Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American Character and Society / Edition 5

by Arthur Asa Berger San Francisco State University

Overview

The fifth edition of this approachable text draws on both academic and applied perspectives to offer a lively critique of contemporary advertising’s effects on American character and culture.

Berger explains how advertising works by employing a psycho-cultural approach, encouraging readers to think about advertisements and commercials in more analytical and profound ways. Among the topics he addresses are the role of brands, the problem of self-alienation, and how both relate to consumption. Berger also considers the Values and Lifestyle (VALS) and Claritas typologies in marketing. Distinctive chapters examine specific advertisements and commercials from multiple perspectives, including semiotic, psychoanalytic, sociological, Marxist, mythic, and feminist analysis. Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture provides an accessible overview of advertising in the United States, spanning issues as diverse as sexuality, politics, market research, consumer culture, and more; helping readers understand the role that advertising has played, and continues to play, in all our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442241251
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/22/2015
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Arthur Asa Berger is professor emeritus of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Fred S. Goldberg Preface to the Fifth Edition Acknowledgments 1. Advertising in American Society Advertising as a Puzzlement Defining Advertising Advertising Agencies Max Weber on Religion and Consumer Cultures Advertising and Politics A Psycho-Cultural Perspective on Advertising Running It Up a Flagpole to See If Anyone Salutes Commercials as Mini-Dramas and Works of Art Teleculture and the Internet The Super Bowl The Global Nature of Advertising Agencies Conclusion 2. Consumer Cultures A Cultural Critique of Advertising Consumer Cultures Defined Taste Cultures and Advertising The Postmodern Perspective The Problem of Emotions Overcoming Rationality Consumer Culture and Privatism Neiman Marcus and “Couthification” Needs Are Finite, Desires Are Infinite Are There Four Consumer Cultures, Not Just One? National Character and Consumer Cultures 3. Advertising and the Communication Process The Lasswell Formula Focal Points and the Study of Media Roman Jakobson’s Model of the Communication Process Run It Up a Flagpole Metaphor and Metonymy Myth and Marketing Integrated Marketing Communication 4. Running It Up a Flagpole to See If Anyone Salutes Lisa’s Morning: A Fiction Lisa Greatgal’s and Johnny Q. Public’s Daily Media Diet Television Viewing and Exposure to Commercials A Note on “Hauls” The Price We Pay for “Free” Television The Illusion of Control Being a “Branded” Individual Selling Oneself Selling One’s Body for Brands The Problem of Self-Alienation We Can Choose as We Please, but Can We Please as We Please? The Agony of Choice Nonadvertising Forms of Advertising 5. Sexuality and Gender in Advertising Sex and Gender in Advertising Sex in Advertising Sexploitation and Anxiety The Peach That Became a Prune: A Cautionary Fable The Pseudopoetic Appeal to the Illiterati Sex Appeal and Gender Appeal Sex and the Problem of Clutter 6. Political Advertising The Cost of Presidential Campaigns The Cost of the 2012 Presidential Election Questions Raised by the Election Campaigns A Note on the California Campaign for Governor in 2010 The Code of the Commercial (and Other Political Advertising) The Emotional Basis of Partisan Politics 7. The Marketing Society Statistics on Advertising More Comments on the Illusion of Freedom The Marketing View The VALS 1 Typology Using the VALS 1 Typology: A Case Study VALS 2: A Revision of the VALS 1 Typology ZIP Codes and Kinds of Consumers The Claritas Typology Magazine Choice as an Indicator of Consumer Taste Types of Teenage Consumers Blogs and Marketing A Typology for Everyone in the World A Comparison of the Different Typologies A Conclusion to This Discussion in the Form of a Question 8. Analyzing Print Advertisements or: Six Ways of Looking at a Fidji Perfume Advertisement Lotman’s Contributions to Understanding Texts What’s There to Analyze in an Advertisement? Analyzing the Fidji Ad A Semiotic Interpretation of the Fidji Advertisement A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of the Fidji Advertisement A Sociological Interpretation of the Fidji Advertisement A Marxist Interpretation of the Fidji Advertisement The Myth Model and the Fidji Advertisement A Feminist Interpretation of the Fidji Advertisement Conclusion 9. Analyzing Television Commercials The Macintosh “1984” Commercial A Synopsis of the Text The Background Testing the “1984” Macintosh Commercial George Orwell’s 1984 and Ridley Scott’s “1984” The Image of the Total Institution The Prisoners’ Boots The Blond as a Symbol The Brainwashing Scenario The Big Brother Figure The Brainwasher’s Message The Big Explosion The Inmates’ Response The Macintosh Announcement The Heroine as Mythic Figure Psychoanalytic Aspects of the Commercial The Blond as Mediator Alienated Proles The Big Blue A Clever Marketing Strategy The “1984” Commercial and a Bit of Scholarly Research 10. Where Next? Drug Advertising Children and Advertising Battling for People’s Attention Smart Phones, Social Media, and Advertising Glossary Annotated Bibliography Bibliography Index About the Author

What People are Saying About This

Douglas Kellner

Arthur Asa Berger's Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture provides a multifaceted study of advertising that demonstrates its importance for the economy, politics, social life, and individual identities. Skillfully employing cultural, communications, and social theory, Berger brilliantly illuminates the multiple functions of advertising in today's consumer culture. (Douglas Kellner, UCLA, author of Media Culture)

Jonathan Schroeder

Succeeds in introducing a way to study advertising in an interesting, lively, and thought-provoking package. An excellent, accessible textbook for students who are interested in advertising, as well as students in communication, business, and sociology.... I would feel comfortable using this text in courses with freshmen through seniors. (Jonathan Schroeder, University of Rhode Island)

Fred Goldberg

It was pure pleasure reading Arthur Asa Berger's esoteric deconstruction of the Macintosh '1984' commercial. I was part of this commercial's development and had no idea we were making semiotic history. Only a person of Berger's intellect and insight could have figured it all out as he has. (Fred Goldberg, Chairman & CEO, Goldberg Moser O'Neill)

Howard Rheingold

Arthur Asa Berger is that rare combination of astute, deep, and fun. His insights into the psychology, sociology, economics, and political implications of advertising and pop culture, in a lively, readable form, are a must for any student of popular culture. (Howard Rheingold, author of The Virtual Community)

Carol Wilder

In Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, Arthur Asa Berger strikes the raw nerve of American advertising. As in his many other cultural commentaries, Berger drives his point home with wit, wisdom, and wide-ranging examples, offering powerful inoculation against the worst excesses of today's climate of greed and commodification. (Carol Wilder, Associate Dean, The New School)

Editorial Reviews

Berger has produced a fantastic fifth edition of his Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture. The new edition includes excellent, current examples that will be welcomed by students and professors alike.

Dirk vom Lehn

Berger hits on the topics I'm interested in bringing to the course. And it's easy for students to read; fun and interesting; accessible. I love this book.

Kathy Petitte Jamison

I especially like how Berger addresses the issue of culture in an easy-to-present way and the in-depth analysis of a print ad. My students really like this book, too!

Mark Stuhlfaut

Berger has produced a fantastic fifth edition of his Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture. The new edition includes excellent, current examples that will be welcomed by students and professors alike.

Berger hits on the topics I'm interested in bringing to the course. And it's easy for students to read; fun and interesting; accessible. I love this book.

I especially like how Berger addresses the issue of culture in an easy-to-present way and the in-depth analysis of a print ad. My students really like this book, too!

From the Publisher

Berger's book is a well-written, concise introduction to advertising communication.

Discourse & Society

Deceptively simple, and powerfully argued, Berger's little training manual describes the rationale, techniques, and application of cultural criticism of advertising and represents another assault on the limited-effects school that has so dominated—and some would argue stymied—American mass communication theory and study.

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Succeeds in introducing a way to study advertising in an interesting, lively, and thought-provoking package. An excellent, accessible textbook for students who are interested in advertising, as well as students in communication, business, and sociology. . . . I would feel comfortable using this text in courses with freshmen through seniors.

Jonathan Schroeder

In Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, Arthur Asa Berger strikes the raw nerve of American advertising. As in his many other cultural commentaries, Berger drives his point home with wit, wisdom, and wide-ranging examples, offering powerful inoculation against the worst excesses of today’s climate of greed and commodification.

Carol Wilder

It was pure pleasure reading Arthur Asa Berger’s esoteric deconstruction of the Macintosh ‘1984’ commercial. I was part of this commercial’s development and had no idea we were making semiotic history. Only a person of Berger’s intellect and insight could have figured it all out as he has.

Fred Goldberg

Arthur Asa Berger is that rare combination of astute, deep, and fun. His insights into the psychology, sociology, economics, and political implications of advertising and pop culture, in a lively, readable form, are a must for any student of popular culture.

Howard Rheingold

Arthur Asa Berger’s Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture provides a multifaceted study of advertising that demonstrates its importance for the economy, politics, social life, and individual identities. Skillfully employing cultural, communications, and social theory, Berger brilliantly illuminates the multiple functions of advertising in today’s consumer culture.

Douglas Kellner

Pick up the new paperback edition.... It's a good, informative book about sex and advertising and other cool subjects, including new material on product placement.

Advertising Age

This book is well-written, down-to-earth, accessible, and rich in useful information.

Contemporary Sociology

Berger offers an intriguing analysis of advertising and its place in society. This book is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about advertising. Undergraduate students would find the book an easy-to-use reference, while graduate students might use it best as a starting point for more in-depth research. Scholars, too, may find value in the text for the research questions posed throughout. Overall, the book is an informative, enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

Choice

Berger offers an intriguing analysis of advertising and its place in society. This book is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about advertising. Undergraduate students would find the book an easy-to-use reference, while graduate students might use it best as a starting point for more in-depth research. Scholars, too, may find value in the text for the research questions posed throughout. Overall, the book is an informative, enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

CHOICE