Semiotic Analysis: Consol

This advertisement uses the myth of ‘natural.’ This is an advertisement of Consol, which is a brand manufacturing glass products. The primary argument which is seen in the image and the tag-line – “Packaging made from nature” – argues about its being natural. Even the logo of the product bears a line, “It’s good. It’s in glass.”

The product’s advertisement argues against the plastic packaging without even mentioning it. There is a huge debate going on about the damage plastic is doing to the nature. And everyone is looking for an alternative. This South Africa based brand comes with their product which is claimed to be nature friendly as they do not use any plastic.

 

The background in the picture, the greenery, signifies nature. Even the bench on which the glass bottle is put is also wooden, it is projected as pure wood without any polish or color. The glass bottle is emerging from banana peel. All these together signify the idea of the product being natural and nature friendly. The metaphor – glass bottle emerging from the banana peel – conveys the message that the glass-bottle is as natural, safe and harmless as the banana inside the peel.

 

The myth is trying to neutralize and naturalize the process of glass making. It tries to convey that there is no process involved, glasses are natural like fruits. The things you put in those glass containers will remain very fresh as if they are packaged by nature itself. The glass container normally does not affect the quality of the thing inside. But, the argument of natural defies this reality.

To maintain the argument of 'natural' glass, the container doesn't have lid or cap which normally are made from plastic or aluminum. This absence of the lid, which is the conscious choice, becomes significant for the argument of pure nature. 

The paradigmatic selection of banana peel is also significant. First of all, the shape of the banana is adjacent to the shape of the bottle, so it looks normal and natural to the reader. Secondly, it also signified the availability of the product. The banana is a fruit that is very easily available across many parts of the world. For an Indian buyer, banana also stands for something cheaper than most other fruits signifying the product being cheaper than other products.