Use of Metaphoric Elements in Advertisements: Cosmetic Advertising Example

In this study, a research on the concept of visual metaphor, which is frequently used in advertising and other marketing communication studies, is used to bring the message together with the target audience. The general purpose of the research is to find out what the semi-meanings are stored in the visual metaphors used in cosmetic advertisements, and to find out which codes are created and transferred to the target audience. In order to reveal these meanings, Roland Barhes's sense of meaning / semantics has been examined and visual metaphor literature has been examined. In the study, Phillip sand and McQuarrie (2004) used the typology of visual metaphors in print ads that were divided into 9 categories. In this study, the relationships between the types of visual metaphors were investigated unlike previous studies. In this study, semiotic method was used to reveal the hidden, implicit meanings underlying the visual metaphor-containing cosmetic advertisements.