Culture And The Ad: Exploring Otherness In The World Of Advertising (Institutional Structures of Feeling)
Advertising agencies are not culturally sensitive; now, that's a surprising discovery! In this work, O'Barr (cultural anthropology, Duke Univ.) argues that advertising communicates subliminal messages regarding the social and economic dominance of its target audience. He begins by analyzing the images in print advertisements, mostly from before World War II; these analyses vary from strongly persuasive to ponderously moralistic and subjective. He then invites the reader to try his/her hand with advertisements depicting African Americans. Twenty-six of the 43 advertisements are from before the Civil Rights movement and are filled with blatant stereotypes. O'Barr skims over the interaction of media, advertising, and the mores of society while arguing that advertising agencies should be socially responsible, even if the public is not. Recommended for anthropology, media, and political science collections.Edward Buller, "Natural History," American Musuem of Natural HistoryCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.