A 3 page proposal to investigate whether broadcast advertising's use of cultural image is positive or negative, whether it expands knowledge of cultures or merely furthers common stereotypes. The expectation is that advertisements with limited points of reference to a specific culture will carry an overall negative message. We believe that there must be many references to culture for those references to become positive, and that limited references only serve to further stereotypes. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: CC6_KSmktgResPropCurr.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
insurance company is filming a broadcast advertisement, proclaiming that the companys website is so easy to use, "even a cave man could do it." A cave man, of course,
is on the set and storms off, highly offended. The spot airs, and three cave men see it on television also to be offended by it. In highly
modern surroundings, one is playing classical music at the piano, another is involved with his laptop computer as the third watches television and calls the others attention to the offensive
commercial. The musician waves it off, but another states, "That is so condescending." This advertisement seeks humor but also calls attention to
the stereotypes that simple advertising can and does promote. The purpose here is to propose a study of current commercials featuring stereotypes of Indian culture, for the purpose of
determining the effect that such advertising has in promoting cultural stereotypes. Literature and Theory Review Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and "one
of the main proponents of reception theory" (Reception theory, 2005). Reception theory is a version of reader response literary theory addressing readers interpretation and acceptance of literary texts.
The broader version promoted by Hall is that a "text" of any kind - "be it a book, movie, or other creative work - is not simply passively accepted by
the audience, but that the reader / viewer interpretes the meanings of the text based on their individual cultural background and life experiences" (Reception theory, 2005).
Thus what the viewer perceives when viewing an advertisement may be very different from what the producers of the piece intended. Within the framework provided by