Revealing the Beauty Standard of American and Asian Women on Selected Cosmetic Advertisements: A Semiotic Analysis

Abstract

This study discusses about semiotic analysis on beauty standards in selected American and Asian cosmetic advertisements. This study uses Roland Barthes' theory. The theory focuses on reading myths that involve cultural and historical contexts with a broader perspective. The advertisements consist of Maybelline, Sulwhasoo, Sephora and SK-II advertisements. The reason we chose these four advertisements is because they are one of the most popular cosmetic products in the world. These advertisements also have some interesting differences to analyze. The purpose of this study is to discuss more deeply the meaning that advertisers try to convey to consumers. In this study, we analyze some pictures and utterances taken from videos from YouTube.