Mass Media and Society

Chapter 12: Advertisingand Public Relations

March 17, 2014

Chapter 12: Advertising and Public Relations

• History of advertising• Public Relations• Advertising and public

relations in the digital age

The shifting role of advertising/ branding

• Today, brands are publishers

• Chipotle: “Farmed and Dangerous”

• Vice: Branded content channels

Criticism ofbranding today

• Documentaries: “No Logo” (2003), “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” (2011)

• Backlash against corporations

Defining advertising

• Advertising is promoting a product or service through the use of paid announcements.

• Advertising rose in late 1800s, gained stature through 20th century.

Advertising in the 20th century

• World War I: advertising and propaganda boom

• Product endorsements from celebrities in 1920s

• Consumer movement makes false advertising an issue

TV and advertising

• 1950s: Corporations sponsor TV shows

• Eventually, TV networks produce shows funded by ads from multiple companies

• 1980s: MTV brings music video approach to ads

Backlash• Sweatshop protests: Nike• Anti-corporation protests

target Starbucks, other symbols of capitalism

• Truth in advertising• Advertising of unhealthy

products: fast food, tobacco, soda

Types of advertising• Direct mail• Billboards• Radio ads• Newspaper ads• TV commercials• Viral ads• Social media• Mobile phones

Types of advertising

• Long-form content (Chipotle, Red Bull, many others)

• Branded platforms (Vice)• Ads in video games• Product placement

(Reality TV, other outlets)

Regulation• FTC: Federal Trade

Commission founded in 1914; in 1938, granted expanded power to protect consumers from misleading advertising

• Important resource for consumer movement

Types of regulation• False advertising cease-

and-desist orders and forcing apology/acknowledgment

• Qualified experts• Celebrities use products• Disclosure of ingredients• Definition of terms• Children and privacy

Cultural influence• Role in lifestyle• Consumerism• Status quo• Defining product in terms

of new cultural trends (Apple “1984”)

• Stereotypes: women and minorities

• Positive effects

Public Relations: Four Models

• Traditional publicity model• Public information model• Persuasive

communication (2-way asymmetric)

• Two-way symmetric

Functions ofpublic relations

• Media relations• Internal communications• Business-to-business• Public affairs

PR campaigns

• Initial research phase• Strategy phase• Tactics phase• Evaluation phase

Shifting from advertising to PR

• Tobacco industry• Branding focuses on

overall image of company• Successes: Apple, Nike• Failures: BP