Marxist/Leftist Analysis of Modern Advertisement

[¿Que?]

Just wondering if there are any good Marxist/leftist analysis on modern advertisement. The history of adverts is interesting, but I'm specifically concerned with modern stuff, basically from the 90's on.

I have a feeling something is going on there, but I'm not sure what. I also think that things have changed in advertisement since the 90's, sort of how things changed in the 50's and 60's when advertisers stopped describing the product and started trying to manipulate the sentiment of the viewer/reader.

Anything is appreciated, whether it be books, articles, documentaries, or your own commentary.

Thanks,

El B

[Os Cangaceiros]

Naomi Klein has done work on this, I believe.

She's not a Marxist, but...yeah.

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

Sut Jhally (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sut_Jhally) is a Marxist professor of Communications.


In his essay "Advertising at the Edge of the Apocalypse" and his video "Advertising and the End of the World" he argues that the major cultural force today, pervasive advertising, by constantly reinforcing a bogus association between consumerism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism) and happiness and by focusing on individual immediate needs, stands in the way of a discussion of societal and long-term needs and leads to a squandering of resources.

[berlitz23]

I have a myriad of works I would suggest:

Adorno's-Cultural Industry
Marcuse's-One Dimensional Man
Beller-The Cinematic Mode of Production
Debord-The Society of The Spectacle
Baudrillard- Simulacra and Simulation
McLuhan-Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

[¿Que?]

Thanks guys. This will probably keep me busy for a while. I'm particularly interested in the Sut Jhally stuff. I did a search and checked out some of his videos. Pretty much hit it on the nose there since it deals specifically with advertisements.

[praxis1966]

It's not a Marxist or leftist analysis really, but the PBS show Frontline did an episode called Merchants of Cool which basically dissects MTV and how the entire network is an advertisement, including the actual programming. Even though it's not leftist, I find it compelling since it demonstrates how marketing is so completely embedded in programming directed at young people (and I'm not just talking about obvious product placement). This is especially interesting when one considers the amount of money teenagers spend on crap; I once heard a statistic that said teens spend more money than any other age group in shopping malls.

Relevant links can be found here (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/), including one to watch the program for free on the website.

[x359594]

The 4 part documentary Century of the Self dissects the public relations industry as well as providing a history of it. The film makers were able to interview Edward Bernays then in his 90s, the creator of PR. He actually invented the term "because it sounded better than propaganda."

[KurtFF8]

enyG430I2nk

Has some good examples of leftist analysis of advertising.

Such as what it means to promote things like decaffeinated coffee.