There is honestly so much symbolism that we are so oblivious to. Of course after reading and going through Semiotics and Television, I started to notice symbolism especially in commercials.  I don't know if anyone has seen this commercial but the other day I was watching and a Pull-Ups commercial came on.  I'm sure we are all familiar with the gist of Pull-Ups and what the commercial is representing.  Except this time, the commercial showed a little boy with his dad and they were in this "potty training" academy sort of thing.  Seems normal, sort of, but then once I actually rethought was I had just seen, I noticed that every single kid that was in each other little "classes" that were getting potty trained were little girls.  Of course I'm not sure if that form of symbolism is saying that little girls are more capable and just faster learners, or that little girls take more time to get potty trained...  I don't know, maybe if you guys watch the commercial you can give me your opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAWcVf7m90U

Another commercial I also saw was the Vicks NyQuil ad, which again we're all familiar with.  The sneezing, couching, and sometimes the appearances of a celebrity or sports icon. We're all used to seeing the mom not being able to take sick days either because she's a hard working mother trying to balance children and work.  Or the stay home that can't actually take a sick day because her work is to keep the house from going upside down. This commercial though actually caught my attention because the symbolism behind it I thought was pretty awesome.  The dad walks into his childs room and say " I'm sorry, I'm going to have to take a sick day". A DAD!  I know I shouldn't find it so surprising, but I did because I don't think I have seen a commercial representing father figure being shown in a mother figural position on TV.  OBVIOUSLY a dad can be a stay home dad too !  This ad shows SO much symbolism especially for dad's that felt like it was always looked down or seemed odd for a father to be a stay home hard working man.


I provided the links to both commercials in case anyone wanted to take a gander.


http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7ClP/vicks-nyquil-dads-dont-take-sick-days


Jesika