Ideology is a system of beliefs that helps explain, shape, and judge the values ​​of the world (Croteau, Hoynes, & Milan, 2012). Roland Barthes' ideology asks the audience to watch a piece of media or an advertisement and accept the narrow view of society that is relayed in the media source; in other words, Barthes asks the audience to look for the denotation, connotation, or literal and sociological meanings associated with media (Chandler, 2008). Barthes was also concerned with analyzing the myths associated with the media, or the true intentions behind the media (Chandler). The denotation, connotation, and myth of Barthes' ideology as well as dominant war and cultural ideologies are evident in the famous Marlboro Man advertisements. According to the course text, it is best to look at advertisements that are at odds with our contemporary views because this helps the differences in assumptions to be more easily apparent (Croteau, Hoynes, & Milan, 2012). Following this guideline, an infamous advertising campaign was that of the Marlboro Man (Tobacco.org, 2011). I remember as a kid seeing the Marlboro ads on the back of magazines. For me, the denotation has always been very simple. I saw a cowboy, rigid, hardworking and smoking a cigarette. In fact, when I was a child, cigarettes were always what I overlooked in the picture. I was fascinated by the cowboy, the brutal, tough, free cowboy that I aspired to be. The connotations of an image are more open to interpretation because they are based on age, gender, class, race, religion, etc. Chandler, 2008). Again, from a young age, advertisements indicated the type of man I wanted to be. These men weren't stressed, they were enjoying life, riding horses, they were outdoors and they were rich... middle of paper ... or the ads are anything but appealing. Works Cited Capps, L. (2007). Toxic in pink. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102065.htmlCDC. (2011). Lung cancer statistics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/statistics/Chandler, D. (2008). Semiotics for beginners. Retrieved from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem06.html Croteau, D., Hoynes, W. and Milan, S. (2012). Media/society (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.NPR. (2002). The Marlboro Man. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/marlboroman/Stop Smoking. (2011). Why do people smoke? Retrieved from http://www.stop-smoking-updates.com/quitsmoking/cigarette-cessation/understanding-cigarrete-fumes/why-do-people-smoke.htmTobacco.org. (2011). Announcements. Retrieved from http://www.tobacco.org/ads/