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Advertising and Promotional Culture
- Explain why advertising is more than just actual advertisements and has broadened to include the term promotional culture.
- How are advertising and promotion ideologically charged?
- Do you agree with Dallas Smythe’s use of the term “audience commodity” in the context of traditional mass media? Do you think this term illustrates how current advertising works on digital platforms?
- Can you think of some recent Canadian ad campaigns that influence or shape our cultural ideas and values?
- Think of a product that illustrates Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism, and explain how the advertising and promotion of that product fetishizes it beyond its mere use value.
- Explain how the concept of branding relates to advertising and promotional culture. What are some of the brands that you find particularly appealing, and why?
- How have niche audiences and market segmentation impacted advertising and promotional culture in the age of digital media?
- Are you personally concerned with the amount of consumer data that online advertisers have access to? Do you do anything to reduce the amount of data that is collected about your consumer behavior?
- Define the terms product placement, product integration, native advertising, and branded or sponsored content.
- Do you think advertising has become less creative and more commodity focused? Are there any examples of contemporary advertising and promotional culture that you believe are particularly innovative or creative?
- Celebrities and “influencers” have had a role in advertising and promotional culture for a very long time. How has this role become more significant through social and digital media?
- What are the environmental implications for how today’s advertising and promotional culture influences our consumption?