The signages are found along a bus interchange where the is high people traffic and it stands out against the white backdrop which demands attention.   

It is also important to note that the choice of animal pictures are domestic pets and therefore the intention for the sign is indirectly targeted towards people with pets.
 
 Intertextuality:
The sign in multimodal with visuals and texts. Red circles and slashes are symbolic references for warning. This is further accentuated by minimal yet powerful word such as “fine” and the amount dictated for the fines.

Materiality:
It is a laminated sign that is attached to a metal government property. This shows that this sign was curated and backed up by official government bodies. The fines also indicated that there are legal consequences if the sign is disregarded.  

That’s all that I remember.

Social actors: I vs He (Pronoun) 
'Baltimorian' label associated with the 'he' 
No mention of who the 'he' is - Anonymisation. 
Depicted the Baltimorian boy as almost similar (only mentions size and no other unique features, probably not wanting to point fingers at any specific Baltimorian.)  However, Baltimorian is depicted as being more childish maybe to justify racist act? where one is racist because one is immature. 
 But 'he' is representative of racism, defining the author's childhood with the last line "That's all that I remember"

 

Dunkin Donuts Egypt portrays the two donuts with the caption “darkness is half beautiful” and “whiteness is full beauty.” 

Another caption posted alongside the image read: “Because we are against racism, we will eat them both. Which will you choose?”

Text Analysis - Social Actors:

In this advertisement, the beauty of an individual is reduced to the physical appearance which is the colour of our skin. The use of contrasting words "whiteness" and "darkness" is represented by two flavors, vanilla and chocolate respectively (non-human). So in this case, colour (white) indexes beauty.

I thought that the word "darkness" can also refer to darker palette (usually dark brown or black) which may point to stereotypical people belonging to certain races. Hence, in this case, the colour of our skin has some form of indexicality where it indexes the race that one is in. 

Additionally, "beauty" is often associated with women. In this advertisement, the visual of donuts subtly represent women which shows how women are usually objectified and thus become a normalisation by the society. 

"Because we are against racism, we will eat them both. Which will you choose?"

From this caption, the use of "we" as a collective group has the assumption that the readers share the same ideology as everyone in the society. It is a strategic way used by the illustrator (who might be just the only one having that ideology) to influence the readers to buy in the ideology. It also becomes a marketing tool to influence purchase power and choice over consumers’ personal preference. Although consumers may not see the underlying intention, but their mind will be frame by the caption of this advertisement. 

◉Intertextuality
The design of the sign is similar with other road signs such as the stop sign, the speed limit sign and etc - a white background, black font and red border. Having a similar format would mean that drivers would be able to easily associate the combination of features above as related to road signages - succesfully gaining their attention as they drive. 

◉Materiality
The sign and the pole is made of metal which has been cemented into the ground.   This is to ensure durability of the sign - law meant to be obeyed throughout the existence of the sign. Access to these kind of materials is not something locals would have, highlighting its implicit power and authority over the commonfolk. 

Dunkin Donuts Egypt portrays the two donuts with the caption “darkness is half beautiful” and “whiteness is full beauty.”
Another caption posted alongside the image read: “Because we are against racism, we will eat them both. Which will you choose?”

The idea of beauty in this context has been reduced to the skin colour of the person; whiteness [being fair[ is seen as more beautiful than darkness (Fair indexes beauty). There is also objectivation, an implicit connotation of beauty being associated with women, thus representing the doughnut as being female. 
It is also important to note that it is a societal norm for woman to be of a certain attribute - fair, long silky hair, curvy and etc. and that if you do not fit into this group, you are labelled as "in need of work", imperfect hence the caption of darkness being only HALF beautiful. 

The second part of the caption implies that there is a division between the reader and the ambiguous 'we'. By using 'we', it is not explicitly mentioned with whom Dunkin Donuts are siding with by being anti-racist. However, it is enough for the reader to feel isolated against the collective 'we'. The pressure to belong and the depressing feeling of being outside the tribe would mean that readers would be willing to agree with the poster and eat them both, even though they might just prefer one flavour over the other - increasing sales and profits for the company.

Dunkin Donuts Egypt portrays the two donuts with the caption “darkness is half beautiful” and “whiteness is full beauty.”
Another caption posted alongside the image read: “Because we are against racism, we will eat them both. Which will you choose?”
 
This ad is a typical example of casual racism where the advertisers assume that everyone believes that ‘white’ is more beautiful than ‘dark’ and that they are being progressive with their poor humour. 

Objectivation

Firstly, the doughnuts are personified as people. To relate a simple food item to represent people is not offensive, however to emphasize the “white’ and “dark” to insinuate human skin colour is. What could have been a simple preference for different toppings have been specially remodified to perpetuate the common ideal standards of beauty, where being dark is only “half’ beautiful. 

 

Individualisation and Collectivisation

The second caption aims to emotionally blackmail readers into buying the doughnuts so as they would not seem like a racist. 

The 'we' implies an exclusive community of people who are not racist. Like a collective community. While the 'you' shows a direct challenge to the individual. 

While it might work for real racists, for the general population, it would not even have occurred to them to consider racism, but the caption demands them to implicitly question their moral compass.

 

The collection includes a tinted fluid, coming in four colors; a matte moisturizing lip balm, and four shades of eyebrow pencil. Chanel’s Boy franchise, which already counts products such as handbags and a perfume, is named after Boy Capel, the lover and muse of Gabrielle Chanel.

“Just as Gabrielle Chanel borrowed elements from the men’s wardrobe to dress women, Chanel draws inspiration from the women’s world to write the vocabulary of a new personal aesthetic for men,” the company said in a statement. “Lines, colors, attitudes, gestures….There is no absolutely feminine or masculine prerequisite: Style alone defines the person we wish to be."

“By creating Boy de Chanel, its first makeup line for men, Chanel reaffirms the ever-changing codes of an unchanging vision: Beauty is not a matter of gender, it is a matter of style.”

The collection will be rolled out to the rest of the world in November on the house’s e-commerce platforms and in January 2019 in Chanel’s boutiques.

Although both words have the concept of desire, but if you specifically pay attention to the difference in meaning, the word wish has an extension of "yes, I have strong desire or hope for something BUT...it might not come true".

So what I realised is that, Chanel intentionally use "wish" instead of "want" is to protect themselves from being criticised if their product is unable to fulfill all the dreams of the consumers. (Do I make sense here, ladies? Hahah)

Then, below is another excerpt of what Chanel said which I thought they are raising awareness to the world of the shift in masculinity. 

“By creating Boy de Chanel, its first makeup line for men, Chanel reaffirms the ever-changing codes of an unchanging vision: Beauty is not a matter of gender, it is a matter of style.”

So yes, the highlighted sentence above which I personally feel is VERY influential and thought provoking, getting me to think...why is beauty associated to females in the first place? 

The world is changing fast and BP is changing with it. The mix of energy that provides heat, light and mobility for billions of people is shifting towards lower carbon sources, driven by advances in technology and growing concerns about climate change. We're determined to play our part in this transition – helping to meet the world's need for more energy while also reducing carbon emissions.
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Global issue:
Due to increase in population brought about by advancement in medicine, there is an increase need for more energy - for survival, for economic progress etc. Since the industrial revolution, humans are dependent on non-renewable sources of energy such as coal and oil. However, the by-product of using such sources of energy are detrimental to the environment and health of humans. Global temperatures have increased, causing shifts in weather patterns and melting of ice caps. There is also an increase in people suffering from asthma due to the poor quality of air. As such, many have decided to turn green to reduce the effects and create a better future for the next generation. The first step taken by many organisations was to swap to renewable energy such as solar / wind energy.

Between 2000 to 2008, BP (a well-renowned oil company) has been trying to market themselves as a company who cares for the environment by coming up with a green campaign aimed at reducing carbon footprints. The ad below is one the promotional video used during the campaign. Despite their efforts to go green, many have considered this an act of green washing.

Why?
Despite their aim to want to reduce their carbon emissions,
1) BP invested 93% of investments into oil and gas in comparison to 2.79% on biofuel and 1.39% on solar initiatives.
2) In 2009, BP further affirmed that it was never truly committed to alternative energy when that division of the company in London was shut down. Vivienne Cox, the director of solar and wind power for the company resigned at the same time. Shortly before the entire division was cut, BPs solar projects in both Spain and the United States ended.
3) Oil spill incident @ gulf of mexico due to poorly maintained oil lines.

Analysis:
"We can all do more to emit less."
Over the next 4 years, we're planning to implement projects to reduce emissions by another 4 million tonnes.
Learn how to lower your carbon footprint at bp.com/carbonfootprint
It's a start. "

Use of Pronoun "we" in the text shows solidarity between the BP company and people who are part of the green community in an act to convince community that just like them, BP too cares for the environment and wants to play a part to improve the situation on Earth. Furthermore, the language choices "We can all do more...." also ensures that BP positions themselves as equals with everyone else, not enforcing their beliefs onto people. Even the imperative statement of line 4 has a low degree of obligation due to the absence of modals. 

Use of Dynamic modality "can" to relate to BP and the community's ability to reduce emissions and prevent anymore potential damages to Earth. The use of "we can all..." shifts the responsibility of being "green-friendly" partly to the green community. However, "can" offers a high degree of certainty that can be used to convinced people that such an act is possible and that BP has probably found a way to live a life that is more eco-friendly.

The phrase "Over the next 4 years," is also a type of hedging used by BP "to convey a sense of precision, continuity and a sense that they have an awareness of the broader picture.", in a way showing commitment to the green way of living. In addition, the company has also changed their logo, from black and whit to using the colour green and yellow. Green is often associated with plants and being environmentally friendly. The choice of colour is probably intentional, to give the impression to consumers that their products are organic and environmentally friendly.

Purpose of BP's choice of language is to align to the popular green movement, in hopes of maintaining their profit without much care for honesty. 

Possible questions??
1. What are the possible issues that is being addressed by the video?
2. How does the video [image and text] contribute to the green movement / washing of BP?

L2: Over the next 4 years, we’re planning to implement projects to reduce emissions by another 4 million tonnes.

L3: Learn how to lower your carbon footprints at bp.com/carbonfootprint 

L4: It’s a start.”

 

Drawing from the readings from Machin & Mayr’s Chapter 8, the use of modality can communicate a person’s commitment of something or reflect the degree of certainty. In this case, the excerpt selected highlighted the modal word “can” being used here conveying the high degree of certainty from BP that they CAN do more to emit less. Although the use of plural first-person pronoun “we” are used in L1, addressing not just BP but also readers in general, that everyone plays a part to do more to emit less. However, the “we” suggest to place more emphasis on BP, focusing them as the main agency to initiate the good intention of being “green” in doing their part, serving and offering goods & service in L2 by mentioning “we’re planning to implement projects to reduce emissions…”. This “we” used here would directly be indicating BP, which they are the main agent in this action. Notice there’s no modality used in this sentence as compared to L1, with just saying “we’re planning” which is in present continuous, indicating the action is in progress. The use of a present continuous instead of a modal suggests the possibility of BP not wanting to impose this commitment on themselves. 

When it comes to the hedging part, I have a different thought from Syahida: The specific numeric clauses “Over the next 4 years” and “by another 4 million tonnes” are hedging techniques to create ambiguity within the claim that BP is making. For example, “Over the next 4 years” does not give a certain start off point of when this next 4 years will start or end, similarly for “by another 4 million tonnes”.

 

Then, at L3, notice the shift in attention which BP directs it to readers or people in general? The use of imperative “Learn how to lower your carbon footprint…” immediately change the focus to people instead of BP. The imperative used actually implies BP as the authority commanding people to learn how to lower their carbon footprint. Take note of the second-person pronoun used adds the effect to people stronger because of the direct addressing. It’s not just any other carbon footprint, but yours, your carbon footprint that you contribute.

 

The last sentence, “It’s a start” ended with a neat and simple bang which basically tell people to start doing their part like BP to reduce carbon footprint. I thought that the simplicity of that sentence did not impose any negative effect of blaming people for not contributing or condemning people, but simply telling people with the implied meaning of “it’s never too late to start” or “you can start now”.

Chanel has the highest number of retail stores in Asia as opposed to other continents. Therefore, having already established their brand name with a market here, it would make sense for them to choose to debut their male products for practical reasons. 

Masculinity can be fluid as it is a mannerism as opposed to physical trait. Protruding muscles and moustaches are no longer the sole markers of masculinity. Over the years, South Korea has established itself as a pioneer in championing beauty beyond gender. 

 

It is interesting to note that the make up line for men is tagged with the lexis “BOY”, whereas their lines for females are often tagged with “WOMEN” I think it is indicative of the specific audience that they are catering to. “Boy” is a common word present in the Lavender Language, also known as LGBT linguistics. Which is why Syahida’s example of Queer Eye as well as other prominent shows like “Rupaul’s Drag Race” are on the forefront in this discussion. These men have transitioned into mainstream media and made it acceptable for men to have an affinity for make-up.  So I think Chanel’s decision to use “Boy” is intentionally targeted towards males who exude soft masculinity.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42499809