What is important here is that one crucial element is missing, and this omission seems deliberate rather than accidental. Because it is the advertisers' subtle intention to include her as a participant, to draw her into the role of the missing person, the housewife and mother is excluded. This is not said but is implicit in the advertisements and yields up the binary oppositions which lie at the heart of the structure of the system. All of the elements on the left hand side belong to one type, as do all the elements on the right hand side. The superficial representation of the advertisements explores themes of happiness and growth.
Growth is portrayed as a function of a balanced diet.
In turn, a balanced diet is portrayed as depending on the variety of the diet. Diet is portrayed as being essential to the child's well being and to have a lasting effect on the relationship between mother and child. It is important to remember that the analysis is based on the whole system of baby food advertisement and not on one manufacturer's. Secondly, this reduction has been carried out on the structural and not on the superficial level. Simultaneously, the mother receives the message on a level of which she has no conscious cognition, and is reassured.