Class shaming in post-recession U.S. advertising

Class is an issue rarely foregrounded in advertising criticism, although the emphasis on consumption and commodity-defined images of the good life frequently makes advertising a class-oriented discourse. The degree and manner that advertising contains overt symbols and discussions of class may be influenced by the particular era in which a campaign appears. This article argues that several "postrecession" U.S. campaigns including for Buick, Allstate, and DirecTV make class comparisons explicit, as seen in "class shaming" strategies such as a ridicule of service workers, presenting the wealthy as victimized by the working class, and "lower-classface" performances that contrast class-based lifestyles. In such ads, representations of the working class are equated with losers, incompetents, and non-brand users in the ads, while affluent users and opulent lifestyles are celebrated. Final reflections focus on the ideological implications of more obvious depictions of class in current and future advertising.

Matthew P. McAllister et al, Class Shaming in Post-Recession U.S. Advertising, Journal of Communication Inquiry (41, 2) pp. . Copyright © 2017. DOI: 10.1177/0196859917690534. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission.

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Work Title Class shaming in post-recession U.S. advertising
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Matthew P. McAllister
  2. Anna Aupperle
Keyword
  1. Advertising
  2. Class
  3. Consumption
  4. Representation
  5. Advertising criticism
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of Communication Inquiry
Publication Date January 29, 2017
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859917690534
Deposited January 22, 2024

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  • Added Creator Matthew P. McAllister
  • Added Creator Anna Aupperle
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    Keyword
    • Advertising, Class, Consumption, Representation, Advertising criticism
  • Updated