Wayne Rooney Nike Advert

The ‘Sign’

Within this advertisement, the ‘signifier’ could be any of the words such as ‘England flag’,
‘football hooligan, ‘football player’, or ‘Nike’. The signified varies between people and
contexts, as opposed to the signifier being more stable. In the case of this advert, the
‘signified’ of the word ‘England flag’ to a lot of people would simply be the image of the
England flag. However, the signifier ‘football hooligan’ as the signified could be
represented as a lot of different images in peoples’ minds, although I am positive to
make the assumption that a male would be the most probable gender whilst interpreting
the signifier.

Relationship between signs and objects

This advert shows all three relationships; iconic, indexical and symbolic relationship. It
shows an
iconic relationship, as it is a representation of Wayne Rooney, who is connected with
England and sport. I think it portrays an indexical relationship as; the red paint looks like
blood and his hands are clenched so may portray violence, which is associated with
football, due to football hooligans. I think that it is also conveys a symbolic relationship,
as the image with the red paint symbolises the England flag, which would only be known
to people who know what the flag is and the Nike tick, again, people would only know
what it stands for if they have seen it before as it does not say ‘Nike’ anywhere on the
advert.
Deep Structure

Within this advert we could look at why they chose Wayne Rooney and why they decided
to paint the England flag on him for the Nike advert. Over reading this people could think
this is a violent way of showing nationality for football fans and Nike who are closely
related to football. Wayne Rooney is a football icon and is instantly recognisable so this is
why he is good candidate to represent English football teams. Football fans can be very
passionate about their teams, which can sometimes lead to violence. The way Wayne
Rooney is standing with his clenched fist and looking like he’s shouting shows the
passion in a positive way. The Nike tick co-ordinates with the England flag to show
nationality and that they are passionate about English football.

Myth/Mythology

This advert for Nike shows a well-known footballer “Wayne Rooney” covered in red and
white paint, which represents the England flag. The colour red, it makes us think of
blood, danger and violence. The way he has his mouth open in the picture makes us
think of anger, rebellion and devotion to sport. The way in which we know that this is a
sports advertisement is shown in the connotation “just do it”; which suggests that you
can be free if you’re wearing Nike clothing. Its telling us if you wear Nike clothes or shoes
you will be as good as Wayne Rooney and have his skills; because the image of his arms
wide open and his fists clenched shows he’s proud of what he can do and you will be too.
We can also associate this advert with football, fighting at football matches between
teams, People getting hurt and there being bloodshed at a match.