Critical Semiotic Analysis of a Meal at Tim Horton

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Tim Horton is a restaurant that focuses on serving Canadian meals that has a strong cultural inclination. Tim Horton target the lower and middle-class citizens making it convenient for a greater percentage of the population in Canada. According to Danesi (2004), food is a significant manifestation on how culture and nature interact giving people an opportunity to interact, enjoy and most importantly, acquire nutrition value of the food. As a representative of the daily requirement, food is of significant symbolic meaning. The elements that make Tim Horton elegant is not as a result of ingenious food only, but also the nature of the service offered. This essay will focus mainly on; discussing different semiotic concepts and various dining experiences.

Tim Horton’s ambiance is black and white. The colors, Black and white, signify the dominant concept that the restaurant is tailored for the less affluent members of the society. The visual coding presented by these colors is easy and clear conveying the theme of quietness. Another example of color is green painted on the tables demonstrating the restaurant’s high inclination to serving traditional agricultural foods. According to Danesi (2004), a sign highly depends on the code in which it is situated, while code offers a framework within which sign can make sense.

As indicated earlier, Tim Horton is a Canadian style food point; hence the order of serving the customer highly borrow from the western culture. The customers are served systematically starting with a drink, appetizer, main course meal, and other optional desserts. Black coffee is traditionally recognized and...