The theory of semiotics, as proposed by Roland Barthes, has been used to analyze advertising and the effectiveness of advertising on viewers. In the articles I researched that used semiotics to analyze particular advertisements, I found four common and related themes. First, the articles mentioned that the viewer determines the meaning of the advertisement or the viewer interprets the advertisement. Secondly, the meaning that the viewer attributes to advertising is largely determined by the context, both social and cultural. Third, advertisers use prevailing culture and cultural beliefs in their advertisements in an attempt to reach their audiences more effectively. Ultimately, these advertisements end up supporting culturally dominant beliefs in society and sometimes even create new values. In this article I will provide a summary of Roland Barthes' theory of semiotics, and then go on to discuss the common themes I found in the articles and how they relate to semiotics. French theorist Roland Barthes's theory of semiotics analyzes signs and their meaning (Griffin, 2012). In semiotics, Barthes focused more on the nonverbal meanings of signs rather than their verbal meanings (Griffin, 2012). One of the most important aspects of Barthes' theory is his position that there are two parts that make up a sign: the signifier, or level of expression, and the signified, or level of content (Barthes, 1985/1988)). The signified is the meaning we attribute to the sign and the signifier is the real object we perceive, and together they form the sign (Griffin, 2012). These signs can have two different meanings. The first meaning they have is the denotative meaning, that is, the original or historical m...... in the center of the sheet ...... Hill. Heiligmann, R., & Shields, V. R. (2005). Media literacy, visual syntax, and magazine advertising: Conceptualizing reading consumption by media-literate individuals. Journal of Visual Literacy, 25(1), 41-66.Kroma, M. M., & Flora, C. B. (2003). Eco-friendly pesticides: A historical analysis of the social construction of agricultural chemical advertisements. Agriculture and Human Values, 20(1), 21-35.Phillips, N., Brown, J.L. (1993). Analyzing communication in and around organizations: a critical approach. The Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1547-1576.Price, C. J. (2011). Using visual theories to analyze advertising. Visual Communication Quarterly, 18(1), 18-30.Waechter, S. F. (2010). Contextual advertising in online communication: An investigation of the relationships between multiple content types on a web page. Auckland University of Technology.