BARTHES SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF BEAUTY PRODUCT ADVERTISING IN MARIECLAIRE.FR MAGAZINE IN JUNE 2024 EDITION

Abstract

The meaning is constructed and communicated through visual and linguistic elements in contemporary digital beauty advertising. In the era of accelerated digital media expansion, advertising has evolved into a complex system of signs thar not only promotes products but also shapes cultural perceptions of beauty, feminity, and consumer identity. Online magazines, such as Marie Claire, function not merely as platforms for product display but as symbolic spaces where ideological messages are embedded within aesthetic representations. The June 2024 edition of Marieclaire.fr presents a range of beauty product advertisements that integrate text, imagery, color, and layout to create persuasive narratives directed and modern consumers. This study aims to analyze how linguistics messages (connotative visual signs), and uncoded iconic messages (denotative visual elements) interact to produce persuasive and ideological meanings, Furthermore, the research seeks to reveal how these semiotic components construct representations of beauty, lifestyle, and consumer aspirations within the sociocultural context of contemporary French media. This study employs a qualitative research design using Roland Barthes’ semiotic analysis model as the primary analytical framework. Barthes’ theory distinguishes three levels of message in advertising: the linguistic message, which anchors and relay meaning; the uncoded iconic message, which refers to the literal, denotative aspects of the image; and the coded iconic message, which involves connotative meanings shaped by cultural codes and myths. Data were collected through documentation techniques by selecting and capturing relevant beauty product advertisements from the June 2024 online edition of Marieclaire.fr. The data were then analyzed systematically by identifying signifiers and signified elements at both denotative and connotative levels, followed by interpreting the broader myth or ideology conveyed. The findings of this study are expected to demonstrate that beauty advertisements in Marieclaire.fr do not merely present cosmetic products but construct symbolic meanings related to elegance, confidence, youthfulness, and modern femininity. Through semiotic analysis, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how digital beauty advertising operates as a cultural text that reflects and reinforce contemporary ideals of beauty and consumer culture.