Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American Character and Society

by Arthur Asa Berger

Overview

The sixth edition of this approachable text draws on both academic and applied perspectives to offer a lively critique of contemporary advertising’s effects on American character and culture.

Berger explains how advertising works by employing a psycho-cultural approach, encouraging readers to think about advertisements and commercials in more analytical and profound ways. The sixth edition features updated statistics, two new chapters, and new discussions of the role of brands, social media, non-binary perspectives on gender, advertising and the 2020 election, the problem of self-alienation, and how all these elements relate to consumption. Berger also considers the Values and Lifestyle (VALS) and Claritas typologies in marketing. Distinctive chapters examine the “1984” Macintosh commercial, a Fidji perfume advertisement, and a moisturizer advertisement from semiotic, psychoanalytic, sociological, Marxist, mythic, and feminist perspectives.

Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture provides an accessible overview of advertising in the United States, spanning issues as diverse as sexuality, politics, market research, consumer culture, and more, and helps readers understand the role that advertising has played, and continues to play, in all our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538137826
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/12/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Arthur Asa Berger is professor emeritus of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University.

Table of Contents

1 Advertising in American Society

2 Consumer Cultures

3 Advertising and the Communication Process

4 Running It Up a Flagpole to See If Anyone Salutes

5 Sexuality and Gender in Advertising

6 Political Advertising

7 The Marketing Society

8 Social Media

9 Analyzing Print Advertisements or: Six Ways of Looking at a Fidji Perfume Advertisement

10 Analyzing Television Commercials

11 Discourse Analysis 

12 Where Next?

What People are Saying About This

Jonathan Schroeder

Succeeds in introducing a way to study advertising in an interesting, lively, and thought-provoking package. An excellent, accessible textbook for students who are interested in advertising, as well as students in communication, business, and sociology.... I would feel comfortable using this text in courses with freshmen through seniors. (Jonathan Schroeder, University of Rhode Island)

Fred Goldberg

It was pure pleasure reading Arthur Asa Berger's esoteric deconstruction of the Macintosh '1984' commercial. I was part of this commercial's development and had no idea we were making semiotic history. Only a person of Berger's intellect and insight could have figured it all out as he has. (Fred Goldberg, Chairman & CEO, Goldberg Moser O'Neill)

Douglas Kellner

Arthur Asa Berger's Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture provides a multifaceted study of advertising that demonstrates its importance for the economy, politics, social life, and individual identities. Skillfully employing cultural, communications, and social theory, Berger brilliantly illuminates the multiple functions of advertising in today's consumer culture. (Douglas Kellner, UCLA, author of Media Culture)

Howard Rheingold

Arthur Asa Berger is that rare combination of astute, deep, and fun. His insights into the psychology, sociology, economics, and political implications of advertising and pop culture, in a lively, readable form, are a must for any student of popular culture. (Howard Rheingold, author of The Virtual Community)

Carol Wilder

In Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, Arthur Asa Berger strikes the raw nerve of American advertising. As in his many other cultural commentaries, Berger drives his point home with wit, wisdom, and wide-ranging examples, offering powerful inoculation against the worst excesses of today's climate of greed and commodification. (Carol Wilder, Associate Dean, The New School)

Editorial Reviews

Berger has produced a fantastic fifth edition of his Ads, Fads and Consumer Culture. The new edition includes excellent, current examples that will be welcomed by students and professors alike.

Dirk vom Lehn

Berger addresses the issue of culture in an easy-to-present way and the in-depth analysis of a print ad. My students really like this book, too!

Mark Stuhlfaut

Easy for students to read. Fun, interesting, and accessible. I love this book.

Kathy Petitte Jamison

This book is well-written, down-to-earth, accessible, and rich in useful information.

Contemporary Sociology

Berger's book is a well-written, concise introduction to advertising communication.

Discourse & Society

Arthur Asa Berger’s Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture provides a multifaceted study of advertising that demonstrates its importance for the economy, politics, social life, and individual identities. Skillfully employing cultural, communications, and social theory, Berger brilliantly illuminates the multiple functions of advertising in today’s consumer culture.

Douglas Kellner

Deceptively simple, and powerfully argued, Berger's little training manual describes the rationale, techniques, and application of cultural criticism of advertising and represents another assault on the limited-effects school that has so dominated—and some would argue stymied—American mass communication theory and study.

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Arthur Asa Berger is that rare combination of astute, deep, and fun. His insights into the psychology, sociology, economics, and political implications of advertising and pop culture, in a lively, readable form, are a must for any student of popular culture.

Howard Rheingold

In Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, Arthur Asa Berger strikes the raw nerve of American advertising. As in his many other cultural commentaries, Berger drives his point home with wit, wisdom, and wide-ranging examples, offering powerful inoculation against the worst excesses of today’s climate of greed and commodification.

Carol Wilder

Succeeds in introducing a way to study advertising in an interesting, lively, and thought-provoking package. An excellent, accessible textbook for students who are interested in advertising, as well as students in communication, business, and sociology. . . . I would feel comfortable using this text in courses with freshmen through seniors.

Jonathan Schroeder

It was pure pleasure reading Arthur Asa Berger’s esoteric deconstruction of the Macintosh ‘1984’ commercial. I was part of this commercial’s development and had no idea we were making semiotic history. Only a person of Berger’s intellect and insight could have figured it all out as he has.

Fred Goldberg

Pick up the new paperback edition.... It's a good, informative book about sex and advertising and other cool subjects, including new material on product placement.

Advertising Age

Berger offers an intriguing analysis of advertising and its place in society. This book is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about advertising. Undergraduate students would find the book an easy-to-use reference, while graduate students might use it best as a starting point for more in-depth research. Scholars, too, may find value in the text for the research questions posed throughout. Overall, the book is an informative, enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

CHOICE

Berger offers an intriguing analysis of advertising and its place in society. This book is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about advertising. Undergraduate students would find the book an easy-to-use reference, while graduate students might use it best as a starting point for more in-depth research. Scholars, too, may find value in the text for the research questions posed throughout. Overall, the book is an informative, enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

Choice