Introduction Undoubtedly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that such social phenomenon as advertising has become an inseparable part of our life. Perhaps it would be prudent to substantiate this statement by some statistical data: it is estimated that the worlds largest companies spent at least fifty billion dollars a year on advertising. Moreover, psychologists believe that an average American sees at least twenty thousand commercials in a year. They literally haunt us everywhere. However, the mechanisms of advertising remain terra incognita to the overwhelming majority of the population. Therefore, it is of the paramount importance to ascertain the ways in which advertisements influence our consciousness as well as subconsciousness, especially as far as semiotics is concerned, because, any advertisement contains hidden messages or signs, which have a strong effect on us. Before we start discussing the interrelations of advertising and semiotics, we should first give the definition of the very term semiotics or semiology. Overall, it is the science, which studies the use of various symbols in the process of communication. It should be taken into consideration, that any symbol (it can be picture, word, gesture, or image) is the unit, which has both explicit and implicit meanings. These two sides of the same coin can have a very interesting effect on our consciousness. It is quite possible for us to say that advertisers usually take full advantage of semiotics, because in its most general sense advertising is also a communication process (in fact, it is a command, which is very carefully concealed), which is aimed at persuading a potential customer to buy a product or sometimes it can be some service (Danesi, p. 112). Basic principles of advertising It also should be taken that there are several basic principles of advertising. The first one is that a commercial or advertisement must be conspicuous in other words in must catch the eye of the observer. The second principle is that it must conjure up some positive images or it would be better to say associations. Finally, it must stimulate the desire to buy some product or commodity. At first glance, it may seem very difficult to do it. However, we can say that semiotics has always been the most powerful means to achieve this purpose. Naturally, it requires excellent knowledge of human psychology. First, it is necessary to determine the target audience, which s of the crucial importance. Secondly, the symbol or sign must be understandable to the viewer. Thus, we can say that it is necessary to take into consideration the educational, cultural, and social background of a person. Besides, any symbol can have many meanings and interpretations (as we know interpretation has always been a subjective notion), therefore, an advertiser should make sure that a symbol is not ambiguous and that it does not call up any unpleasant associations. Naturally, it may seem a very hard thing to do but our consciousness is full of deep-rooted stereotypes, which are very difficult to break. A person is to a certain degree free of stereotypes does not usually pay too much attention to advertisements (Clark, p. 88). Use of semioti