Totemism and exclusivism: A case study of Tolak Angin advertising with figure of Rhenald Kasali from Indonesia

Totemism and exclusivism are currently a concern of advertisers in presenting their work in connection with the tendency of people to worship or glorify something, in the form of objects or people and to consider themselves as part of a community. This tendency is used to attract consumers' attention to the advertised goods or services. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the formation of a new style of totem related to symbols and meanings that change the value system in the audience so as forming exclusivism. This study focuses on the advertisement for Tolak Angin with the figure of Rhenald Kasali. The research was conducted using the semiotic research method of Roland Barthes' structural model with descriptive-interpretative techniques by analyzing the structure of the advertising text starting from denotation and connotation which then carried out a semiotic process through the relationships between signs to myths. This study found that Tolak Angin uses Rhenald Kasali as the totem of the advertisement with the meaning of smart person. Rhenald Kasali represents a group of people who consider themselves smart. Totem makes a symbol of value system that unite consumers or society, this power will later form exclusivism in a group that forms a certain class that has the same attachment to the product Tolak Angin with the totem as smart people. The results of this study are expected to be a reference for advertising practitioners by utilizing the phenomena of totemism and exclusivism that develop in society.

Automated summary

Totemism and exclusivism are concerns of advertisers who want to utilize the tendency of people to worship or glorify something, as well as consider themselves part of a community, in order to attract consumer attention. This study focuses on the advertisement for Tolak Angin featuring Rhenald Kasali and aims to understand the formation of a new style of totem and the resulting exclusivism. Through semiotic analysis, it is found that Tolak Angin uses Rhenald Kasali as a totem to represent intelligence, forming a symbol of a value system that unites consumers or society and creates exclusivism within a certain class. The results of this study can serve as a reference for advertising practitioners in utilizing totemism and exclusivism.