Choose who will drive you home // Reykjavík Metropolitan Police
Overall interpretation
A public safety advertisement from the Icelandic National Police asking who will drive you home after the holidays, implying that police, ambulance, and funeral services are the only options if you drink and drive.
Evidence and interpretation
What the ad visibly shows, and what each detail may mean.
Observation A black Cadillac hearse with a formal coach roof. Interpretation The advertisement warns against drunk driving during the holidays by presenting the only available 'drivers' as emergency or funeral services. Concepts: fear appeal, fear 2 further readings
Other readings connected to the same visible detail.
The visual lineup of a taxi, police car, ambulance, and hearse functions as a visual metaphor for the escalating consequences of impaired driving, ranging from a safe ride to death.
The presence of the funeral director and hearse serves as a stark reminder of the ultimate consequence of drunk driving, moving the message beyond simple legal trouble to mortality.
Observation A white Mercedes-Benz station wagon with a yellow 'TAXI' sign on the roof. Interpretation The advertisement warns against drunk driving during the holidays by presenting the only available 'drivers' as emergency or funeral services. Concepts: fear appeal, fear 1 further reading
Other readings connected to the same visible detail.
The visual lineup of a taxi, police car, ambulance, and hearse functions as a visual metaphor for the escalating consequences of impaired driving, ranging from a safe ride to death.
Observation A white Volvo police car with blue lights and 'LÖGREGLAN' written on the front bumper. Interpretation The advertisement warns against drunk driving during the holidays by presenting the only available 'drivers' as emergency or funeral services. Concepts: fear appeal, fear 1 further reading
Other readings connected to the same visible detail.
The visual lineup of a taxi, police car, ambulance, and hearse functions as a visual metaphor for the escalating consequences of impaired driving, ranging from a safe ride to death.
Concepts used in this analysis
Ideas that connect this advertisement to broader patterns of meaning.
- Fear
- Fear Appeal
- Cultural Identity
Cultural identity is the part of identity shaped by heritage, community, and familiar signs. Ads often borrow it to make products feel rooted, authentic, or emotionally close.
- Signifier
A signifier is something you can point to in the ad before deciding what it means: a face, object, word, color, type treatment, gesture, or spatial relationship. Calling something a signifier does not yet tell us what it signifies.
- Urgency
- Visual Metaphor
An ad uses visual metaphor when one thing stands in for another through resemblance, substitution, or a deliberate visual pairing. The image asks you to read beyond the literal scene.
About this interpretation
Interpretations are arguments, not facts. Signum keeps the visible evidence and the readings built from it inspectable so they can be challenged rather than treated as objective truth.