Multimodal semiotics analysis of McDonald’s UK video advertisement

This research aims to analyze the meaning of the use of integrated communication modes in McDonald's UK advertising videos. The process of investigating the meaning of using types of modes or multimodality through visual grammar analysis by Kress and Leeuwen (2006). Two problems must be solved in this research: (1) What are the modes of communication shown in McDonald’s UK video ads; (2) What is the meaning of each mode displayed in McDonald's UK video advertisements with the theory of visual grammar by Kress and Van Leeuwen. This research used a qualitative descriptive method to demonstrate a significant understanding of the meaning of incorporating the diverse modes of each cutscene. In addition, the researcher acted as an important instrument in the study. Data collection was done by converting the advertising videos into cutscenes. This was followed by identifying linguistic, visual, and gestural modes by assigning colour marks and the researcher identifying audio and spatial modes directly. Each communication mode data was classified by type and interpreted through visual grammar. The research results showed that there were 228 times of data belonging to 5 types of communication modes in 55 cut scenes. The communication modes are divided into linguistic 21, visual 55, gestural 46, audio 51, and spatial 55. Meanwhile, the 55 cutscenes are grouped into 26 scenes containing about 284 metafunctions divided into representational 116, interactive 81, and compositional 87. The implemented multimodal elements play an effective role in conveying persuasive information to viewers. The use of communication modes in the ad represents McDonald's recognizing campaign with a raised eyebrow gesture and McDonald's campaign in the UK to support the movement towards net zero emission through the use of paper bags.