Hong 1

Annotated bibliography

Barthes, Roland. ​Mythologies​. Hill and Wang, 2013.

Mythologies​ consists of a collection of essays used to explain the signifiers and signifieds evident

in myths that send a message about the current beliefs and ideologies of society at the time.

This information was used in my poster to present how Walmart’s use of “famous cars” as

signifiers to the audience can lead to the understanding that Walmart’s belief that everyone will

know the references to different movies through the use of iconic cars.

Demırdöğen, Ülkü D. “The Roots of Research in (Political) Persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, Logos

and the Yale Studies of Persuasive Communications.” ​International Journal of Social

Inquiry,​ vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2010, pp. 189–201. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=50468023&site=eds-live.

This discusses the use of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the audience. Elements of ethos,

pathos, and logos can be seen in the poster with the use of famous cars to gain credibility, which

also creates an emotional reaction with the appearance of cars from popular movies. The lack of

reason that allows the appearance of fictional characters to show up in the commercial to pick up

groceries.

Tyson, Lois. ​Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide​. Routledge, 2015.

Tyson’s ​Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide​ analyzes different theories and explains

how the theories work. The idea of a sign system to demonstrate the way words are associated

with a specific image.

 Hong 2

Vassallo, Philip. “Holes in the Earth and in the Photos: Of Signs, Signifieds, and Signifiers.”

ETC: A Review of General Semantics​, vol. 65, no. 4, Oct. 2008, pp. 332–336.

EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=36911472&site=eds-live.

Vassallo illustrates how signs, signifieds, and signifiers from semiotics can create a deeper

meaning. However, without the understanding of the signs, signified, and signifiers, there are

gaps in different perspectives that don’t have all of the information needed to make the

connection of the concepts from semiotics. This idea was utilized in my project through the idea

that Walmart’s use of famous can only be understood with the knowledge of the relationship

between the cars in the commercial and the cars’ roles in well-known movies.

Walmart, director. ​Walmart Big Game Commercial - Grocery Pickup - Famous Cars (Extended

Cut).​ ​YouTube,​ YouTube, 6 Jan. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrSw7wK4no.

Walmart’s commercial advertises its grocery app by using famous cars from well-known movies

picking up groceries in Walmart’s parking lot. This video was the foundation of my entire

project and I also used pictures from this commercial for my poster, to demonstrate the

commercial’s use of movie references that rely on semiotics to help the audience understand

what is going on in the commercial.