Sociology 2172A/B Lecture 4: Advertising and Culture
22 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Advertising and Culture
●Littering campaign in Toronto in 2014
○Series of ads
○Received positive praise
○“Littering says a lot about you.”
■“Dip-stick”
■“P-ig”
■“Dum-b”
■“Low-life”
■“Sel-fish”
○Campaign didn’t last long because it was removed almost immediately
■They didn’t get consent from the companies packaging they used
■Didn’t get consent to use trademarks
■They showed a product and gave negative comments about it
■Surprising that the agency didn’t know you would need to get that permission
Definitions
●Society
○Large social grouping
○Same geographic territory
○Same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
●Culture
○A body of learned behaviours common to a given human society into which people are socialized
○Nature vs. nurture
■Nature: you’re hungry in the morning
■Nurture: what you eat for breakfast
○Behaviours:
■Language
■Communication
■Courtesies
■Rituals
■Roles
■Customs
■Relationships
■Practices
■Expected behaviours
■Values
■Thoughts
■Manners of interacting
○Cultural imperative: a requirement in a given culture
■Ex. Biers Diamonds made diamonds a cultural imperative, a necessity, with “diamonds are forever”
■Push presents: when you have a baby the husband gives the wife a gift
Globalization of Popular Culture
●Emergence of globalization
○Before 80s: Prior to globalization we had the Cold War period - polarization
■Solid boundaries around countries
■Trade limited
Document Summary
Campaign didn"t last long because it was removed almost immediately. They didn"t get consent from the companies packaging they used. They showed a product and gave negative comments about it. Surprising that the agency didn"t know you would need to get that permission. A body of learned behaviours common to a given human society into which people are socialized. Cultural imperative: a requirement in a given culture. Biers diamonds made diamonds a cultural imperative, a necessity, with diamonds are forever . Push presents: when you have a baby the husband gives the wife a gift. Before 80s: prior to globalization we had the cold war period - polarization. We didn"t travel like we do today. Argued that we have a homogenization of popular culture. Argued that we have an americanization of popular culture. Ex. when mcdonald"s opened in korea, or in russia, it was a big deal.
