The ads I have chosen are photographic images of a man and a woman. The image is a representation so therefore it is an iconic sign; as Dyer states, 'the signifier - signified relationship is one of resemblance or likeness' (Dyer, 1986, p. 123). In these ads the product resembles the product in reality so the photo of the product as it appears is also iconic. The signs in these ads were also used indexically because they suggest additional meanings. In ad A the clothes worn by the woman indexically underline the social position of the woman - middle class or upper middle class, well-to-do - the presence of the French language denoting sophistication, class and chic.

In the second example, ad B, the fact that the man is naked suggests naturalness as well as strength. So the image denotes the concentrated strength of the product. However, when really questioning the juxtaposition of the washing-up liquid and the male model -there is a realisation that, as Dyer states, we hardly 'notice the inherent dissimilarity of objects and products placed together' (Dyer, 1986, p. 126). This lack of questioning underlines what Judith Williamson writes - that a 'product and image/emotion become linked in our minds while the process of the linking is unconscious' (cited in Dyer, 1986, p. 126).

In ad A a strong silhouette of a woman is featured in a medium long shot and occupying a central position. The ad at first appears to be black and white but on closer inspection a sepia tone has been used. The main caption is in the left hand Le Parfum Classique - the words citrus burst underneath. In the bottom right-hand corner, suspended as if in mid-air, is the product -Persil; this is predominantly in the colour orange which tones in with the sepia shade of the background. The product is

highlighted not only by the use of colour but also in the lighting effect, so that one can see the commercial point of the ad - the audience has no doubt as to the product or its name - though if the audience were not able to read they would be at a loss as to what the ad was selling. Underneath the product we the wordsLe Parfum de washing up. The combination of the French and English balances the French in the other corner whilst giving a feeling that this French refiner is made rather tongue-in-cheek. In the second ad, ad B, the product is centrally placed cradled in the hands of a strongly built black man. The picture is again in black and white but this time with a green overtone. The caption anchoring the product is at the bottom of the page, but, centrally placed - the words Natural extracts appear in a sort of exotic script. Underneath are the following two lines 'A creation impossible to resist' and then the third line, which is exactly the same as that found in ad A, 'Le Parfum de Washing Up.�In both of these ads, the medium used is photography. Both ads we found in women's magazines - one in Womans Own�  ad B (March 16th, 1998), the other in Options March issue. Womans �Own is a weekly magazine at the cheaper end of the market - 60 pence . According to Vestergaard and Schroder it has a 'circulation of over 4 million' (Vestergaard and Schroder, p. 11). In setting the context of these ads the following information is relevant - 'the readership consists of 59% working class, 27 % we lower class and 14 % upper and middle and middle class (p. 11) up to 35 % 'being women in all age groups' (p. 11) The readership also consists of housewives, who are usually married. Options, the other magazine, which featured ad A, retails at Ł2.10 pence. Being a monthly magazine it can be considered a glossy magazine with a readership consisting of a

slightly younger age group (18 -35), who are more likely to be single, working and middle-class.