COMS204-18S1 (C) Semester One 2018

Advertising and Cultural Consumption

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 19 February 2018
End Date: Sunday, 24 June 2018
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 2 March 2018
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 18 May 2018

Description

Advertising has become a central component of our contemporary cultural environment that finances all of the communication industries. However, the effects of advertising may lie far outside only the funding of media systems. This course explores the increasingly strained relationship between advertising, consumerism, identity, the environment and citizenship. We'll take a critical approach to the most ubiquitous form of media messaging that exists: the advertisement.

Advertising has become a central component of our contemporary cultural environment. Indeed, in the subsidized media system we have created, advertising finances all of the communication industries – principally newspapers, magazines, radio, television and increasingly the Internet. However, the effects of advertising may lie far outside only the funding of media systems. Globally, the advertising industry spends over $600 BILLION dollars per year on media messages. The result is that the average American, directly in the epicentre of this commercial messaging, is exposed to more than 5,000 brand exposures a day, with approximately 10 hours every day of media use.

What does this kind of exposure mean for them and for the rest of the world that appears to be increasingly open to this level of commercial exposure? What are the effects that advertising messages have on us as consumers and as members of society? How does advertising represent ‘us’ and consequently, how does this representation make us feel about ourselves? What are the broader ideological implications of conceptualising ourselves as consumers rather than citizens?

In this course, we will explore these questions and the many debates surrounding modern advertising. We will take a critical approach to the most ubiquitous form of media messaging that exists: the advertisement.

This course explores key debates surrounding advertising and our present consumer culture.
More specifically it aims to:
• Provide an overview of the contemporary advertising industry, looking at how it is organized and how it is changing
• Consider the role of advertising in organising the symbolic environment
• Examine the visual and textual approaches advertisers use to influence our consumption
• Explore the debates surrounding the impact of advertising on patterns of consumption
• Examine issues arising from the growth of transnational advertising
• Explore the debates surrounding the impact of advertising on children, the environment and other media systems
• Present attempts to circumvent commercial power by those outside of mainstream culture.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course you should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge and skills:

  • Understand the development and structure of the contemporary
    advertising system
  • Identify the range of techniques and strategies adopted by advertisers
  • Understand the symbolic meanings embedded in visual and textual messages
  • Explain the impact of commercial messaging on the environment
  • Know the difference between a product and a brand
  • Explain the impact of commercial messaging on children
  • Discuss the relationship between advertising and other media industries
  • Contemplate attempts to circumvent commercial power in society
  • Understand some of the meanings implicit in the politics of consumption
  • Produce arguments over advertising proliferation and the effects on local cultures
  • Apply critical analysis to advertising content
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

      Employable, innovative and enterprising

      Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

      Globally aware

      Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.

Prerequisites

15 points at the 100 level in COMS. Students without this prerequisite, but with at least a B average in 60 points of relevant courses, may enter the course with the approval of the Head of Department or the Undergraduate Coordinator for COMS.

Course Coordinator

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences Head of Department

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Online quizzes 10% Ten short quizzes on Learn.
Library exercise 02 Mar 2018 5% Submit on Learn.
Campaign Pitch Presentation 25% Presentations on 26 and 28 March in class.
Essay 16 May 2018 30% Word limit: 2000, excluding references
Final test 30 May 2018 30% Test will be held on the last day of class.

Textbooks / Resources

All readings are available on the Learn page for this course. You should have completed the readings before coming to class and be prepared to discuss what you’ve read.

There is no other official textbook for this course.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $746.00

International fee $3,038.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .

All COMS204 Occurrences

  • COMS204-18S1 (C) Semester One 2018