Name : Nurlina

NIM : 19320008
Class : Cultural Studies ‘A’

Representation and Identity of Islam in The Marjan ads

Circuit of culture is a theory that discusses the relationship between representation,
identity, regulation, consumption and production. This unity is related to how a meaning is
produced from the depiction of identity or events in a cultural activity (Mahyaya, 2021). The
concept of the Circuit of Culture was coined by Stuart Hall (1997) in England at the University
of Birmingham. According to Stuart Hall, representation is the main focus in the production
of the core culture of the circuit of culture. Representation according to Stuart Hall in
Mahyaya is a process of interpreting a meaning by using language. Language is used to mean
something in the form of objects, people, or events (Mahyaya, 2021). In the circuit of culture,
meaning can be obtained from different aspects, which then gives a sense of identity. This
analysis aims to find out the representation and identity contained in the Marjan
advertisement by using elements from the circuit of culture.
Advertising is one of the media means to introduce products that have been produced
by a company. In terms of production, marjan is the first syrup product in Indonesia designed
by PT Suba Indah. PT Suba Indah is a company in the field of food products that was founded
in 1975 by M Kurnia. At first, PT Suba Indah only launched one variant of marjan syrup, namely
melon. But now, Marjan syrup has a variety of flavors. In 2007 marjan syrup was taken over
by PT Lasallefood Indonesia (Budyanto, 2022). From year to year, Marjan syrup continues to
release new flavor variants and is always advertised on television when Ramadan is about to
arrive. Marjan products have made the Muslim community their target market, especially
during Ramadan. Marjan advertisements are always identic with the month of Ramadan, not
only on television media, supermarkets are always filled with various variations of marjan
syrup when Ramadan is coming soon.
Marjan syrup advertisements represent the values of Ramadan. Every year marjan
syrup advertisements are always presented on television before and during the month of
Ramadan. Marjan's advertisement which is aired on television is about one minute long with
the theme of serialization. The marjan advertisement has become a reminder in the
community that the holy month of Ramadan is coming soon. In every ad Marjan also often
inserted a moral message in it. Visual messages are conveyed in the context of Indonesian
people's activities, such as within the scope of family or friends who are chatting while
enjoying marjan syrup products. Every year Marjan syrup always displays advertisements on
television with video advertisements that have different story themes. One of the marjan
advertisements that is interesting to analyze is the marjan advertisement in 2016 with the
theme "Rampak Bedug", in the advertisement the title is "Competition of Bedug" which
consists of two teams, male and female. In part 1, the male team showed their actions that
amazed the women. Then in part 2 continued with the women's team who showed their
action where they played a drum band. At the end of the story, they take iftar together and
together join the drum competition.
Marjan advertisements which are always presented before Ramadan and during
Ramadan have made marjan advertisements themselves a reminder to the public that
Ramadan is coming soon, so that marjan advertisements have been identified with the month
of Ramadan. Each marjan ad always has a different slogan such as; "Manisnya marjan
membawa kembali keceriaan, manisnya marjan menyegarkan Ramadhan, manisnya marjan
mengembalikan manisnya kemenangan.” From the first slogan, "Manisnya marjan membawa
kembali keceriaan" can represent that breaking the fast with sweet things (marjan) will
restore freshness, quench thirst and give us joy after fasting. When fasting we lose a lot of
body fluids and we tend to feel weak, breaking the fast with something sweet like marjan
syrup will give us freshness. This can also be a representation of the second slogan “Manisnya
marjan menyegarkan ramadan.” In addition, this slogan also represents that when fasting we
always want a fresh drink to break the fast to quench thirst. The third slogan "Manisnya
marjan manisnya kemenangan" represents that the month of Ramadan is the month of
victory. In the month of Ramadan people will gather with their families, gather at dawn and
gather when breaking the fast. Many people will return to their hometowns when Ramadan
and Eid will arrive soon to gather with family and break the fast with their friends. So that the
moment of togetherness in the month of Ramadan is a very sweet and pleasant moment.
People compete to do good. These Ramadan moments are so beautiful and fun that they can
be illustrated as sweet moments as sweet as marjan syrup. So, if you look at it in terms of
consumption, marjan is mostly consumed by the Muslim community during Ramadan,
especially during Eid and as food or drink for breaking the fast because in the belief of the
Muslim community take iftar with sweet food is a sunnah.
The presence of marjan advertisements which are always displayed before and during
the month of Ramadan makes marjan advertisements as a representation of the month of
Ramadan and there is an Islamic identity in it. Marjan advertisements that are displayed on
television media often carry the theme of Ramadan so that marjan advertisements have
religious symbols in them. As the country with the most Muslim population in the world, every
year the month of Ramadan is always lively in Indonesia. Various products are also widely
displayed on television media in the month of Ramadan, including marjan syrup products
which utilize the Muslim community as their target market so that marjan advertisements are
always shown in the month of Ramadan. Thus, there is a commodification of religion in
Marjan's advertisements. According to Pattana Kitiarsa in M. Alqodri Ramadhan et al, the
commodification of religion is a complex historical and cultural construction, produced in a
particular cultural context that requires an understanding of the cultural framework to unlock
its symbolic and socioeconomic significance. Marjan's ad represents the message of breaking
the fast with something sweet. This is in accordance with the advice of the scholars, according
to the scholars breaking the fast with something sweet can restore decreased vision due to
fasting. Thus, sweet foods or drinks become a mandatory menu for Muslims before eating the
main menu (Pattana in M. Alqodri et al, 2021). In addition, Marjan's advertisements which
always display Ramadan themes such as take iftar, pre-dawn meal, bedug and Halal Bihalal
make this Marjan advertisement have an Islamic identity in it. In conclusion, the marjan
advertisement represents the holy month of Ramadan so that the marjan advertisement has
an Islamic identity in it.

References
Hamjah, B. (2022). Iklan Sirup Marjan Identik dengan Ramadhan dan Lebaran, Simak Asal-
usulnya. https://gorontalo.pikiran-rakyat.com/ragam/pr-1963714492/iklan-sirup-
marjan-identik-dengan-ramadhan-dan-lebaran-simak-asal (diakses tanggal 12
Maret 2022)
Nafi, M. M. (2021). Kajian Representasi: Foto Budaya Ponorogo Karya Oki Cahyo Nugroho
(Doctoral dissertation, ISI Yogyakarta).
Ramadhan, M. A., Yudhistira, R., & Muhammadi, H. N. (2021). Komodifikasi Smbol Religi
dalam Iklan Marjan Edisi Bulan Ramadhan. Jurnal Audiens, 2(2), 182-193.