SOCIAL CRITICISM OF ADVERTISING - ON THE ROLE OF LITERARY-THEORY AND THE USE OF DATA

This paper discusses the use of literary theory for the social critici sm of advertising. In particular, it examines what types of claims can be made simply by analyzing an ad itself and what types of social cri ticism require extrinsic data about hour other readers understand the ad or the historical context of its creation. The author advocates a ' 'doubly integrated'' approach to social criticism that combines litera ry analysis with use of extrinsic empirical data and also integrates t he system by which ads are produced with the way they are comprehended . This approach provides a holistic view of the advertising process an d a strong basis for critique. Discussion of a demonstration study sho ws how qualitative data collected from readers can be used to compleme nt traditional literary interpretations of advertisements.