ISSN: 2302-920X

E-Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Sastra dan Budaya Unud

Vol 15.1 April 2016: 32-38

VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL SIGNS OF GATORADE SPORTS DRINK ADVERTISEMENT

BY:

Ida Bagus Udyana Putra

email: bagusudyana@gmail.com

English Department, Faculty of Letters and Cultures, Udayana University

Abstrak

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mencari pesan yang ingin disampaikan oleh iklan minuman olahraga Gatorade. Penelitian ini juga menganalisis hubungan antara tanda verbal dan non-verbal yang digunakan oleh iklan tersebut.

Metode kualitatif digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Teori yang digunakan dalam menganalisis iklan Gatorade adalah teori semiotika oleh Chandler dan teori hubungan antara tanda verbal dan tanda non-verbal oleh Barthes.

Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa tanda verbal dan non-verbal yang digunakan dalam iklan Gatorade yang diteliti menyampaikan pesan yaitu kemenangan. Selain itu, tanda verbal dan non-verbal yang digunakan oleh iklam tersebut saling berhubungan menggunakan teknik anchorage.

Kata Kunci: Iklan Gatorade, tanda verbal, tanda non-verbal

  • 1.    Background of the Study

Communication is very essential to human life because it enables us to maintain a good relationship with other people. People can communicate each other because they have signs. Signs are everything that has meaning. People communicate by producing and interpreting signs.

There are verbal and non-verbal signs. Verbal signs are spoken language and written language. Non-verbal signs are the signs other than the verbal sign such as; body language, facial expression, eye contact, the way of dressing, etc. Verbal and non-verbal signs are often employed in advertisement.

Advertisements, especially commercial advertisements, are means used to promote goods and services. They contain verbal and non-verbal signs that convey messages from producer of goods or services to consumers. Advertisements are interesting to study because they have the ability to persuade people. The persuasion of advertisements is intended to influence the buying behaviour of the society.

The product brand like Gatorade proves that the persuasion of advertisement can leads a brand to great success. Gatorade is a sports drink product functions to fight thirst, heath, cramps, and fatigue in doing sports activity. It has become a world’s leading sports drink brand marketed in 80 countries worldwide. Gatorade put a great attention in advertising to be memorable in the heart of consumers. Therefore, Gatorade advertisements are very interesting to be analysed in this study.

  • 2.    Problems of the Study

Based on the background, there are two problems formulated to conduct this study including:

  • a)    What are the messages conveyed by verbal and non-verbal signs used in Gatorade sports drink advertisement?

  • b)    What is the relationship between verbal and non-verbal signs used in Gatorade sports drink advertisement?

  • 3.    Aims of Study

The objectives of this study are as follows:

  • a)    To find the messages conveyed by verbal and non-verbal signs used in Gatorade sports drink advertisement.

  • b)    To analyse the relationship between verbal and non-verbal signs used in Gatorade sports drink advertisement.

  • 4.    Research Method

This part of study presents the research method of the study. It consists of three elements including data source, method and techniques of collecting data, and method and techniques of analysing data. Their explanations are as follows:

  • 4.1    Data Source

The data of this study were Gatorade sports drink advertisement taken from adsoftheworld.com. The advertisement was chosen because it contains verbal and nonverbal signs. This advertisement was considered appropriate for this study which is aimed to analyse the two kinds of sign and the relationship between them in advertisement

  • 4.2    Method and Techniques of Collecting Data

The data collection was done using documentary method. According to Sugiyono (2005:82), documentary method is done by collecting available documents such as writing, picture, work of art, etc that provide the data needed in a research project. The document collected in this study is Gatorade advertisement that has been mentioned earlier in data source. Then, note taking technique was done to obtain verbal and non-verbal signs from the Gatorade advertisement.

  • 4.3    Method and Technique of Analysing Data

The data analysis of this study used qualitative method. According to Koentjaraningrat (1993: 89), qualitative method is aimed to understand and describe the condition and phenomenon shown by the research object as it is without measuring the data using numerical or statistical analysis. The semiotic theory from Chandler (2007) and the theory of the relationship between verbal and non-verbal signs from Barthes (1977) are used as the reference to analyse the data.

  • 5.    Result and Discussion

    • 5.1    Analysis of Verbal and Non-verbal Signs of Gatorade Sports Drink Advertisement

Picture 5.1 Gatorade Advertisement

As stated by Chandler (2007:15), a sign consists of signifier and signified. Signifier is the form of the sign and signified is the meaning or message of the sign. Verbal and non-verbal signs found on the Gatorade advertisement analysed in this study are presented in table 5.1 in the next page. Verbal signs are labelled with (V) and non-verbal signs are labelled with (NV).

Table 5.1 Components of Gatorade Advertisement

No.

Components of Advertisement

Signifier (Verbal [V] or Non-Verbal [NV])

Signified

a.

Headline

GATORADE

ALWAYS WINS! (V)

Gatorade is the best drink.

b.

Illustration

A picture showing Gatorade bottle wins a boxing match against a water bottle (NV)

Gatorade is preferable to drink compared to water in sports competition because Gatorade offers victory to consumers.

c.

Signature Line

A slogan “Gatorade. Rehydrate, Replenish, Refuel” (V) and lightning logo (NV)

The slogan signifies that Gatorade help consumers’ body by replacing lost body fluid, restoring lost of electrolytes, and giving energy.

The lightning logo resembles Zeus’s lightning bolt which signifies that Gatorade is a powerful weapon for athletes to win every competition as the lightning bolt becomes a powerful weapon of Zeus.

  • 5.2    The Relationship between Verbal and Non-verbal Signs

From the analysis of verbal and non-verbal signs in Gatorade advertisement under study, it can be found a relation between the headline “GATORADE ALWAYS WINS!” and the illustration which shows that Gatorade bottle wins a boxing match against a mineral water bottle.

The relation between the headline and the illustration in Gatorade advertisement analysed is anchorage. According to Barthes (1977:38), anchorage is a relation between verbal and non-verbal signs in which the verbal signs can serve to “anchor” or constrain the preferred interpretation of the non-verbal sign. The headline “GATORADE ALWAYS WINS!” is the restatement of the message of the illustration which shows that Gatorade bottle wins a boxing match against a mineral water bottle. The headline functions as an anchor which prevents readers to interpret the illustration differently from that intended by the advertisement maker. Therefore, readers interpret the illustration as the win of Gatorade.

  • 6.    Conclusion

From the analysis, there are several points that can be concluded as follows:

  • a)    The Gatorade sports drink advertisement conveys messages of victory. The message is delivered through verbal and non-verbal signs. The verbal and non-verbal signs use signifier to represent the signified. The verbal and nonverbal signs have denotative and connotative signified, which can persuade readers by accessing the thought of readers about their views toward a sign based on the readers’ culture, social status, feeling, and emotion.

  • b)    The verbal and non-verbal signs are related using anchorage technique. Anchorage is used when the verbal sign is intended to emphasise the meaning of the non-verbal sign.

  • 7.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barthes, R. 1977. Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana

Chandler, Daniel. 2007. Semiotics the Basics Second Edition. New York: Routledge.

http://www.adsoftheworld.com/sites/default/files/styles/media_retina/public/images/Bo xing_0.jpg. Gatorade Ad 1. Retrieved at 9 November 2014

Koentjaraningrat. 1993. Metode-metode Penelitian Masyarakat. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia.

Leech, Geoffrey. 1996. English in Advertising: a Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain. London: Longman.

Sugiyono. 2005. Memahami Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: ALFABETA.

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