Natura, clima, sostenibilità. Il linguaggio pubblicitario tra etica e semiotica

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dialogue between ethics and semiotics analyzing some advertisements that represent nature, climate change and environmental sustainability. According to the emerging trend of naturalism and meeting the consumer’s growing request for a greater attention to the environment, more and more brands have begun to talk about ethical issues through their communication campaigns and production choices. Moreover, to be culturally current, a brand cannot ignore the great changes that are affecting contemporary society and the world of consumption. From this point of view, advertising can play a central role. Promoting ethical values, it contributes to construct a relationship between man and nature based on similar values. Moving from these premises, this work on one hand focuses on some examples of social advertising dealing with environment; on the other hand, it analyzes how the ethical dimension fits into the advertising language, influencing its discursive logics and strategies.