The Social Impact of Advertising: Confessions of an (Ex-)Advertising Man

Challenging readers to reflect on the social impact of advertising from multiple angles, Anthony Kelso critically examines how the advertising industry functions as a meaning-making institution reinforcing certain ways of life in contemporary society. The Social Impact of Advertising surveys, chapter by chapter, some of the most critical points of view toward the industry advanced by media scholars to provide an engaging introduction to and finely honed critique of advertising. Among the issues Kelso covers: the history of modern advertising in the United States
advertising's influence on the so-called non-advertising content of the media
the ideological themes advertising inadvertently delivers
how advertising can privilege or marginalize various social constructions of identity
the controversial practice of targeting children
and how huge corporations often use advertising to superficially present a positive face while masking their profoundly darker sides (pollution, displaced communities, outsourced and underpaid labor, and so forth.)