The influence of culture on advertisement

by

Franziska Pfund

FINAL VERSION
MARCH 28TH 2002

Academic Writing Skills

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction p 2

2. Types of Advertising p 2

3. Culture
3.1. Definition of Culture p 4
3.2. Influences of Culture on Advertising p 4
3.3. Success of Coca-Cola p 5

4. Conclusion p 6

5. Appendix
5.1. References p 7
5.2. Gunning Fog Index p 7

1. INTRODUCTION

The relevance of this topic is shown by the following true story of the Gerber Company:

Gerber once decided to sell their brand of baby food in a West African country. They exported the product and ran the same copy that had been selling jars for them by the billion since 1926. They put the famous label on the jar, with the baby wearing a big smile which, over the years, had helped them become a household name back home.

Reports soon came back from the distributor, announcing zero sales. Later, reports came back on the national news, telling or rioting in the streets, and casualties. Worried company chiefs watching television back home in the Unites States thought they glimpsed people burning copies of their poster in the background.

Much later, it transpired that in many African countries, there was a very real but hitherto undocumented assumption that what you see on the label is what′s in the jar. This came over to consumers as a coarse hint that the little boy, far from endorsing the product, was the product: people thought they were being expected to feed their black babies with white baby. Sensibilities were naturally offended by this immodest proposal, and outrage soon gave way to violence. (Anholt, 2000:51)

This story shows that culture has an enormous impact on advertisements. The fact that makes it more important than it has never been before, is globalization. As more and more companies are taking the decision to market their products abroad, they are facing cultural and linguistic dilemmas which international advertising invariably raises.
This report aims to give an insight into this complex subject.

2. TYPES OF ADVERTISING

Before discussing the core problem one should become aware of in which ′advertising world′ we are living. The categories of advertisements that are distinguishable will briefly be explained first.

There are uncountable different types of media used for advertising as presently nearly every possibility is used for advertising and advertisers are becoming more and more creative in finding advertising platforms. But there are five main types, which will briefly be explained because each type has its own unique characteristics.

Print
Print is the original medium for modern advertising; it has always been the largest recipient of advertising funds, even if the impact of television has reduced this dominance. In South Africa the prospect of increasing literacy bodes well for the printed media. Print Media includes newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers as well as all kinds of advertising, e.g. via fax or even on statements of accounts!

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