When thinking about the relationship between a signifier and the signified, one image came to mind, the golden arches of Mc Donald’s. In Australia, you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t recognise the golden arches on billboards and signs throughout the majority of the country. Whether you eat from the fast food restaurants or not, you will still recognise the symbol, and most likely still be able to list several of the burgers they sell.
As someone who frequently road trips from Sydney to Melbourne and back, Mc Donald’s has come to represent certain things to me. The signs that say ‘Mc Donald’s: 100km’ signifies to me a break from the car and time for lunch. I can probably name every item on the menu, because I grew up eaten Mc Donald’s every other week.
However, the meaning behinds signs can change between cultures, taking on new values and meaning. Mc Donald’s all over the world uses the same sign of the golden arches, however different cultures associate different meanings to the symbol. For instance, go into a Mc Donald’s in India and you will not find a cheeseburger or a Big Mac. For religious reasons, their culture does not eat beef, and so they have a different menu. This shows how the same symbol can change between cultures, taking on different meanings under the same sign. This change is a result of the different values and lifestyles that different cultures lead, and in turn, the meaning and representation of those symbols.
