Totemism and exclusivism: A case study of Tolak Angin advertising with figure of Rhenald Kasali from Indonesia

AbstractTotemism and exclusivism are currently a concern of advertisers in presenting their work in connection with the tendency of people to worship or glorify something, in the form of objects or people and to consider themselves as part of a community. This tendency is used to attract consumers’...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohamad Tohir, Teddy Hendiawan, Riksa Belasunda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2241272
Description
Summary:AbstractTotemism and exclusivism are currently a concern of advertisers in presenting their work in connection with the tendency of people to worship or glorify something, in the form of objects or people and to consider themselves as part of a community. This tendency is used to attract consumers’ attention to the advertised goods or services. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the formation of a new style of totem related to symbols and meanings that change the value system in the audience so as forming exclusivism. This study focuses on the advertisement for Tolak Angin with the figure of Rhenald Kasali. The research was conducted using the semiotic research method of Roland Barthes’ structural model with descriptive-interpretative techniques by analyzing the structure of the advertising text starting from denotation and connotation which then carried out a semiotic process through the relationships between signs to myths. This study found that Tolak Angin uses Rhenald Kasali as the totem of the advertisement with the meaning of “smart person”. Rhenald Kasali represents a group of people who consider themselves smart. Totem makes a symbol of value system that unite consumers or society, this power will later form “exclusivism” in a group that forms a certain class that has the same attachment to the product “Tolak Angin” with the totem as “smart people”. The results of this study are expected to be a reference for advertising practitioners by utilizing the phenomena of totemism and exclusivism that develop in society.
ISSN:2331-1983