Newly updated for the digital era, this classic textbook provides a comprehensive historical study of advertising and its function within contemporary society by tracing advertising's influence throughout different media and cultural periods, from early magazines through to social media. With several new chapters on the rise of the Internet, mobile, and social media, this fourth edition offers new insights into the role of Google, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube as both media and advertising companies, as well as examining the role of brand culture in the 21st century.

About the Author
William Leiss is Professor Emeritus at Queen's University (Ontario) and research associate, McLaughlin Centre, University of Ottawa, Canada. Stephen Kline is Professor Emeritus in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Sut Jhally is Professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts and founder and Executive Director of the Media Education Foundation. Jacqueline Botterill is an Associate Professor in Communication at Brock University where she teaches and researches in the areas of promotional and consumer culture. Kyle Asquith is an Assistant Professor in the department of Communication, Media and Film at the University of Windsor, Canada.

Reviews

"Social Communication in Advertising has been THE central text in advertising studies for decades. This exciting updated edition applies its critical sensibilities and insights to new trends in advertising and promotion." -Matthew McAllister, Pennsylvania State University

"A welcome, skillful update of what continues to be the best textbook about advertising in society. Revisions throughout this new edition reflect the most up-to-date scholarship. Two new chapters provide important, innovative ways of making sense of the digital-advertising revolution currently underway." -James F. Hamilton, University of Georgia

"Social Communication in Advertising skillfully balances an appreciation of the history of advertising, with fresh new chapters that analyze the changing boundaries of advertising in the digital marketplace. The book is rich with examples, references key critical debates in the field and is a pleasure to read." -Natalie Coulter, York University

"Updated to the digital expectations of the current era but steeped in the historical legacies of media and persuasion that got us here, this 4th edition of Social Communication in Advertising is an essential text for students and scholars to understand the contours of our thoroughly promotional culture.

Rather than resting on easy distinctions between economic and cultural requirements, or functional and critical perspectives, Social Communication in Advertising shows us the complex institutional, professional and political dynamics of advertising throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries. Theoretically rich and conceptually sophisticated, the book is anchored by relevant and accessible examples, showing us how the "magic system" we call advertising has allowed us to create meanings about who we are and how we live.

More than a business or a profession, and more than its media or its messages, advertising has been part of the fabric of everyday life for over a century. Leiss and his co-authors demonstrate how advertising has informed social values and lifestyles, national identities and global markets, political activism and data protection. Remarkably wide ranging and yet deftly organized, this engaging and exciting new edition is highly recommended for undergraduate and graduate students to gain a "big-picture" perspective on advertising." -Melissa Aronczyk, Rutgers University

Book Information
ISBN 9781138094567
Author William Leiss
Format Paperback
Page Count 432
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 840g