from this staggeringly British 60 seconds of faux-action movie footage stuffed full of symbols of wealth, privilege, and intelligence? Tom Hiddleston keeps an emergency lamp near his person at all times. A Jaguar can beat a helicopter from the airport to Buckingham Palace. British people just know how to drink tea in helicopters. There are three syllables in the word "Jaguar."

But, more importantly, drive a Jaguar and you, too, will be a rich, sophisticated-yet-masculine uh, villain. Right? I think I got that right.

The vast majority of these were signs I didn't notice until I slowed down and picked them out carefully--the red and green lights at the beginning are a particularly nice touch. If I have to slow down and deliberately analyze the symbols being thrown at me rapid-fire, how many are making it through my critical thinking mental force field and into my programmable brain?