Tracking the signifier
Many of us associate the gesture or sign being made by this person in the photograph with the Peace Movement (also known as the "Anti-War" movement) of the late 1960s. The gesture itself, made with the hand, is a signifier, and "peace" is its signified. So, when we move to the second row and the lavender box, we see "the peace sign." So far, so good. But in this very same box, the peace sign can also become a second-order signifier. In this case, Aiwa acoustic products has created a photographic reproduction of this sign and turned it into a second-order signifier of their product. In this way the sign of the peace movement is hollowed out (Barthes refers to this as the "hemorrhaging" of meaning) and made to stand for a more general kind of "retro" or "nostalgia" thing. By means of a caption that reads, "you've waited thirty years," Aiwa turns the meaning of the signifier to refer to stereo equipment.