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software can be used to block whole sites or to accept some cookies. Besides helping Internet
users enjoy a less ad-intense surfing environment, the software also enables Web pages to
load up more quickly without the extra graphics.
• In 2015, Apple’s update to its operating system allowed ad blocking for the first time, and ad
blockers became among the most popular apps downloaded by consumers. Ad blocking
represents a significant threat to the advertising agency. One in four French and German
Internet users block advertising. In the United States, only 10 percent of Internet users use ad
blockers. That proportion is expected to rise after the move by Apple to allow ad blocking.
(For more information, see http://www.businessinsider.com/theres-some-new–data-out-on-
the-huge-ad-blocking-trend-and–its-a-grim–read-for-online-publishers-2015-9.)
• In what is often called “culture jamming” or “subvertising,” artists from New York to San
Francisco have been hijacking billboards for years to either parody advertisements or create
original work. The Billboard Liberation Front in San Francisco has been altering ads since
1978, and New York artist Ron English has been “culture jamming” since 1982. The idea
behind this art activism is to reclaim public space from commercial interests and force a
public dialogue on ads and our increasingly corporate-controlled environment. Advertisers
have caught on, however, and are mimicking the very ads that mimic them, even employing
illegal graffiti tactics to appear more “cool.”
• Digital-media artist, activist, photographer, and independent journalist Jonathan McIntosh
has created a series of video mash-ups critiquing the advertising industry and the culture at
large (see http://www.rebelliouspixels.com). For example, using a Kodak commercial that
originally featured two women driving around Europe, taking snapshots, and then exalting in
their developed photos, McIntosh edited in war images from Iraq in place of the travel
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photos. McIntosh also has some notable photographic and graphic art imagery on his home
site.
MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES
ADVERTISING’S EFFECT ON YOUR CAMPUS
As a class, consider the effect of advertising on your college campus. Are any buildings or sports
facilities named after advertisers? Are any on-campus dining facilities run by fast-food
franchises? What company has the soda franchise on your campus, and how much does it pay?
What companies dominate the advertising on your campus, and where do they place their ads?
Should college campuses be free of advertisements? Why or why not? Are any places in society
free of ads and corporate sponsorship?
WHAT’S YOUR PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILE?
Pre–Exercise Questions: How would you categorize college students as a psychographic group?
What are their attitudes, beliefs, interests, and motivations?
Are the eight VALS groups (see http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/ustypes.shtml
or the VALS section of the textbook) accurate descriptions of you and people you know, or do
they reduce people to simple stereotypes? Do the categories capture the essence of most people,
or are there values and lifestyles that fall outside these categories? If so, would these other types
of people be of interest to advertisers? Briefly describe two to three advertisements that seem to
be targeting your psychographic group, and explain your response to these ads.
ANALYZING MAGAZINE ADS
From a business perspective, magazine ads function to promote advertisers’ goods or services
over competing brands and to place these goods or services before consumers so that they can
make informed buying decisions. We know, however, that ads mean more than what advertisers
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intend because readers form their own opinions. We know, too, that ads function as popular
culture. They operate on a symbolic level to affirm cultural values.
In this Critical Process exercise, compare and critique three magazine ads. The ads should all
feature the same type of product but should be taken from contrasting magazines (e.g., three
alcohol ads from women’s and men’s magazines or three clothing ads from various kinds of
publications).
1. Description. Take notes on your three choices, laying out what is going on in the ads. Briefly
describe each ad. Is a narrative apparent here (setting, characters, conflict, etc.)? What
different persuasive strategies seem to be at work?
2. Analysis. Figure out common patterns or differences that emerge among the three ads, and
then develop an argument that you want to prove. For example, you may notice that one ad
demonstrates more social responsibility than the others or provides better consumer
information. In your critique, use the association principle to deal with the ads’ cultural
meanings. Your analysis should go beyond the issue of whether the ads successfully market
their products.
3. Interpretation. Now think about these questions in regard to the ads you have chosen: What’s
going on? What different sets of values are being sold (e.g., ideas about patriotism, family,
sex, beauty, technology, tradition)? Are the ads selling a vision (or stereotype) of what it
means to be male or female? Young, old, or middle-aged? A member of a particular racial or
ethnic group?
4. Evaluation. Make a judgment about which ad works best and why. Which ad is the best at
treating both the product and the consumer fairly and responsibly? Are any of the ads
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deceptive or irresponsible? Again, your paper should have a central argument or thesis,
drawing on evidence from your ads.
To this end, organize your paper around an idea that is worth proving. For example, pointing
out that your ads “sell their products in different ways” is not an argument, but stating that an
ad “sells the American dream as equal opportunity for all” or that it is racist or sexist is an
argument worth proving.
5. Engagement. A number of projects and organizations bring a critical eye to advertising
messages through education and activism. For example, the Gender Ads Project is a growing
collection of more than 3,800 advertisements (mostly from magazines) categorized into
various topical areas in advertising (e.g., The Gaze, Social Class, Dolls, Males as Hero). Visit
the site (http://www.genderads.com), and contribute to the project’s image database or offer
your own commentary on issues related to gender and advertising. Also visit Adbusters
(http://www.adbusters.org), an organization that offers insights into our consumer culture,
and join the Culture Jammers Network, “a global network of artists, activists, writers,
pranksters, students, educators, and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social
activist movement of the information age.”
MALE STEREOTYPES IN TELEVISION ADS
Pre–Exercise Question: Are the men you know like the guys in television ads?
The portrayal of women in advertising has generated a considerable amount of controversy, but
what about the portrayal of men? This Critical Process exercise is designed to evaluate the
visible stereotyping of men in advertising.
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In preparation for this exercise, ask your students to watch, and take note of, all the commercials
during one evening’s primetime schedule. Ask them to describe the depictions of men in these
commercials and to bring the information to class.
1. Description. What sort of categories do these male characters fall into? For each
category, what are the characters’ typical behaviors? What do they look like, including
their normative body types? What is the range of their actions? If they were coupled
with a female counterpart, what did she look like? What are the male characters’
relationships with other men and other women?
2. Analysis. Look for patterns in the descriptions of male characters in prime-time ads,
especially with regard to body type, behaviors, race and ethnicity, social class, and
relationships with other men and women. Is there a certain kind of male character that
predominates in these ads? If so, what is that character?
3. Interpretation. What conclusions can you draw about male characters on television?
What is it about these characters that suggests an appeal to the “ordinary” guy? Is it
evident, from watching these portrayals of men, that standards for male behavior are
high or not very high? Why is that? How close are the portrayals of men in
advertisements to men you know in real life?
4. Evaluation. If portrayals of women in advertising affect the status of women in society,
what might be the effect of advertising images of men on men’s status in society? What
sorts of changes might you make to the portrayals of male characters in ads?
5. Engagement. There isn’t the equivalent of the National Organization for Women for
men to voice collective opposition to ad images of men. Still, register your own opinion
to corporations that peddle stereotypes of men.
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ADVERTISING ANALYSIS (PAPER ASSIGNMENT)
From a business perspective, magazine ads function to promote advertisers’ goods or services so
that consumers can make informed buying decisions. We know, however, that ads mean more
than what advertisers intend. Advertisements are one of the more obvious ways of showing us
what we “need,” what we ought to desire, and who we should be. Ads operate on a symbolic
level to affirm cultural values, selling us a particular idea of “normal”: what’s normal for our age
group, for our particular station in life, or for the values we aspire to.
In this Critical Process exercise, you’ll be focusing your powers of analysis and
observation on print advertisements from magazines. You’ll make explicit these ads’ techniques
for selling their products, and you’ll compare and contrast ads across different target markets.
Your job: Compare and critique two different magazine ads. The ads should feature the same
type of product but should be taken from contrasting magazines (e.g., two alcohol ads, one from
a women’s magazine and one from a men’s magazine; or two car ads from two different
publications).
1. Provide an analysis of the content for each ad. In this part, you will consider how the ad is
constructed and how it aims to reach its particular audience. Consider the following questions
and ideas:
• What types of appeals and persuasive strategies are being used here? (Refer to the Chapter 11
text for ideas.)
• What types of images are used in the ad? What effects are they intended to have on the
audience? Do we see the actual product, or is the company concentrating on selling a brand
or an idea?
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• You may want to consider layout/design, text/language, and placement. What grabs your
attention in this ad, and why?
• How exactly does the ad appeal to its target audience? In other words, if your ad is from a
men’s magazine, what types of ideas, images, and slogans are used to appeal to guys? If it is
an ad from Rolling Stone, how does it appeal to those interested in music?
2. You need to take a closer look at the ads to provide a cultural critique. In your critique, use
the association principle or myth analysis to deal with the ads’ cultural meanings. Think
about these questions in regard to the ads you have chosen:
• What different sets of values are being sold (e.g., ideas about patriotism, family, ethnicity,
sex, beauty, femininity, masculinity, age, nature, technology, tradition)?
• Are the ads selling a particular vision (or stereotype) of what it means to be male or female?
Young, old, or middle class? A member of a particular racial or ethnic group? In essence,
what do these ads “normalize” for us?
Particulars:
• Prepare approximately four pages, typed, double-spaced, twelve-point font, stapled.
• Include copies of advertisements you analyze (they may be originals or photocopies).
—Developed by Karen Pitcher, University of Iowa
TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY: A
SEMESTER–LONG CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER
In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become
familiar with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which correspond
with the steps in the Critical Process.
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1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting the
advertising industry. Look at the Web sites of industry trade associations and professional
societies. (Links to Web sites of some industry trade sources are given in the Classroom
Media Sources below.) Take notes on topics that have multiple stories or mentions in the
current year. What issues or developments in the industry have received a lot of recent
attention, discussion, or commentary in industry sources? (Focus only on information from
the current year—and only from trade sources.) Write a one-page synopsis of the information
you found about current topics in the industry. Cite your sources properly.
2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade
sites and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one
or two pages with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track
news about your topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.
3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How?
What does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our
culture or our society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our
lives? Write up your interpretation in a five-page paper. (The first page should be a synopsis
of the trend, with proper citations.) You might not have to provide information from your
sources for the next four pages because this section is your interpretation of the trend. (Save
any ideas you have about whether the trend is “good” or “bad” for the Evaluation step of the
Critical Process.)
4. Evaluation. Is the trend “good” or “bad?” For the industry? society? culture? democracy? us?
What do you think might happen in the future?
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5. Engagement. Are there any actions you can take (related to your trend and the industry)?
Possibilities include posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting
people in the industry to see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going
to an industry event if any are held nearby. (This step need not be required if students are not
motivated to take action.)
Note: This exercise works well if each step of the Critical Process is due two weeks after the
prior step is due. Limiting students to only trade sources and only information from the current
year helps keep them on track. Your institution’s librarians should be able to provide students
with information on how to access industry trade sources.
CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE:
launchpadworks.com
Advertising in the Digital Age (2010, 2:04 minutes). Jeff Goodby and Richard Campbell discuss
how advertisements are evolving to keep up with consumers’ changing media-consumption
habits and resistance to advertising.
Advertising and Effects on Children (2009, 4:23 minutes). Featuring Richard Campbell, Jeff
Goodby, and Liz Perle. Scholars and advertisers analyze the effects of advertising on
children, with attention to the Budweiser Frogs campaign.
Blurring the Lines: Marketing Programs across Platforms (2010, 2:22 minutes). MTV’s VP of
New Media, David Gale, discusses a flexible format cross platform show, $5 Cover.
Product Placement in the Movies: E.T. (1982, 1:40 minutes). A brief clip from the 1982 film
E.T. shows how product placement can play a crucial role in a film.
VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS
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Big Bucks, Big Pharma (2006, 46 minutes). This video pulls back the curtain on the multibillion-
dollar pharmaceutical industry to expose the insidious ways that illness is used, manipulated,
and in some instances created for capital gain. Distributed by the Media Education
Foundation, 800-897-0089; http://www.mediaed.org.
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood (2008, 67 minutes). With virtually no
government or public outcry, the multibillion-dollar youth marketing industry has been able
to use the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform
American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in
the world. Distributed by the Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089;
http://www.mediaed.org.
Deadly Persuasion: The Advertising of Alcohol and Tobacco (2003, 60 minutes). In this video,
Jean Kilbourne exposes the manipulative marketing strategies and tactics used by the tobacco
and alcohol industries to keep Americans hooked on their dangerous products. Distributed by
the Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089; http://www.mediaed.org.
Emergence of Advertising in America: Advertising Ephemera (2007, 4-CD set). This set of CDs
has brought together hundreds of examples of early advertisements, dating from the early
1840s, that appeared in newspapers, in independent publications, as posters, and even as
concert hall ticket stubs. Available at Duke Digital Library:
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa.
Emergence of Advertising in America: A Historic Review (2005, 1 CD). This CD presents
examples of advertisements from the early twentieth century. Drawing heavily on the works
of J. Walter Thompson, the CD helps in understanding the thought processes of people at the
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turn of the century. Available at Duke Digital Library:
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa.
New Kings: The Power of Online Influencers (Influencer Marketing) (2017, 38:48 minutes). This
documentary by Maria A. Rodriquez includes interviews with more than twenty professional
communicators and influencers, providing a glimpse into the future of communications and
the “social economy.” Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiYdBLB90IM.
No Logo: Brands, Globalization and Resistance (2003, 40 minutes). Adapted from Naomi
Klein’s book of the same name, the video uses hundreds of media examples to show how the
commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of
real jobs with temporary work— the dynamics of corporate globalization—impact everyone,
everywhere. Distributed by the Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089;
http://www.mediaed.org.
The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need (2004, 33 minutes). In this
powerful video, Juliet Schor scrutinizes what she calls “the new consumerism,” a national
phenomenon of upscale spending that is shaped and reinforced by a commercially driven
media system. Distributed by the Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089;
http://www.mediaed.org.
The Persuaders (2004, 90 minutes). An analysis of marketing and advertising methods. Includes
interview with Frank Luntz, who almost single-handedly shifted American public opinion on
key issues. A Frontline presentation, this DVD is available from PBS:
http://www.shoppbs.org.
Sell and Spin: A History of Advertising (1999, 100 minutes). Explores the techniques that have
pushed everything from patent medicines to Volkswagens; revisits the slogans, jingles, and
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catch lines that have become part of our culture; and presents comments from some of the
biggest names in the business. Available on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/95813029.
WEB SITES
Ad Council: http://www.adcouncil.org
Adbusters: http://www.adbusters.org
Ads of the World: http://adsoftheworld.com
Advertising & Marketing International Network: https://www.aminworldwide.com
Advertising Age: http://www.adage.com
Advertising Educational Foundation: http://www.aef.com
The Advertising Research Foundation: http://thearf.org
Adweek: http://www.adweek.com
American Advertising Federation: http://www.aaf.org
American Association of Advertising Agencies: http://www.aaaa.org
Association of National Advertisers: http://www.ana.net
B&T: http://www.bandt.com.au
BrandChannel.com: http://www.brandchannel.com
Clio Awards: http://clios.com/awards
Communication Arts: http://www.commarts.com
Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org
Gender Ads Project: http://www.genderads.com
Interactive Advertising Bureau: https://www.iab.com
Naomi Klein’s No Logo: http://www.naomiklein.org/no-logo
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National Association for Media Literacy Education — political advertising resources:
https://namle.net/2016–presidential–election
Outdoor Advertising Association of America: http://www.oaaa.org
Phillip Morris Document Site (tobacco settlement documents): http://www.pmdocs.com
Radio Advertising Bureau: http://www.rab.com
VALS Survey: http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/presurvey.shtml
Video Advertising Bureau: http://www.thevab.com
FURTHER READING
Auletta, Ken. Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else). New
York: Penguin Press, 2018.
Elliott, Stuart. “The Spot on the Cutting Room Floor.” New York Times, February 7, 1997, C1,
C2.
Goodrum, Charles A., and Helen Dalrymple. Advertising in America: The First Two Hundred
Years. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990.
Jacobs, A. J., and Ken Tucker. “The Pauses That Refreshed.” Entertainment Weekly, March 28,
1997, 20–39.
Jacobson, Michael F., and Laurie Ann Mazur. Marketing Madness: A Survival Guide for a
Consumer Society. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995.
Klein, Naomi. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York: Picador, 1999.
Linn, Susan. Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood. New York: New Press, 2004.
Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920–1940.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
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Marquette, Arthur F. Brands, Trademarks, and Good Will: The Story of the Quaker Oats
Company. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.
Packard, Vance. The Hidden Persuaders. New York: Basic, 1957, 1978.
Rideout, Vicky. The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens. San Francisco:
Common Sense Media Research, 2015. Available at
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense–census–media-use-by–
tweens–and–teens.
Rothenberg, Randall. Where the Suckers Moon: An Advertising Story. New York: Knopf, 1994.
Schor, Juliet B. Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. New
York: Scribner, 2004.
Stoklossa, Uwe. Advertising: New Techniques for Visual Seduction. London: Thames, 2007.
Sullivan, Luke. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (An Adweek Book).
New York: Wiley, 1998.
Twitchell, James. Adcult USA: The Triumph of Advertising in American Culture. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1996.
Young, Miles. Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age. London: Goodman Books, A Division
of the Carlton Publishing Group, 2017.