Introduction

From Raymond Williams (1961) to Jean Baudrillard (1975; 1981; 1983), advertising has been conceptualized, defined and vilified by cultural critics from a range of social and political perspectives. As Leiss and colleagues (1990: 17) observe: ‘It is difficult to think of another contemporary social institution that has come under such sustained attack from so many different directions.’ A cursory view of the myriad ways in which advertising has been characterized highlights its shifting, enduring and inextricable position within contemporary existence (cf. Brierley, 1998; Cook, 1992; Ewen, 1976; Goldman, 1992; Jhally, 1990; Twitchell, 1996).