Without any prior knowledge of the content of the image posted above, I can deduce from my experience several things, Barthes-style. Because the text shown - describing a television show, as evidenced by the time slot and use of the word "episodes" in this case - is somewhat oblique, I assume that while some information is being omitted (in this case, the actual name of the show) I can expect certain information, perhaps even a message, from the visual tropes in the image. In this case, the image has a specific purpose, to convey meaning and content:
"...in advertising the signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional; the signifieds of the advertising image are formed a priori by certain attributes of the product and these signifieds have to be transmitted as clearly as possible. If the image contains signs, we can be sure that in advertising these signs are full, formed with a view to the optimum reading..."
This makes the image in question particularly unusual, seeing as it does not even mention the name of the advertised, in this case of course The Sopranos. This is perhaps for a number of reasons: those whom the advertisement is directed towards are already familiar with content prior to the "final episodes", and furthermore, the image presents an assumption: those who are familiar with American culture (note the title of the episodes here) are automatically familiar with the face of the character shown, as the advertisement suggests his familiarity is great enough to elevate him to the status of even a cultural icon.
"The denoted image naturalizes the symbolic message, it innocents the semantic artifice of connotation, which is extremely dense, especially in advertising."
In the case of the Sopranos ad, the denotative information (literal and directly interpretable elements: the background, the placement of objects and text, Tony Soprano's expression, etc) directly influence our connotative reading of it. Barthes suggests it "innocents" the deeper, more hidden connotative details, although I feel that in this case it specifically elucidates them rather than making them less imposing or indigestible for the viewer. Our denotative reading of the phrase "Made in America" and the juxtaposition of the Statue of Liberty - although we're starting to move into connotative territory here - seem obvious, making Tony's expression in which he directly looks towards from the two seem much more meaningful, thus "naturalizing" a symbolic or signifying image.
"The variability of readings, therefore, is no threat to the 'language' of the image...[it] is penetrated through and through by the system of meaning, in exactly the same way as man is articulated to the very depths of his being in distinct languages."
In this case, the lack of visual and linguistic/textual information are kind of unnecessary, as one can argue that you can determine almost every piece of visual information necessary from the image. Barthes suggests perhaps that it is in our abilities and natural impulses to seek for meaning and (to a more theoretical level) logic and reason in images, and thus despite the non-convergent elements of the photo, they fit together stylistically. The "variety of readings" also implies that there is no one interpretation is truer than another, and that each viewer can infer their own based on their varying degrees of visual literacy. Perhaps one interpretation from a viewer who knows nothing about the show's context is actually closer to the creator's intention than an interpretation from someone who watches The Sopranos regularly. The fact that the image retains significance regardless of context is proof that it is indeed thoroughly "penetrated...by the system of meaning."
