ABSTRACT
Medicine is becoming a fragmented cultural phenomenon, no longer controlled by sacralized physicians who dictate the meanings of health and sickness. The social sciences have come to influence people's sense of wellness—both the private behaviors sufficient to its achievement and the public conditions necessary for its maintenance. As a result, Hermes (the god of science and commerce) is replacing Hippocrates as the dominant public health metaphor and advertising—the literature of consumption—is beginning to reflect this postmodern transformation in how the human body is construed and its well-being is negotiated. Using public health ads from around the world, this chapter illustrates several markers of postmodernism to highlight how the public discourse over wellness is changing and to demonstrate that contemporary advertising is accommodating this revised health dialogue. Apart from portraying public health campaigns in practice, these examples suggest some strategic guidelines for social marketing programs under the nascent postmodern condition.
