Features of Visual-Verbal Semiotics in China's Outdoor Social Advertising

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the visual-verbal strategies employed in outdoor social advertising within China, a context characterized by high ideological engagement and cultural specificity. It introduces a typology of the interaction between verbal and visual codes, including the classification of image types and forms of creolization utilized in contemporary advertising formats. The empirical foundation is based on a corpus of 50 advertising posters captured in public spaces across Chinese cities during 2024-2025 through targeted photographic documentation. The methodological framework incorporates elements of semiotic and intent analysis, enabling a multifaceted description of the interacting components at both visual and verbal levels. The findings reveal that the predominant forms of creolization are repetitive and integrative models, reflecting the variability in structural organization of the posters and the specificity of their pragmatic orientation. Based on this analysis, an original classification of visual components is proposed, which systematically organizes graphic elements according to their semiotic and functional characteristics in the context of public social influence. Additionally, the existing typology of creolized texts developed by G.N. Telminov is refined and expanded. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of visual-verbal influence in social advertising and may inform future interdisciplinary research.

creolization, polycode text, social advertising, visual-verbal semiotics, Chinese language, outdoor advertising