Semiotic analysis of Seiko's Sportura wristwatch advertisement, 2002.
The first thing that strikes me about the advertisement for Seiko's Sportura watch is that it is aimed firmly at a middle-class professional male audience. It perpetuates ideas and myths which are traditionally associated with masculinity, ideas such as technology, relationships between man and machinery, power and the automobile.
The relationship between the watch, which is displayed in sharp focus just below centre right, and the car is a dominant theme within this advertisement. The watch is favourably compared to the car simply by the presence of both and by the top left corner anchoring text: "High performance time keeping". It is implied that owning this watch will allow the consumer to buy into at least part of the implied lifestyle, that of the successful male professional. So the relationship between the watch and the car is both iconic and symbolic, but totally dependent on the traditional gender associations of the car, anchored by the male driver. The generalised representation of a high performance car is made clear by certain literal signifiers such as roll-over bars, rev counter and other displays mounted in a utilitarian, steel grey dash, displays which echo the watch face with its red second hand.
The symbolic relationship of the watch and the car takes on another dimension when the implied lifestyle of the consumer is taken into account. The glossy black hair of the driver, to me indicates his professionalism. His lightly tanned hand grips the steering wheel assuredly, whilst the road and roadside blur by like a Gilette coloured dream, these elements imply that here is a man who is in control of his life, no matter how fast it may seem to go, the Seiko Sportura will help him retain that control. Whilst also symbolising life, the road also symbolises freedom, with it's allusion to the Autobahn and hint of highway this advert implies, through extrapolation, that the accuracy of this watch will enable the consumer to "buy" the time for this kind of freedom, that he will perhaps have some control over his time.
Symbols of class and expense are also addressed in the representation of the watch and the car. Colours such as silver, steel and blue are used economically on a black background, such minimalism and economy actually conveying classiness. The lines of the watch and the car are strong and clear yet soft, a reaffirmation of the accuracy and precision of the watch. Whilst not a dominant feature of the representation of the watch, the side mounted adjustment knob look very diamond-like, and in this context could be seen to symbolise the "reassuringly expensive"*.
Another traditionally masculine concept employed by this advertisement to connect it to a male audience is that of man and machine symbiosis. The descriptive text in the bottom left hand corner contains several phrases which reinforce this sense of symbiosis and also seemingly give the watch a life of its own; "At its heart", "It uses your body's energy", "going into deep sleep" and "only to reawaken". The latter two also address the presumed global conscience of the modern professional man, in the energy saving features of the watch.
*A phrase shamelessly stolen from the Stella Artois advertising campaigns of 1982 -2008.
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