Free Human, Nature And Machines: Everyone Benefits Essay Sample

Vast degradation and depletion of exhaustible natural resources such as natural gas in recent years has made man accelerate his efforts in coming up with devices that are not only environmentally conservative but also that optimize the use of inexhaustible resources such as sunlight and wind. It is common to come across devices such as cars that use sunlight or wind for their functioning. In addition, the use of some of these resources like gas leads to environmental pollution due to harmful waste products emissions resulting from combustion processes in car engines. The advertisement by Japanese car manufacturer, Toyota, depicts this trend whereby car manufacturers are orienting towards the manufacture of cars that utilize environmental energy (in this case sunlight energy), not only for their propagation, but also to add other utility features. This paper will utilize methods of semiotic analysis suggested by David Chandler, Roland Barthes, Marita Sunken, Charles Peirce and Lisa Cartwright to conclude that the advertisement for the Toyota 3rd Generation Prius is an illustration of how man can utilize non-exhaustible energy sources such as sunlight to improve the utility of various devices including cars.
A lot can be deducted from the image based on a denotative perspective. The first obvious element of this image is shiny personal car. This car is centrally located in the image. The first distinctive thing about the car is its shiny outward appearance. From the first impression perspective, the image of the car is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The car is predominantly white in color. This color is contrasted by black tinted windows as well as a black top that appears to be almost transparent meaning that the top of the car is most likely made of glass. This black top appears to be a solar roof. There is no indication that the car is in motion. There is also nothing in the car to suggest the presence of the driver.
As mentioned, the car is centrally located and surrounding it is a very attractive background. Almost above the car is what appears to an exaggerated portrait of the sun. The sun is portrayed as a fibrous clog radiating in all directions. The sun appears very close to the ground and is, in fact, almost above the vehicle. A downward movement of the sun could almost result in the sun touching the car itself! The ironic aspect of this is that there are several clouds that are sparsely distributed around this car image.
The car seems to be located in what looks like a beach. This is because of the sandy appearance of the ground on which the car is stationed. In addition, right next to the car is a water body with clearly bluish colors, which is enough to deduce that this is probably a sea or ocean. In the far distance is what appears to be tiny island hills. These hills are evergreen and are distanced from one another by a significant distance. At the far end of the image appears to be a larger island given that it is significantly larger than the others.
The distinctive logo of the Toyota brand appears at the top left section of the image accompanied by the name ‘Toyota” as well as the brand iconic message “Moving Forward." All these are written in relatively faint white font. At the bottom left of the image is a very conspicuous text that depicts the entire purpose of the image. The text simply states “Recycles Sunshine." This is the most distinctive and indeed conspicuous text of the entire image because it contrasts with the predominantly bright appearance of the image and; therefore, making it quite impossible to miss. Below it is another faint text written in color. Reading this text takes a lot of straining. At the bottom right of the car is another text that seemingly suggest the brand of the car and this is “3rd Generation Prius."
The above detonative aspects of the image help in deducing the connotative message of the entire message. The aspects help to drive forward the connoted message of the advertisement, and this is that man can utilize non-exhaustible energy sources such as sunlight to improve the utility of various devices including cars.
First the sun forms the basis of the entire image and its appearance is, therefore, no coincidence and is neither there by mistake. The basic premise of this advertisement is a car that utilizes natural sun energy and recycles it. It is, therefore, paramount that the sun appears in the image. The fibrous appearance of the sun and its radiation in all direction is a suggestion of the longevity and abundance of sunlight energy meaning that man might as well make us of it since it is just there. In addition, the closeness of the sun to the image of the car suggests that using the sun to increase the cars utility is not as hard as it may seem.
As mentioned earlier, the top of the car is translucent appearance signifying that the car allows some sunlight to enter the car to be used by sunlight for some certain purposes. The top is indeed a solar roof as explained by the text below the car. This is the case also with the windows that instead of being fully transparent are translucent meaning that they also allow some sun to get into the car.
As mentioned earlier, the car seems to be located on the beach. As it is commonly known, beaches are in many occasions located in places where it is very sunny. The image, therefore, seems to support the main message showing that the sun can be utilized in places where it is in abundance to increasing the car’s utility. The beautiful background including the sandy beach and the attractive islands suggests that the person using the car may already be having a good time, but being in a car that recycles sunshine adds even more to the fun since one does not have to worry about aspects such as bright sunlight that the car adequately takes care of.
The bold text in the bottom left of the image “Recycles Sunlight’ supports all the other elements of the image showing the basic purpose of the advert. This is that the “Toyota 3rd Generation Prius” is a modern car that harmonizes man, nature and machine, as explained by the faint blue text below the black one stating “Recycles Sunshine." This is further explained by a text directly below the car that shows just how this sunshine is recycled. Essentially, the solar roof of the car uses a fan to draw in air into the cabin, therefore, lowering the temperature of the cabin.
In conclusion, the denotative and connotative aspects of this image reveal symbolic signs that indicate the harmonization of man, nature and machines inadvertently culminating in the accrual of benefits to both man and nature. The image shows the abundance of natural environmental energy (the sunlight energy) and at the same time suggest how man can constructively utilize this inexhaustible energy to benefit himself while at the same time conserving the environment. In simple terms, the image suggests that nature has availed vast resources for man to conservatively use them to benefit himself.