Viewing Advertising through the Lens of Faith: Finding God in Images of Mammon
Issue: Vol 9 No. 1 (2006) Vol 9, No 1 (2006)
Journal: Implicit Religion
Subject Areas: Religious Studies
Abstract:
Various scholars have noted connections between traditional Protestantism and advertising in the United States. Not only did the two institutions inform one another as modern advertising emerged and matured, but, arguably, the two systems also exhibit parallel rhetorical formats and functions today. In this qualitative study, it is suggested that a shift in emphasis, from advertising’s relationship to explicit religion to its interaction with implicit religiosity, could provide fresh insights. This framework was explored through focus group interviews, participant journal entries, and one-on-one, in-depth interviews some of the participants can, on occasion, touch the spiritual realm through transactions with advertising. Indeed, it is contended that, although they belong to formal religious organizations, these respondents can also engage in practices associated with implicit religion. At the same time, the interviewees also indicated they have little awareness of how advertising perpetuates the economic both explicit and implicit religious experiences and support their market-driven case that advertising can sometimes function as a vehicle for helping to reconcile this apparent conflict.
Author: Tony Kelso