Advertising And Culture

This unique collection of essays explores postmodern American culture and the shaping influence of advertising. Using contemporary theory, the authors present a wide variety of perspectives on advertising's methods, language, and cultural effects. Topics include the myths and promises of advertising, the selling of racial and gender stereotypes, the construction of corporate images, the postmodern discourse of advertising, its literary techniques, and its persuasive strategies. This scholarly approach to advertising will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of communication, cultural studies, and popular culture.

Penned by contributors from a range of disciplines, including art history, sociology, and media and cultural studies, this title explores such topics as the conceptual relationship between advertising and culture; the relationship of advertising to cultural fields such as art, fashion, and music; and developments in digital media practice.

Is it possible that consumers exploit advertising even more so than advertising exploits and influences our culture? Author Jib Fowles argues that consumers look to advertising to provide them with images that can assist them in negotiating the personal dilemmas of advanced industrial life. Advertising and Popular Culture is the first comprehensive text to provide a balanced analysis of advertising and its companion, the popular culture, conveyed through the mass media. Reflecting current theories, this thoughtful critique uses excerpts from advertising campaigns to illustrate how modern advertising both draws from and contributes to popular culture. Fowles traces the role of advertising in our culture from its evolution as part of the culture of mass consumption in the late 19th century, the development of advertising agencies, and the creation of a consumer culture to an exploration of the major themes of American advertising. Advertising and Popular Culture represents a fresh and fully elaborated conceptualization of the services that advertising and popular culture provide. This text will be a vital tool in departments and schools of advertising, journalism, and communication where increasing emphasis is being placed on studying the cultural significance of advertising.

"Subliminal perception debunked, senior citizen advertising comes of age, Mona Lisa goes commercial, and male ad image changes are questioned! These and a host of other insightful, informative essays comprise this volume. Numerous advertising and marketing scholars united to bring the reader some of their most instructive, stimulating and entertaining works." "Advertising today, more than ever, is a field filled with change, challenge, and controversy. For about a decade, the Popular Culture Association's Advertising Area has proved to be a forum for a variety of topics that highlight advertising's impact on culture and society. This volume stems from a proposal to collect into a book some of the papers presented at PCA Conferences in the Advertising Area from 1985-1989. Authors represent a variety of interests and research areas." "While original plans did not call for any specific topic divisions in this volume, the articles do present variety, though somewhat loosely categorized. In general, these categories fall under the broad umbrella of popular culture studies. Besides the familiar historical and critical presentations, articles of controversy and interest are included, such as the one on subliminal advertising. Some of these articles attempt to debunk previously written pieces and serve as a stepping stone to much further discussion." "All-in-all, you will find something to amuse, amaze, inform and stimulate in this volume of advertising variety and versatility."--BOOK JACKET.

Designed as a core textbook for courses in Advertising and Society, "Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture" develops an integrated perspective that gives students a framework for understanding past, present, and future issues in advertising communications. Chapter contents cover the entire range of social, political, cultural, regulatory, and economic issues that surround advertising and its role in modern society. The many social issues addressed include advertising and gender stereotyping, advertising to vulnerable audiences, and the distribution of wealth in consumer society. "Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture" intertwines the development of the consumer culture with its coverage of the historical, political, regulatory, and ethical issues of advertising. It includes clear, comprehensive tables that chronicle historical developments and key legal cases. The text is readable for undergraduates but provides enough depth to serve as a graduate-level text. Including extensive notes and a bibliography, it can be adopted independently, or alongside its companion volume, "Readings in Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture".

This is the first scholarly book dedicated to reading the work of contemporary filmmakers and their impact on modern marketing and advertising. Drawing from consumer culture theory, film and media studies, the author presents an expansive analysis of a range of renowned filmmakers who have successfully applied their aesthetic and narrative vision to commercial advertising. It challenges some traditional advertising tropes and sheds light on the changing nature of advertising in the contemporary media context. Utilising Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of assemblage, this book addresses themes of spatiality and time, narrative and aesthetics and consumer reception within a new frame of reference that re-contextualises classical concepts of genre, platform and aesthetic categories. These diverse elements are embedded into a larger discussion of the resonance of contemporary advertising for consumer culture and the implications of the hybridity characteristic of convergent media platforms for understanding the potential of advertising in the twenty-first century. It offers a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary perspective for researchers, academics, and practitioners working in marketing communications, advertising, and media studies.

This collection of classic and contemporary articles provides context for the study of advertising by exploring the historical, economic, and ideological factors that spawned the development of a consumer culture. It begins with articles that take an institutional and historical perspective to provide background for approaching the social and ethical concerns that evolve around advertising. Subsequent sections then address the legal and economic consequences of life in a material culture; the regulation of advertising in a culture that weighs free speech against the needs of society; and the ethics of promoting materialism to consumers. The concluding section includes links to a variety of resources such as trade association codes of ethics, standards and guidelines for particular types of advertising, and information about self-regulatory organizations.

The Routledge Companion to Advertising and Promotional Culture provides an essential guide to the key issues, methodologies, concepts, debates, and policies that shape our everyday relationship with advertising. The book contains eight sections: Historical Perspectives considers the historical roots and their relationship to recent changes of contemporary advertising and promotional practice. Political Economy examines how market forces, corporate ownership, and government policies shape the advertising and media promotion environment. Globalization presents work on advertising and marketing as a global, intercultural, and transnational practice. Audiences as Labor, Consumers, Interpreters, Fans introduces how people construct promotional meaning and are constructed as consumers, markets, and labor by advertising forces. Identities analyzes the ways that advertising constructs images and definitions of groups -- such as gender, race and the child -- through industry labor practices, marketing, as well as through representation in advertising texts. Social Institutions looks at the pervasiveness of advertising strategies in different social domains, including politics, music, housing, and education. Everyday Life highlights how a promotional ethos and advertising initiatives pervade self image, values, and relationships. The Environment interrogates advertising’s relationship to environmental issues, the promotional efforts of corporations to construct green images, and mass consumption’s relationship to material waste. With chapters written by leading international scholars working at the intersections of media studies and advertising studies, this book is a go-to source for those looking to understand the ways advertising has shaped consumer culture, in the past and present.