This essay will analyze a global charity campaign – “Ocean of the Future” by Greenpeace using the semiotic method which concerns the meaning created by signs and symbols. The campaign was just launched in April by Ogilvy UK and Greenpeace urging supermarkets and the public to limit the use of plastic packaging across the UK (Greenpeace, 2018). Breaking down the campaign, first the level of denotation of the video will be analyzed in which the signs are identified according to Saussure's theory, then a second level of analysis will concern which ideas the public associates with and which constitutes the level of connotation. The last level of analysis will refer to Roland Barthes' theory of myth which is the recognition of the ideologies to which this campaign is linked. This essay will argue that the “Ocean of the Future” campaign evokes public sympathy and alerts them to take action to protect the environment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization that aims to ensure that future generations have a peaceful and sustainable world (Greenpeace, 2019). The campaign features a short storyline about a group of young students who go on a school trip to an aquarium to see the "Ocean of the Future" exhibit. At the beginning of the video, the students were very excited and curious about the sea creatures before entering the aquarium. However, when they entered the aquarium, what they saw was all plastic in the water, reflecting “the ocean of the future.” This campaign uses a series of signals to create messages to the public that they should recognize the harmfulness of plastic and take action to create a better environment for the future. The following paragraphs will begin to break down the video and analyze scenes that demonstrate how the advertisement communicates with the audience using semiotic language. The video begins with a sign with large blue and white letters "welcome to the ocean of the future" located under the ocean which introduces the theme of this campaign to the audience. The first scene concerns the students interviewed before visiting the exhibition. “I want to see the penguins…”, “I'm excited to see the catfish…” (Greenpeace UK, 2018), both the children's language and facial expressions were happy and optimistic, meaning that the aquarium it will be interesting and stimulates the public's curiosity towards the exhibition. The background music also represents the excitement before visiting the aquarium as the music is bright and joyful. As the children entered the aquarium, what they saw was plastic floating in the water. Their expressions and the background music immediately changed into a dejected and sad character. This change in atmosphere emphasizes the shocking sight of plastic strewn across the water. The contrast between the children going from a happy expression to a dismayed expression highlights the idea that the future environment will not be like what we expect. The facial expression and the music are both the signifier in which the audience is signified with the idea of ​​the grave damage with the future ocean. This can be referenced to Saussure's theory that "Every time you hear, read or see the signifier, it is related to the signified" (Halls,1997, page 31). The camera then focuses on the plastic, including water bottles, plastic bags floating in the water along with the serious melody. The level of connotation of this scene is about connecting with the audience since these plastics are things we use in our daily lives and it leads the audience to reflect themselves by being involved in thegeneration of plastic. Statistics such as “UK supermarkets generate 800,000 tonnes of plastic every year”, “every minute a lorry load of plastic ends up in our oceans” (Greenpeace UK, April 2018), have been informed to the public. These facts are a warning sign about the amount of plastic that is threatening our environment, while also evoking public guilt for contributing to the damage of the ocean. The camera continues to move around the aquarium and captures the marks on the wall. These signals explain the different plastics in the ocean and how they pollute our environment. The connotation here is about the sarcasm of the signs on the wall. The signs are usually used to introduce marine creatures to the aquarium where they now inform about the different types of plastic that pollute the ocean. At the end of the video, one of the students reflected "there should be millions of fish and zero percent plastic" as it shows the child's naivety, contrasts with the originality of the ocean where children's thoughts about the world are always natural and clean which emphasizes the problem of plastic is harming the natural environment. The campaign shows that the different forms of elements can all be considered as a signifier that leads the audience to be signified to an idea. Advertising aims to evoke the feelings of the audience and persuade them with a particular idea. In the campaign every camera movement and every image can be interpreted by the audience with meanings that fit the theater theory, "every signifier given or coded with meaning must be interpreted or decoded meaningfully by the recipient" (Hall, 1980). Not only language or images can express meanings, but also the things we hear. In the “ocean of the future” example, the background music was a signifier as the music changes from a joyful melody to a serious melody when the children saw the plastic in the aquarium which could be interpreted by the audience that the change of atmosphere highlights the severity of this problem and the sad reality of the ocean. The campaign uses symbols to build meaning and connect the meaning with their main idea. In this case, they use children as a symbol of the future which connects to the “ocean of the future” theme as children can represent the future and are capable of changing the future. This campaign is aimed at UK audiences as this is a TV advert presented in the UK, however, children may be a specific targeted audience as the main characters are children and may be taught about plastic pollution as early as young age, which can make changes in the future. People who always go to the supermarket can also be considered a targeted audience as the campaign aims to stop supermarkets from using plastic bags so that customers can make a powerful movement to support their goal. The advertisements deal with "fragments of an ideology" and the ideas signified. they are “very close to communicating with culture, knowledge and history” (Halls, 1977, page 39). Barthes believes that the meaning of signs is given by cultural society. The concept behind the “Ocean of the Future” campaign was born from a Greenpeace petition calling on supermarkets to reduce the use of plastic (Greenpeace, 2018). The video mentioned ocean plastic pollution collected during the cleanup of the local Dingle beach, near the aquarium. It highlights that “UK supermarkets generate 800,000 tonnes of plastic packaging every year”, leading Greenpeace to call on supermarkets to “dramatically reduce their plastic footprint”/.