PLEASURE, IDEOLOGY AND POSTMODERNISM IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING

Abstract

The power of advertisement lies in its promises of pleasure. Advertisements also create pleasure through the use of visuals, sound and subliminal messages. Pleasure therefore, is among the means of production of consent to the ideas perpetuated in the advertisements. The concern of the local government is that advertising, seen to be dominated by western ideas will lead to normalisation of these ideas and values at the expense of local, traditional values. The theme of the thesis examines the issue of advertising as a channel for cultural imperialism by the West. The theoretical framework on which thesis uses is Gramsci's theory of popular culture and ideology. The critical method of semiotics is used to uncover ideological assumptions within advertisements. research material. Coca-Cola advertisements form the The analysis of Coca-Cola advertisements shows them to be characterised by plurality and diversity. This is also what Stuart Hall (1991) terms as: "The world of the global post-modern". That is, certain forms of modern advertisements, are still grounded on highly westernised imagery. However, side by side with them are also Asian representations (this is seen especially in the localised advertisements of Coca-Cola) . From the semiotic analysis of Coca-Cola advertisements, it can be concluded that the primary motive of its advertisements is to sell. This motive leads it to engage with the social norms and values of the targeted audiences. As such, the concern of advertisements as channels of "cultural imperialism" is not valid. Gramsci's theory of hegemony is therefore useful in understanding the operation of capitalist ideology. It explains how capitalist ideology incorporates differences in order to sustain its system.