Routledge Critical Advertising Studies – serie

Branding Diversity considers how brands both reflect and affect contemporary discussions of cultural diversity. Advancing an innovative, critical perspective on advertising, the book challenges the latent assumption that advertisers are inherently conservative and reluctant to represent anything other than popularly agreeable scripts and narratives. On the contrary, advertising is now replete with progressive messaging. Through Budweiser, Gillette, Vogue and Patagonia, Susie Khamis demonstrates that such forays into the political realm are not just shrewd appraisals of popular causes, but also inevitable outcomes of contemporary media and politics. This book will be of interest to scholars in advertising studies, marketing communications and media studies.

Branded Entertainment in Korea examines the varied texts and wider context of branded entertainment and related advertising and marketing communications practices in Korea.The book discusses the origins, development, current state, ethics, and regulations of branded entertainment in Korea, considering the impact and implications for communication users and regulators as well as industry actors. Over 30 cases from 2013 to 2019 are offered to provide an up-to-date account of current developments, with a closer look at the ethical challenges and controversies surrounding branded entertainment. The book also provides a review of branded entertainment-related literature in order to help the readers to understand this growing marketing discipline. This is a valuable case study for scholars and students of critical advertising studies, as well as those interested in broader disciplines of communication and media studies.

Consumer Society and Ecological Crisis advances a critique of consumer capitalism and its role in driving environmental degradation and climate crisis, placing a spotlight on how marketing and distribution activities help maintain unsustainable levels of consumption.Rather than focusing on the most visible sites of promotional communication, Meier examines less conspicuous facets of marketing and logistics in distinct chapters on plastic packaging, e-commerce, and sustainability pledges in the fossil fuel sector. These three main chapters each explore links between ecological crisis and consumer capitalism, drawing on critical theory and Marxist thought. The topics of consumer convenience, speed, and economic growth – and the role of fossil fuels as guarantor of these logics of consumer society – unite the critical analysis.Situated in the field of media and communication studies and adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and students in the areas of media and communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, geography, philosophy, political science, and advertising.

This book critically examines how brands determine the visibility of social issues through their advertising practices, informing the ways we are persuaded to feel, think, and act as consumers and citizens.Through a critical analysis of brand responses to ongoing geopolitical events, such as the Ukrainian conflict and the war in Gaza, Scalvini demonstrates how commercial objectives drive ethical stances, leading to the prioritization of certain profit-driven narratives and the exclusion of more politicized ones. Drawing on in-depth interviews with post-Millennial consumers across North America, Europe, and Asia, Brand Activism critiques brands’ reluctance to engage with politically sensitive topics, particularly those affecting the Global South, arguing that this avoidance distorts the representation of moral responsibility in advertising. This book examines how ‘ordinary’ consumers—those not strongly aligned with activist consumption—negotiate the idea that they should take moral responsibility for their spending choices. However, it also discusses the rise of a new generation of consumer activists who reject superficial brand gestures and demand accountability for global justice. Case studies from brands such as Nike, Patagonia, Gillette, Dove, and Ben & Jerry’s are explored in detail to unpack the symbolic, rhetorical, and discursive strategies by which present brand activist campaigns are being hollowed out and re-articulated into a moral discourse.This is valuable and insightful reading for advanced students and researchers in Media and Communication, Sociology, Marketing, and Business disciplines.

This book critically examines how brands determine the visibility of social issues through their advertising practices, informing the ways we are persuaded to feel, think, and act as consumers and citizens.Through a critical analysis of brand responses to ongoing geopolitical events, such as the Ukrainian conflict and the war in Gaza, Scalvini demonstrates how commercial objectives drive ethical stances, leading to the prioritization of certain profit-driven narratives and the exclusion of more politicized ones. Drawing on in-depth interviews with post-Millennial consumers across North America, Europe, and Asia, Brand Activism critiques brands’ reluctance to engage with politically sensitive topics, particularly those affecting the Global South, arguing that this avoidance distorts the representation of moral responsibility in advertising. This book examines how ‘ordinary’ consumers—those not strongly aligned with activist consumption—negotiate the idea that they should take moral responsibility for their spending choices. However, it also discusses the rise of a new generation of consumer activists who reject superficial brand gestures and demand accountability for global justice. Case studies from brands such as Nike, Patagonia, Gillette, Dove, and Ben & Jerry’s are explored in detail to unpack the symbolic, rhetorical, and discursive strategies by which present brand activist campaigns are being hollowed out and re-articulated into a moral discourse.This is valuable and insightful reading for advanced students and researchers in Media and Communication, Sociology, Marketing, and Business disciplines.

Branded Entertainment in Korea examines the varied texts and wider context of branded entertainment and related advertising and marketing communications practices in Korea.The book discusses the origins, development, current state, ethics, and regulations of branded entertainment in Korea, considering the impact and implications for communication users and regulators as well as industry actors. Over 30 cases from 2013 to 2019 are offered to provide an up-to-date account of current developments, with a closer look at the ethical challenges and controversies surrounding branded entertainment. The book also provides a review of branded entertainment-related literature in order to help the readers to understand this growing marketing discipline. This is a valuable case study for scholars and students of critical advertising studies, as well as those interested in broader disciplines of communication and media studies.

The history of Italian cinema is mostly regarded as a history of Italian auteurs. This book takes a different standpoint, looking at Italian cinema from the perspective of an unusual, but influential actor: advertisers. From the iconic Vespa scooter and the many other Made in Italy products placed in domestic and international features, to Carosello’s early format of branded entertainment, up through the more recent brand integration cases in award-winning titles like The Great Beauty, the Italian film and advertising industries have frequently and significantly intersected, in ways that remain largely unexplored by academic research. This book contributes to fill this gap, by focusing on the economic and cultural influence that advertising and advertisers’ interests have been exerting on Italian film production between the post-war period and the 2010s. Increasingly market-oriented film policies, ongoing pressure from Hollywood competition, and the abnormal economic as well as political power held by Italian ad-funded broadcasters are among the key points addressed by the book. In addition to a macro-level political economic analysis, the book draws on exclusive interviews with film producers and promotional intermediaries to provide a meso level analysis of the practices and professional cultures of those working at the intersection of Italian film and advertising industries. Providing an in-depth yet clear and accessible overview of the political and economic dynamics driving the Italian media landscape towards unprecedented forms of marketisation, this is a valuable resource for academics and students in the fields of film and media studies, marketing, advertising, and Italian studies.

Using textual analysis, interviews with game designers, audience surveys, and close analysis of player forum discussion, this book examines the unique nature of the producer/consumer relationship within promotional Alternate Reality Games (ARGs). Historically, ARGs are rooted in advertising as much as they are in narrative storytelling. As designers often have to respond to player actions as the game progresses, players can have an impact on the storyline, on character behaviour, and potentially on the final resolution of the narrative. This book explores how both media consumers and producers are responding to this new reconfiguration of the producer/consumer/prosumer dynamic in order to better understand the diverse advertising experiences available to media audiences today.With a focus on participatory culture and the political economy of promotional communications, this in-depth analysis of ARGs will appeal to academics and researchers in the fields of games, film, advertising, and media and cultural studies.

Bringing together critical race, queer and decolonial analytical approaches, visual analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis, this book explores the discursive strategies deployed by African luxury brands in an age of cross-platform, intertextual branding.Building on literature examining the aesthetics and politics of African luxury, this book demonstrates how leading African luxury brands create visual material speaking to complex sensibilities of culture, nature, and future. Iqani shows how powerful brand narratives and strategies reveal ethical and ideological messages that function to re-position Africa in an increasingly congested global marketplace of ideas. In acknowledging that there is a strong political validity to recognizing the importance of African brands staking their claim in luxury, this book also problematizes the role these brands play in the promotion of luxury discourses, advancing the project of capitalism and their contribution to broader patterns of inequality.Shedding new light not only on luxury branding strategies but also on the idea of a luxurious global “Africanicity” and on the complex cultural politics of South Africa, African Luxury Branding will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in disciplines, including Critical Advertising Studies, African Studies, Media and Communications.

Bringing together critical race, queer and decolonial analytical approaches, visual analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis, this book explores the discursive strategies deployed by African luxury brands in an age of cross-platform, intertextual branding.Building on literature examining the aesthetics and politics of African luxury, this book demonstrates how leading African luxury brands create visual material speaking to complex sensibilities of culture, nature, and future. Iqani shows how powerful brand narratives and strategies reveal ethical and ideological messages that function to re-position Africa in an increasingly congested global marketplace of ideas. In acknowledging that there is a strong political validity to recognizing the importance of African brands staking their claim in luxury, this book also problematizes the role these brands play in the promotion of luxury discourses, advancing the project of capitalism and their contribution to broader patterns of inequality.Shedding new light not only on luxury branding strategies but also on the idea of a luxurious global “Africanicity” and on the complex cultural politics of South Africa, African Luxury Branding will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in disciplines, including Critical Advertising Studies, African Studies, Media and Communications.

The history of Italian cinema is mostly regarded as a history of Italian auteurs. This book takes a different standpoint, looking at Italian cinema from the perspective of an unusual, but influential actor: advertisers. From the iconic Vespa scooter and the many other Made in Italy products placed in domestic and international features, to Carosello’s early format of branded entertainment, up through the more recent brand integration cases in award-winning titles like The Great Beauty, the Italian film and advertising industries have frequently and significantly intersected, in ways that remain largely unexplored by academic research. This book contributes to fill this gap, by focusing on the economic and cultural influence that advertising and advertisers’ interests have been exerting on Italian film production between the post-war period and the 2010s. Increasingly market-oriented film policies, ongoing pressure from Hollywood competition, and the abnormal economic as well as political power held by Italian ad-funded broadcasters are among the key points addressed by the book. In addition to a macro-level political economic analysis, the book draws on exclusive interviews with film producers and promotional intermediaries to provide a meso level analysis of the practices and professional cultures of those working at the intersection of Italian film and advertising industries. Providing an in-depth yet clear and accessible overview of the political and economic dynamics driving the Italian media landscape towards unprecedented forms of marketisation, this is a valuable resource for academics and students in the fields of film and media studies, marketing, advertising, and Italian studies.

Using textual analysis, interviews with game designers, audience surveys, and close analysis of player forum discussion, this book examines the unique nature of the producer/consumer relationship within promotional Alternate Reality Games (ARGs). Historically, ARGs are rooted in advertising as much as they are in narrative storytelling. As designers often have to respond to player actions as the game progresses, players can have an impact on the storyline, on character behaviour, and potentially on the final resolution of the narrative. This book explores how both media consumers and producers are responding to this new reconfiguration of the producer/consumer/prosumer dynamic in order to better understand the diverse advertising experiences available to media audiences today.With a focus on participatory culture and the political economy of promotional communications, this in-depth analysis of ARGs will appeal to academics and researchers in the fields of games, film, advertising, and media and cultural studies.

Consumer Society and Ecological Crisis advances a critique of consumer capitalism and its role in driving environmental degradation and climate crisis, placing a spotlight on how marketing and distribution activities help maintain unsustainable levels of consumption.Rather than focusing on the most visible sites of promotional communication, Meier examines less conspicuous facets of marketing and logistics in distinct chapters on plastic packaging, e-commerce, and sustainability pledges in the fossil fuel sector. These three main chapters each explore links between ecological crisis and consumer capitalism, drawing on critical theory and Marxist thought. The topics of consumer convenience, speed, and economic growth – and the role of fossil fuels as guarantor of these logics of consumer society – unite the critical analysis.Situated in the field of media and communication studies and adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and students in the areas of media and communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, geography, philosophy, political science, and advertising.

Branding Diversity considers how brands both reflect and affect contemporary discussions of cultural diversity. Advancing an innovative, critical perspective on advertising, the book challenges the latent assumption that advertisers are inherently conservative and reluctant to represent anything other than popularly agreeable scripts and narratives. On the contrary, advertising is now replete with progressive messaging. Through Budweiser, Gillette, Vogue and Patagonia, Susie Khamis demonstrates that such forays into the political realm are not just shrewd appraisals of popular causes, but also inevitable outcomes of contemporary media and politics. This book will be of interest to scholars in advertising studies, marketing communications and media studies.

This book critically examines the intersection of influencer marketing, mental health promotion, and contemporary constructions of masculinity.Focusing on male influencers in the UK, this study considers how Instagram has created space for the public expression and destigmatisation of male vulnerability while simultaneously commodifying mental health discourse. It explores how male fashion and lifestyle influencers leverage their branded selves, including through commercial partnerships, to frame mental health within commercial and cultural contexts, blurring the boundaries between wellness, self-care, and consumerism. Drawing on qualitative case studies and thematic content analysis of social media outputs, the author interrogates the ethical and regulatory gaps surrounding influencer promotion of wellness goods and services, raising urgent questions about accountability, transparency, and the monetisation of emotional well-being in digital advertising culture. Finally, this book introduces the concept of “algorithmic depression” to describe how influencers’ narratives of mental health are not only shaped by personal and cultural forces but are also structured by platform algorithms that influence what forms of emotional expression are made visible, valued, and circulated.Researchers and advanced scholars across Communication, Advertising, Mental Health, and Gender Studies will find this a timely interdisciplinary intervention.