Dynamics of Industrial Revolution 4.0: Digital Technology Transformation and Cultural Evolution –
Wulandari et al (eds)
© 2021 The Author(s), ISBN 978-1-032-04451-4
The metaphor of micin generation in an MSG product commercial
R. Belasunda, M. Tohir & T. Hendiawan
Telkom University, Bandung, Indonesia
ABSTRACT: Advertising, as a persuasive social strategy, is inseparable from the cultural context
that surrounds it. The controversy that developed in the community surrounds the use of flavoring
ingredients, or micin, and the micin generation that is assumed to be a presentation of the side
effects caused by the product. The problems in the advertisement itself are related to the strategy
of delivering the message, in this case it is about what is to be conveyed and how the message is
interpreted by consumers or viewers of the commercial. Roland Barthes’ semiotics with its order
of the stages of meaning, i.e., denotation, connotation, myth, and ideology, were used as research
methods in this study. The purpose of this research was to find out, through academic studies, how
consumers or viewers comprehend and interpret the ideas and messages in commercials.
Keywords: commercial, micin, idea, message, micin generation
1 INTRODUCTION
The messages in commercials are a persuasive social strategy that intends to influence the way
people perceive the purchase and consumption of certain goods. It is often interpreted differently
by consumers or viewers. It relates to the cultural context behind them.
The commercial about Sasa food flavoring (micin) as a research object was chosen due to the
television commercial some time ago that became a concern on social media (Sasa Melezatkan
2020). This commercial is considered as a breakthrough against the negative stigma of society
toward micin (food flavoring) consumption and the micin generation.
2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Advertising is a commercial and impersonal way an organization can communicate with consumers
and advertise its products to the target audience through mass media (Lee & Johnson 2018). In its
development, advertising evolved into a form of a persuasive social strategy that intends to influence
the way people perceive the purchase and consumption of certain goods. Positioning and creating
images are the main techniques in producing a strong commercial. Advertisers emphasize not only
the product, but also the social significance that is expected to be materialized from purchasing the
product (Danesi 2010). Metaphor as a rhetorical strategy used in advertising to provide meaning to
a certain product. In context of television, in which advertising serves as a communication media,
advertisement creators serve as senders of messages or ideas; advertisement viewers serve as readers
of ideas; and an advertisement serves as the medium through which the ideas are being conveyed. As
the result of the relations between the verbal and symbolic elements in the advertisement structure,
the message in the advertisement is conveyed in a narrative. Advertising on the television media
has similar characteristics as film, consisting of its physical structure and constituent elements.
The structure of the film consists of shots, scenes, and sequences. The constituent elements consist
of narrative elements (story and plot, characterization, main elements, space, time, and story
254
DOI 10.1201/9781003193241-47
Wulandari et al (eds)
© 2021 The Author(s), ISBN 978-1-032-04451-4
The metaphor of micin generation in an MSG product commercial
R. Belasunda, M. Tohir & T. Hendiawan
Telkom University, Bandung, Indonesia
ABSTRACT: Advertising, as a persuasive social strategy, is inseparable from the cultural context
that surrounds it. The controversy that developed in the community surrounds the use of flavoring
ingredients, or micin, and the micin generation that is assumed to be a presentation of the side
effects caused by the product. The problems in the advertisement itself are related to the strategy
of delivering the message, in this case it is about what is to be conveyed and how the message is
interpreted by consumers or viewers of the commercial. Roland Barthes’ semiotics with its order
of the stages of meaning, i.e., denotation, connotation, myth, and ideology, were used as research
methods in this study. The purpose of this research was to find out, through academic studies, how
consumers or viewers comprehend and interpret the ideas and messages in commercials.
Keywords: commercial, micin, idea, message, micin generation
1 INTRODUCTION
The messages in commercials are a persuasive social strategy that intends to influence the way
people perceive the purchase and consumption of certain goods. It is often interpreted differently
by consumers or viewers. It relates to the cultural context behind them.
The commercial about Sasa food flavoring (micin) as a research object was chosen due to the
television commercial some time ago that became a concern on social media (Sasa Melezatkan
2020). This commercial is considered as a breakthrough against the negative stigma of society
toward micin (food flavoring) consumption and the micin generation.
2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Advertising is a commercial and impersonal way an organization can communicate with consumers
and advertise its products to the target audience through mass media (Lee & Johnson 2018). In its
development, advertising evolved into a form of a persuasive social strategy that intends to influence
the way people perceive the purchase and consumption of certain goods. Positioning and creating
images are the main techniques in producing a strong commercial. Advertisers emphasize not only
the product, but also the social significance that is expected to be materialized from purchasing the
product (Danesi 2010). Metaphor as a rhetorical strategy used in advertising to provide meaning to
a certain product. In context of television, in which advertising serves as a communication media,
advertisement creators serve as senders of messages or ideas; advertisement viewers serve as readers
of ideas; and an advertisement serves as the medium through which the ideas are being conveyed. As
the result of the relations between the verbal and symbolic elements in the advertisement structure,
the message in the advertisement is conveyed in a narrative. Advertising on the television media
has similar characteristics as film, consisting of its physical structure and constituent elements.
The structure of the film consists of shots, scenes, and sequences. The constituent elements consist
of narrative elements (story and plot, characterization, main elements, space, time, and story
254
DOI 10.1201/9781003193241-47