Multimodal critical discourse analysis of banned controversial advertisements in the Philippines / Jenny Rose A. Cabal.

Undergraduate Theses (ABELS) - English Language Studies. Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, 2025.

Includes bibliographic references.

This study explored multimodality in advertising by analyzing banned advertisements in the Philippines through cultural perspectives, using Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory (1980) and Social Semiotics as proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), and reorganized by Harrison (2008). The analysis focused on five banned advertisements: Colt 45 Beer's "Vava-Vroom Real Man Promo" (2010), Nice Day Coffee (2014), LBC's "Spelling Bee" (2009), EQ Diapers' "Lapu- Lapu" Commercial (2013), and the Belo "Pandemic Effect" Ad (2021). The study sought to determine whether these banned advertisements reflect cultural values and societal norms, and how these factors influence contemporary advertising in the country. Findings revealed that the advertisements exhibit elements of Hofstede's dimensions such as power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term vs. short-term orientation, and indulgence vs. restraint. Cultural Elements such as sense of shame, conservativity of Filipinos, respect for hierarchical status or the hero mentality and colonial mentality. These cultural values are further interpreted through focusing on interactional metafunctions of social semiotics. The study concluded by recommending a more comprehensive evaluation of advertisements that consider both cultural contexts and semiotic elements, including verbal and non-verbal content.