Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sergio Castañeda
Communication 301
Spring 2009
Marketing A Media Empire 2
Abstract
Focusing on the Disney Company as a major media conglomerate, this research project
had the purpose of seeking out and understanding how Disney advertises their media products. A
semiotic analysis was carried out in order to examine the sort of themes and messages found
within trailers for Disney movies. The theoretical basis was grounded on previously established
theories about advertising; including visual metaphors and product placement. The research was
carried out using YouTube.com as the source for the trailers. Five trailers were observed and
analyzed. The predominant themes across these trailers were the use of intertextuality and
product placement, the continual branding of Disney beyond being a movie studio and more of a
provider of an experience, and the use of metaphors to categorize the movies as something more
than movies. Ultimately, this research serves as a starting point for continuing to foster studies on
Disney and the sorts of messages they present, this is important considering Disney’s size and
The purpose of this research is to examine the sort of themes and recurring messages that
are found in the advertising efforts of the Walt Disney Company. Disney’s scope and size in the
media market place is undeniable. As a media conglomerate, Disney’s subsidiaries can be found
in almost all media outlets imaginable. All their franchises and capabilities for media production
mean that Disney’s reach into households is possible in many ways. While this is not necessarily
a bad thing, it definitely merits examination as their advertising efforts are more than likely to be
targeted towards the youth and family markets, who tend to be very influential consumers
Marketing A Media Empire 3
(Grossberg, Wartella, Whitney & Wise, 2006). As the second largest media conglomerate in the
world, the Disney Company sees annual profits of more than 37 billion dollars a year (“Annual
Report”, 2008).
Closely examining the advertising efforts of the Disney Company is an important topic
for communication research. The goals of this research will be to identify the symbols and ideas
embedded into the texts of Disney movie trailers through a semiotic analysis. Doing so will
hopefully yield a better understanding of the themes that people are exposed to when they watch
Disney’s advertisements and perhaps explain how Disney has achieved its status as a media
conglomerate. Additionally the research will seek to examine if the recurring themes presented in
the advertisements migrated from the products they are advertising and how those occurrences
are presented. Therefore the main research question for this project will be:
RQ: What are the recurring themes and symbols found within Disney movie trailers?
This will be followed by an interpretation of how these images and symbols can affect children,
This study will base its theoretical background upon broader theory about
advertisements; this runs the gamut from interpretations of advertisements, to studies about
product placement and visual metaphors. Visual metaphors have been a popular area of research
for communication scholars. Se-Hoon Jeong’s (2008) work in this area has found that visual
metaphors in advertising tend to be more effective in selling products. This will be an important
concept to consider in conducting this research as many advertisements today tend to rely in not
simply selling a product, but rather a lifestyle or an idea. Another point to consider is the fact that
as a media conglomerate Disney engages in synergy to advertise its products. This occurs in
Marketing A Media Empire 4
many forms, one of which is product placement. Successful product placement is attributed to
the theory of classical conditioning (Pompper & Choo, 2008). Given the many products that
Disney might be trying to advertise at any given time it would be a worth-while query to see if
In our current information age it seems as if all aspects of our society are saturated with
media. This continuing and ever-increasing expansion means that the media industries continue
to seek out ways to integrate themselves into our lives, in some cases reaching the point of
saturation. The key point to remember about the media industries is that they are businesses that
are established with the intent of generating profit. It is hoped that this research will add to the
study of communication by examining the content found in Disney advertising, an area of media
studies that was found to be surprisingly lacking. Doing so will hopefully expand our
understanding of media conglomerates and the messages they present for people. This research
aims to increase understanding and awareness of the media that people consume.
Literature Review
Library research for this project revealed that there is not a great deal of previous studies
on the semiotics of Disney advertisements or even Disney in general. This was somewhat
surprising considering that a company that has produced so many media products would be a
prime candidate for communication research. As a result of this lack of scholarly research on
Disney, the theoretical background for this project had to be expanded to the broader category of
evaluate. In this literature review there will be a brief discussion of scholarly material that has
examined Disney, but for the most part the focus and the theoretical background for the project
The documentary Mickey Mouse Monopoly (Sun & Picker, 2001) provides a great
starting point for a discussion of scholarly study on Disney films. It framed the Disney
phenomenon as being a central part of American culture; Disney’s movies and other media are
products have been consumed by many people. This is the case internationally as well. They then
went on to categorize three main themes that are found in Disney movies: gender
commercialization of children’s products. In all of these aspects it is shown that Disney’s main
focus is on presenting media products that are designed to appeal to people and create revenue,
with very little regard for ethical implications that the intrinsic messages are presenting. In fact
they make an excellent point when they mention the fact that the writers of these movies are
results of our social trends themselves, thus certain inherent ideas, such as objectifying and
sexualizing women and fostering racial stereotypes show up in their writing. The documentary
claims that these trends have existed in Disney’s movies from the start and continue to be present
This documentary provided a good starting point to guide the focus of this research. The
themes they discussed are valid and applicable, but the focus of the research will be on
identifying if and how those messages migrate from the movies and manifest themselves in
is also directly related to Disney’s advertising, as they use it as a way of creating and ensuring an
audience. This documentary served as a good starting point to guide this research. It showed
Marketing A Media Empire 6
important viewpoints that media scholars find when analyzing Disney. The categorization of the
overarching themes in Disney movies is certainly something that is a worthwhile concept for
further research and something that had not been a consideration for this project before.
Although scholarly research has not specifically focused on the semiotics of Disney
the necessary theoretical background necessary to guide this project. Advertising has, for the
most part, shifted its focus from simply selling a product and its features to pushing, branding
and idealizing a certain lifestyle or notion. The use of this practice has been identified by
previous research and now it is more commonly known by many communication scholars as
visual metaphors. Visual metaphors are an important consideration for studying Disney
advertising as many of their ads tend to involve fantasy or fairy-tale stories, settings and
characters. Research in this area has a number of connections to Disney advertisements as well.
A research study by Se-Hoon Jeong (2008) provides a clear understanding of how visual
metaphors operate in the advertising culture. Jeong defines visual metaphors as a way of linking
two concepts analytically. Usually a positive connotation exists with one of the objects and this
connotation is transferred to the other one. The hypotheses for Jeong’s study hinged on whether
advertisements that literally advertised the product they were selling (in other words by using
simple, clear and straightforward language to describe it). Their method involved participants
observing three different advertisements, which had varying use of visual metaphors. Their main
findings were: “…that advertisements with visual metaphors may be more persuasive compared
to advertisements with literal (non-metaphorical) images” (pp. 68). They tend to have a greater
Marketing A Media Empire 7
cognitive influence and are thus perceived as more trustworthy, reliable and are easier to
remember.
This research provided valuable insight into the concept of visual metaphors. Our study
will take their findings on visual metaphors further and apply them to identifying how they are
present in Disney advertising. This study will not specifically seek out advertisements that
contain visual metaphors; however, understanding their effects and how they are represented is
important for further discussion and application of the use of visual metaphors. A point of
contention with Jeong’s study is the fact that their participants were Korean university students.
Thus their findings may or may not be applicable to people in the United States.
Other studies exist which specifically address this topic on a multi-cultural level.
Daechun An (2007), also studied visual metaphors, but with an emphasis on their applications
and effects on different cultures. She examined how multinational corporations customize their
international ads to be more applicable to the local cultures. These companies have globalized
their reach to foreign audiences; the use of new media allows them to reach overseas audiences
instantly. They have also glocalized their reach in that when they do reach foreign audiences they
tailor their content to be representative of their culture and customs. An’s goal for the research
was to see how “…it can inform us of the visual discrepancies between Oriental and Occidental
markets and reveal diverse means of visual manipulations in web advertising” (pp. 305).
International cultures were also categorized into two broad categories: High-context cultures,
which include countries such as Korea, Japan and China, and low-context cultures which include
Germany, The United States and the United Kingdom. High-context cultures tend to rely more
on non-verbal messages and communicative practices, whereas low-context cultures rely more
on verbal messages. The hypotheses focused on examining how high and low context cultures
Marketing A Media Empire 8
perceive messages, they had a special emphasis on examining how ads in websites used celebrity
endorsements, use of photographs and illustrations, and whether the product was specifically
Following the same research concept as An, a research study by Lin Ma (2008), also
examined intercultural interpretations of visual metaphors. However Ma’s study focused solely
advertisements. The aim of Ma’s study was to compare the interpretations of Chinese students
and to see if there was any similarity to their interpretations and those of Americans, (the ads in
this study were originally intended for American audiences). The method was to show
participants three Nike ads, then ask them questions about broad interpretations that could be
derived from those ads. Although some of them struggled with cultural interpretations, they “…
decipher cultural values according to their readings of the meanings conveyed in the ad
metaphors; and the more creative/innovative the metaphors are…the more acceptive they were of
the product/brand the ad promotes and the values it convey [sic]” (pp. 17). This is an important
finding given the previous discussion of brands’ globalization of the marketplace. According to
this study, despite the different cultural interpretations metaphors will most likely yield a positive
consumer response.
The results of both studies were similar to Jeong’s study. Visual metaphors are shown to
people from a high-context culture, who remembered the ad more easily. According to them
visual metaphors were not as common in advertisements for people from low-context cultures.
However their findings are still relevant for this research in that they are likely to be relatable to
Disney’s advertisements, and will most likely contribute to this study’s goal of identifying the
symbols that are found therein. Although An’s study found that the use of visual advertisements
Marketing A Media Empire 9
for people from low-context cultures was not as effective as previous studies, it should be
remembered that it focused on website advertisements, whereas this study will focus on video,
Taking the study of visual metaphors a step further, Luuk Lagerwerf and Anoe Meijers
(2008), conducted a research project in which they distinguished visual metaphors as being open
or close ended. Their theory was that participants would appreciate more the close-ended
metaphors, because they allowed them to make their own connections from a metaphor to the
item being advertised. Their study had participants analyze print-advertisements that they
manipulated and then provide their interpretations of them. In addition, they also showed images
that were considered straightforward and open (no visual metaphors). Surprisingly their findings
were that people appreciated more the straightforward advertisements. They found them to be
clearer, more likeable and appealing. These findings are in contrast to what the previous studies
had discovered. Nonetheless, this study served to further categorize the way in which visual
metaphors can occur in the advertising landscape. The fact that open or closed interpretations are
possible was something that had not been considered before. Given the limited amount of time
that Disney advertisements have to make an impact for consumers, the use of metaphors can
affect the choices they make in how they present the ads. This is something that will be further
Another major trend in television and movies is the practice of product placement. This
practice has been thoroughly researched by many communication scholars. Of special interest
was an article by Donnalyn Pompper and Yih-Farn Choo (2008). Who sought to examine product
placement from the marketers’ perspective. Their theoretical background was based on the
concept of classical conditioning, which was defined as: “…wherein one’s attitude toward a
Marketing A Media Empire 10
well-liked stimulus is transferred to an affectively neutral stimulus when the stimuli are joined”
(pp. 50). Their research questions were based on examining the decisions, components and even
the marketers’ perception of product placement in media products. Their findings were that most
marketers expect product placement to continue to exist as a marketing tool in the media.
marketing. Pompper and Choo’s article contributed with another theoretical viewpoint for this
project, their findings show that marketers value product placement, meaning that the
phenomenon is not going away. Given the concept of classical conditioning it will be interesting
to see if and how Disney uses it in commercials and how that use will be applicable to the
Another study of advertising for younger audiences by Agnes Nairn and Cordelia Fine
(2008), had a similar theoretical background, but they examined how advertisements affected
young children psychologically and emotionally. According to them this is a problematic practice
because children are growing up being exposed to more advertisements than ever before. The
attitudes and cognitions they develop at a young age will go on to affect them in the future. They
also elicited the concept of classical conditioning, but they instead labeled it as a “positive
stimulus”, which is transferred from a media product to an item being advertised. Pompper and
Choo’s study analyzed the motivations for product placements and advertisements, they
examined this phenomenon at its root cause; the marketers who produce them. Nairn and Fine’s
study was a discussion of the results and implications of those decisions, with special emphasis
on how younger audiences are affected by them. Both of these articles relate to my research by
showing that the advertising industry is callous in producing advertisements that will foster a
response, with very little regard to ethics, consumers or the overall media landscape.
Marketing A Media Empire 11
As all of these projects have shown research of the advertising landscape in media and
communication studies are important for both consumers and the media industries. They have
financial and cultural implications that are important for short and long term consideration. The
research presented in this literature review served as guiding points for both modeling this study
and the theoretical background that will be considered for this research. The results of the
previous studies brought up important viewpoints for this research that had not been considered
before. Throughout this research these theories will be applicable and useful in understanding the
symbols and patterns that will be discovered and analyzed in Disney’s advertisements. Doing so
it will also help cement our study with solid research concepts and expand on the study of
advertising research, in terms of semiotic analysis as well as continuing the scholarly study of
Disney products.
Methods
The lack of previous scholarly research on semiotics of Disney advertisements meant that
the methodology for this research project had to be devised from the ground up. Similarly to the
theoretical background, the methodology of this project will be based on previously established
advertising research. For this study, a semiotic analysis was chosen as the way of conducting
research. Although there are many possible approaches to analyzing Disney texts, a semiotic
analysis was considered the best way to proceed with this project as it centers its focus on
interpretation of the messages being presented. Other studies on the topic, such as the
documentary Mickey Mouse Monopoly (2001), have focused on examining the messages and
overarching themes found within Disney movies. Similarly this study will also focus on
Marketing A Media Empire 12
examining messages, but with an emphasis on exploring the symbols within Disney
advertisements, which of course are linked to the films. The desired result being that by
analyzing the symbols of those images an objective and accurate interpretation of their possible
The population area of interest that will be examined for this project was movie trailers
for films that are aimed towards a family audience. In other words, the population area of interest
is the same as Disney’s target audience for their movies. As previously stated, these populations
tend to be influential in the consumer market (Grossberg et al), thus creating a need to study
what makes their advertising so appealing. Trailers tend to be distributed in many ways; in movie
theatres, through the Internet and even on television, usually many months before a movie is
released. Trailers are usually the first way that people learn of upcoming films, thus many trailers
carry high expectations by viewers and movie studios. The justification for the use of these
samples is that, traditionally Disney’s best known films are animated movies. In animated
movies everything that is shown is deliberately created. Every single thing that is seen on screen
was designed and placed there on purpose. In other words they are the direct creations of Disney.
The semiotic analysis was done by using YouTube as the source of the texts that were
analyzed. A search using the terms “Disney movie trailer” was conducted. It was expected that
these trailers would be around two minutes in length. The requirements for the trailer to be
2. This study limited its analysis to trailers for animated movies only.
Observations and notes for these trailers were recorded on paper (see Appendix), with
special emphasis on noting the messages that the visuals, audio and other sources within these
trailers presented. Additionally the URL of where these trailers were found and the number of
This methodology had the purpose of thoroughly analyzing and examining the signifier
and signified symbols found in Disney movie trailers. It was designed to be meticulous in its
scope, but at the same time very mindful of small and minute details. By using this methodology
it was hoped that a better understanding of the messages found within Disney advertisements and
Findings
After looking through a number of trailers and clips, five trailers were selected for
observation and inclusion for this project. They were trailers for Bolt (2008), Aladdin (1992),
The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Pinocchio (1940). These movies
are representative of the history of the Disney Studios and range in release dates from 1940 to
2008. (Internet Movie Database, 2009). YouTube.com turned out to be an excellent source for
locating these texts. The trailers were easily available. Most had some sort of reference that
showed when the trailer and movie came out. Additionally, YouTube’s unique interface not only
allows examination and analysis of media texts, but it also has other features that would make it
an interesting source for media and communication scholars. The ability for users to post
comments in the same page where a video is found can function as a sort of focus group, where
opinions, thoughts and notions are recorded. As it will be discussed later, these comments had
Marketing A Media Empire 14
some interesting points to make in relation to the videos that were observed. The findings and
notes that were taken from the trailers, focused both on the messages that these trailers presented,
in addition to seeing what techniques the Disney Company uses, given its unique status as a
In all five trailers, the use of intertextuality, that is texts borrowing from other texts,
(Grossberg et al, 2006, p. 163) was the predominant message that was used. This occurrence
happened with both visual and auditory signs. Visual uses of intertextuality included shots and
scenes from previous Disney movies; these were complemented with the auditory messages from
the narration which reminded viewers about how these movies had previously taken them on
“incredible adventures” and “unforgettable journeys”. This was underscored with music and
audio from the other movies. The trailer for Aladdin (1992) starts with a music selection from
The Little Mermaid (1989); this is followed by some shots and discussion from that movie,
before the trailer actually focuses on Aladdin. All of the trailers borrowed something from other
Disney movies. It is likely that this created a sense of familiarity and recognition given that these
movies were part of the Disney repertoire, as indicated by the narration the journeys and
adventures that they had taken before, were surely going to happen again with the new movie
Another significant occurrence in the Disney movie trailers was the continual branding
for both the movie itself as well as for the Walt Disney Studios; this message was continually
presented by both visual and auditory cues. Visual cues relied, heavily, on things like the Walt
Disney Pictures logo; this usually was the first shot that was shown in the trailers, with the
exception of one. Although this logo has undergone some changes throughout the years, it still
has the same font and basic concept; a large fairytale castle with a big and prominent logo. These
Marketing A Media Empire 15
visuals were interplayed with auditory cues that supplemented and complemented the message
that this was a Walt Disney Pictures movie. The most predominant auditory cue that was
presented in all trailers was the narrator announcing that the movie was “from Walt Disney
Pictures”. This was the case in all five trailers. Naturally, the branding of the movie itself was an
important thing for these trailers to present. Most of them presented the movie’s logo at least
once throughout the trailers, in many instances in the last shot of the trailer. The movie branding
Music also played an important part in these trailers. For all five observations there was a
variation of background music and songs. For the most part these music cues tended to be from
the movies’ soundtracks. Having seen all of these movies, I recognized the musical selections
immediately. Four of the five movies whose trailers were observed (excluding Bolt), were well-
known Disney musicals. For three of those movies the narration specifically stated that they
contained “(a number) of new songs”. The music also tended to correlate with what was going on
with the visuals, in terms of action or romance. They usually ended the trailers on a rousing note.
These were the predominant commonalities and findings that were found in all five
trailers that were observed. Obviously they constitute a small portion of the many symbols,
messages and notions that these trailers presented. Given the way that this research project is
designed, analysis of the semiotics found within these trailers needs to be broader and focus
more on commonalities and recurrences more so than the small details. This provided some
interesting results that were applicable to the research question. Now our discussion will focus
on examining how these findings are related to theories and previous research that were
previously discussed.
Marketing A Media Empire 16
Discussion
Harking back to the basic elements of semiotics as explained by Arthur Asa Berger (2000,
pp. 37); the notions of signifiers and signifieds is appropriate to this study.The main focusing
point for this research was to examine the way that signifiers worked within the trailers in order
to create an appeal to the viewer (signified) and thus support Disney’s status as a media
conglomerate.
Overall the overarching messages that ran the gamut across all of the trailers were:
3. Metaphors within the trailers, labeling the movies as “adventures” and “journeys”.
The main recurring theme and in the five trailers that were observed was the use of
intertextuality, that is texts borrowing from other texts (Grossberg et al, 2006). Going back to the
product placement study by Pompper and Choo (2008), it seems as though their conclusions do
have a correlation to our findings. There is trend in the media to increase the amount of product
placement. It could be argued that intertextuality and product placement are similar concepts, as
they have similar motivations and intended results. As the signifiers in these trailers showed,
using a positive stimulus (images or video clips from previous Disney movies) and linking them
to a neutral stimulus (the new movie that is being advertised) a certain connection is formed
between the two, thus creating a positive connotation in the viewer towards the new movie. As
Marketing A Media Empire 17
shown from the observations of these trailers a number of signifiers, clips, songs, audio,
narration referencing the other products are used to create this connection.
This occurrence was very clear in the trailer for Bolt. The first part of the trailer shows a
character who is talking about another major Disney franchise; High School Musical. An array of
signifiers is then presented, which assumedly will elicit connotations about a well-known Disney
movie that is loved by many. He plays the role of the excited fan, by talking about the reasons
that he loves the film, while at the same time singing songs and referring characters from the
movie. This works for the viewer who is familiar with the High School Musical franchise to
create a sense of familiarity and most likely foster a positive connotation. In accordance to
Pompper and Choo’s theory, they will experience the advertisement for Bolt with an overall
sense of positivity that has been created and carried over from the High School Musical
references. It is likely that the advertisement will be more appealing and thus people might feel
This is one specific example of the way that these texts borrowed from other Disney
texts. However all five trailers used this concept, with similar effects. This shows that the use of
intertextuality as a predominant signifier is present in their advertising. What this means for
Disney in terms of their status as a media conglomerate is that they can use their vast library of
successful and well-known media texts as a tool for advertising their new products. This
component of the way that Disney advertises is especially important considering how many
films, characters and other media products they have produced in their many decades of media
production. Based on Pompper and Choo’s (2008) findings this practice is successful and thus is
were a continual and ever present effort to market these movies as properties of the Disney
Company. The first visual signifier that was seen in four of the trailers was the Walt Disney
Pictures logo. Not surprisingly this occurred for the trailers for the movies that had been
produced around the nineties. The only exception to this was Pinocchio, which was produced
decades earlier, before Disney had become the media conglomerate it is today. Nonetheless all
five trailers mentioned that the movie they were advertising was “produced” or “presented” by
Walt Disney Pictures. Another interesting observation related to branding was the allusion by the
narration in two of the trailers (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast), that the film would
have “new” or “delightful” “Disney” characters. This was an interesting mention, as it works as
an interesting signifier for the audiences of these trailers. For parents and older people, they will
most likely recognize this branding as a way of showing these characters as familiar and from a
source that they know and trust, Disney. For children it will most likely serve to remind them of
the type of movie that they are watching (a Disney movie) and create a sort of built-in
knowledge of the brand and the products it creates. The reasoning is probably that if Disney has
put their stamp of approval for these characters, then they are likely to be something that families
The branding components within the trailers work together to symbolize to the viewer
what kind of movie they are being introduced to and what they can expect from it. The constant
use of the signifier “Disney” in both visual and audio uses is definitely consistent in all five
trailers that were observed. The signified notion would be dependent on the viewer and their
connotative ideal of what a Disney movie means to them. Going back to the points that were
discussed in Mickey Mouse Monopoly (2001), Disney’s status as a company that families trust is
Marketing A Media Empire 19
an important underlying notion that guides the way that Disney will cater their advertisements to
them. People trust Disney’s films as wholesome family entertainment, but as the filmmakers of
this documentary presented, the messages that Disney’s films contain may not always be the
same type of lessons that parents would teach their kids or indeed something that they would
want them to learn. As previously discussed with the study by Nairn and Fine (2008),
advertisement tends to have the sole focus of creating revenue. The considerations for ethics or
responsibility for what is being advertised become a sort of afterthought for media
conglomerates. Thus it would seem as though Disney is using the trust that families have for
them as a way of reaching out to them and get the most out of them as consumers.
Additionally, the use of the concept of Disney as a signifier is also applicable to the
previously discussed findings of visual metaphors, by Se-Hoon Jeong (2008). The visual
metaphors, in this instance, namely the Walt Disney Pictures Logo, works as a reminder for the
viewer that the film is from a company that is assumed, they know and trust. By introducing the
logo at the beginning of the trailer, it works by being the first signifier that people recognize and
Along the same lines, the claims made by the trailers that the movies would take them to
“a whole new world of adventure” (Aladdin), “a fantastic adventure” (The Little Mermaid), “an
unforgettable movie event” (Beauty and the Beast), and presenting the notion that the film is
being given to the viewer, (Pinocchio). These signifiers work as auditory metaphors. The notions
that they give to the viewers are subjective. These notions combined with the signifiers used to
brand these movies work well together. They help the viewer realize that the movies will be
different from the usual fare, or so the trailers argue. Coupled with the visual metaphors that are
presented it seems as though that message is clearly shown and has an effect on the viewer.
Marketing A Media Empire 20
As Lagerwerf and Meijers’ study (2008) discussed the use of open or close ended visual
metaphors, for the most part it seems that these trailers were straightforward and open, with no
visual metaphors. The use of metaphors was more evident in terms of branding the product as a
Disney product, and by mentions of the narration in describing the movies as other, exciting,
types of experiences. All of these visual and auditory signifiers work together to sell the movies.
They supplement and complement each other and they are something that Disney uses in much
of their advertising, since this sort of branding was present in the trailers that were observed.
All of these signifiers worked well to sell these movies, after all that was their intended
purpose when they were created. It was interesting to see how Disney acknowledges and uses
their status as a media conglomerate to sell these movies. As shown by these trailers, the least
they want to do in their marketing is to simply sell a movie. Instead, through the use of
intertextuality and marketing metaphors, they are selling a number of notions that will create a
much more positive impact on the viewer, thus making them more likely to go out and watch that
movie. In the process creating the profit that Disney seeks to obtain, which in the end is the goal
of any advertising.
Conclusion
If the practice of communication research focuses on who said what to whom, on which
channel and with what effect, then this research project has clearly addressed and examined that
process by analyzing the semiotics found within trailers for Disney movies. It was possible to
analyze and examine how these concepts were presented by focusing on the semiotics of Disney
movie trailers. In that process it was also possible to also examine the variety of marketing
Marketing A Media Empire 21
techniques that Disney uses. Ultimately the purpose of examining the symbols within a facet of
There were a number of limitations and challenges in conducting this research. The main
challenge came in terms of deciding in what exactly to focus on to research Disney advertising.
They have an array of products, both media as well as other products, all of which are designed
to support Disney as a business and as a conglomerate. For example a trailer is not simply
designed to sell a movie; it should also be able to sell other related products and merchandise.
But even beyond that, Disney has so many media properties, most if not all of which rely on
advertising to be successful ventures. Advertising comes not only in the form of trailers; there are
also commercials, synergy and promotional interviews. All of which are practices that have the
same goal of selling a product. All of these are potential possibilities for research, which made it
challenging to narrow down exactly to focus this research on. In the end trailers were chosen as
the text for observation because movies were what really allowed the Disney Company to
flourish and expand a few decades ago. Movies are the primary association that most people
have when they think of Disney. Additionally, they are important venues for studios to market a
movie.
This research can certainly work as a starting point to expand on the study of semiotic
analyses of Disney properties. Future research could focus on comparatively examining Disney
advertising through time, to see if and how the messages that their trailers contain have evolved.
Additionally it would be interesting to compare these trailers in relation to other family movie
trailers. Disney no longer solely dominates the media landscape in terms of family or children’s
films, so it would be a worthwhile to examine how other studios market those types of films and
All of the semiotic messages that are embedded into the trailers for Disney movies are
arguably done intentionally. The apparent goal is to support the notion that Disney’s movies will
be entertainment for the whole family, thus yielding Disney a large audience and consequently a
large profit for their products. As the results of this research have shown there are certain trends
and commonalties within the advertising that Disney does for their movies. It would seem that
these commonalities were not accidental given their recurrence and so the need for examining
and questioning them comes up. Advertising is not inherently a bad thing; advertising is what
keeps businesses going, creates jobs and allows artistic and personal expressions. For movies,
they allow people to be entertained and to have a common experience with other people.
However when a big media company has access to so many potential viewers it is the duty and
responsibility of communication scholars to examine these messages and present what they find
with the hope that doing so will benefit society. It is hoped that this research will serve as good
starting point for communication and media research and that the studies of Disney media
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CnL5UJgsrM
Disney (2008, December 15). (HQ) bolt - rhino(hamster) is high school musical 3's biggest fan
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Marketing A Media Empire 24
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Marketing A Media Empire 25
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Appendix
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