The racialized celebrity other in perfume advertisements

Despite significant scholarship on the semiotics and ideology of perfume advertising, its racialized nature is underexamined. This is surprising given perfume-ad characteristics that incentivize racialized representations, especially ads using celebrities, and racist constructions of smell and scent. Using critical advertising studies, sensory studies, and bell hooks' concept of the racialized Other, this article argues that perfume ads are markedly racialized. The racial semiotics of 10 print ads - five with BIPOC celebrities and five with White - are critiqued, with BIPOC celebrities essentialized as inherently exotic, wild, and primitively sexual, while White celebrities symbolize elegance, classic beauty, and uniqueness.

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Communication, Culture & Critique following peer review. The version of record [The racialized celebrity other in perfume advertisements. Communication, Culture & Critique 16, 3 p141-157 (2023)] is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcad002.

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Work Title The racialized celebrity other in perfume advertisements
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Matthew P. McAllister
  2. Yasemin Beykont
  3. Sydney L. Forde
Keyword
  1. Advertising
  2. Perfume
  3. Celebrity
  4. Race
  5. Whiteness
  6. Scent
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Communication, Culture and Critique
Publication Date February 9, 2023
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcad002
Deposited January 23, 2024

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Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Racialized-Celebrity-Other-Perfume-CCC-FINALUPDATE-Jan2023-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Matthew P. McAllister
  • Added Creator Yasemin Beykont
  • Added Creator Sydney L. Forde
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Advertising, Perfume, Celebrity, Race, Whiteness, Scent
    Publication Date
    • 2023-09-01
    • 2023-02-09
  • Added McAllisterBeykontFordeFigures.pdf
  • Updated