ABSTRACT
As stated in the Preface, unlike other media texts, advertisements offer rare opportunities for understanding important trends associated with corporate logic and consumer tastes on the one hand, and the cultural politics of representation on the other (Jackson and Andrews, 2001). Indeed, they have been described as “the most pervasive cultural artefact in post-modern society” (Kates, 1999: 28), thus being generally viewed as an integral part of social communication and existence. Similarly, Mistry (2000) considers the medium to have become the “central socialising agent for cultural values.” However, in their ongoing exploration for new niche and emergent markets, and how to effectively “reach” them, advertisers are currently considered to be in the midst of a crisis which has forced them into unchartered cultural waters (Goldman and Papson, 1996). Indeed, as the industry constantly strives to update itself, status within it depends “on the ability to set new “innovative trends,” and, generally speaking, by being as avant-garde as possible” (Mistry, 2000). In this respect, advertisers’ search for unique images and for strategies that construct valuable commodity signs for their products has brought them increasingly into conflict with the politics of identity and representation.
