Brand Activism

Advertising and the Ethics of Visibility
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-0-367-61661-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 126 Seiten, Format (B × H): 141 mm x 219 mm, Gewicht: 250 g

Reihe: Routledge Critical Advertising Studies

This book critically examines how brands determine the visibility of social issues through their advertising practices, informing the ways we are persuaded to feel, think, and act as consumers and citizens.

Through a critical analysis of brand responses to ongoing geopolitical events, such as the Ukrainian conflict and the war in Gaza, Scalvini demonstrates how commercial objectives drive ethical stances, leading to the prioritization of certain profit-driven narratives and the exclusion of more politicized ones. Drawing on in-depth interviews with post-Millennial consumers across North America, Europe, and Asia, Brand Activism critiques brands’ reluctance to engage with politically sensitive topics, particularly those affecting the Global South, arguing that this avoidance distorts the representation of moral responsibility in advertising. This book examines how ‘ordinary’ consumers—those not strongly aligned with activist consumption—negotiate the idea that they should take moral responsibility for their spending choices. However, it also discusses the rise of a new generation of consumer activists who reject superficial brand gestures and demand accountability for global justice. Case studies from brands such as Nike, Patagonia, Gillette, Dove, and Ben & Jerry’s are explored in detail to unpack the symbolic, rhetorical, and discursive strategies by which present brand activist campaigns are being hollowed out and re-articulated into a moral discourse.

This is valuable and insightful reading for advanced students and researchers in Media and Communication, Sociology, Marketing, and Business disciplines.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Scalvini, Marco

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Media, Marketing, and Morality: The Ethics of Brand Activism in Public Discourse

Chapter 2: The Taxonomy of the Activist Brand: Visionary, Sensitive, and Reflexive Brands

Chapter 3: Digital Dilemmas: Brand Activism in the Age of Algorithmic Influence

Chapter 4: Aligning Corporate Morality: The Challenges of Brand Activism and Consumer Trust

Chapter 5: The Ethical Responsibility of Visibility

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Marco Scalvini is a Senior Lecturer in the Communications and Media Programme at the London College of Communication at the University of the Arts London, UK.