Ideology is a system of beliefs that help explain, shape, and judge the world's values ​​(Croteau, Hoynes, &, Milan, 2012). Roland Barthes' ideology asks the audience to look at a piece of media or advertising and accept the narrow view of society conveyed by the media source; in other words, Barthes asks the audience to look for denotation, connotation, or the literal and sociological meanings associated with the media (Chandler, 2008). Barthes was also concerned with analyzing the myths associated with the media, or the true intentions behind the media (Chandler). The denotation, connotation and myth of Barthes' ideology, as well as dominant ideologies and the culture war, are evident in the famous Marlboro Man advertisements. According to the course text, it is best to watch advertisements that are at odds with our contemporary views as this helps make differences in assumptions more evident (Croteau, Hoynes, &, Milan, 2012). Following this guideline, an infamous advertising campaign was that of the Marlboro Man (Tobacco.org, 2011). I remember seeing Marlboro ads in the back of magazines as a child. For me the denotation has always been very simple. I saw a cowboy, stiff, hardworking and smoking a cigarette. In fact, as a child, the cigarette was always the thing I overlooked in the photo. I was mesmerized by the cowboy, the rough, tough, free cowboy I longed to be. The connotations of an image are more open to interpretation because they are based on age, gender, social class, race, religion, etc. of the observer. Chandler, 2008). Again, at a young age advertisements indicated the type of man I wanted to be. These men weren't stressed, they enjoyed life, they rode horses, they were outdoors, and they were wealth... middle of paper... or ads were anything but attractive. Works Cited Capps, L. (2007). Poisonous in pink. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102065.htmlCDC. (2011). Lung cancer statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/statistics/Chandler, D. (2008). Semiotics for beginners. Retrieved from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem06.htmlCroteau, D., Hoynes, W., & Milan, S. (2012). Media/society (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.NPR. (2002). The Marlboro Man. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/marlboroman/Stop Smoking. (2011). Why do people smoke? Retrieved from: http://www.stop-smoking-updates.com/quitsmoking/cigarette-cessation/understanding-cigarrete-fumes/why-do-people-smoke.htmTobacco.org. (2011). Advertisements. Retrieved from http://www.tobacco.org/ads/