Advertising Empire Assignment

An analysis of this assignment formed the second portion of my presentation on Webquests presented at at UW-Madison's Active Teaching Lab.

Click to watch Webquests presentation    |   Click to watch subsequent Q&A

 
 

Assignment Introduction

Advertising forms an important link between ourselves and the culture in which we live.  In many ways, advertising helps to mold our cultural identity.  For example, advertisements and commercials impact our perception of what is important (PETA, World Wildlife Federation, public service announcements), what is stylish (Cover Girl, Cosmopolitan), what tastes or smells good (Doritos, “Got Milk?,” Irish Springs), what the ideal body looks like (Victoria’s Secret, Sports Illustrated), or our perception of status (Mercedes, Nike Air Jordan’s). 

The marketing of consumer culture through advertising was not an invention of Madison Avenue "Mad Men" in the 1950’s and 60’s.  It’s precedents go back generations.  Indeed advertisements were an important method of colonial propaganda.  Companies and businesses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century frequently utilized colonial motifs in their marketing campaigns to sell their goods.  Like their counterparts in the marketing world of today, these advertisements served to not only reinforce people’s preconceptions, but also influence and direct them.  Thus advertisements for soap, cocoa, or oil could all be utilized to perpetuate stereotypes that placed Europeans in a position of privilege, power, and authority over non-Europeans. Thereby making colonialism appear natural – a rational outcome given European “superiority.”

 

Examples of material found by students.

Instructions

Group Portion

For the group project for week seven (March 2 – 6), you are to work with your group to seek and find the best example of colonial propaganda embedded within an advertisement from between 1870 – 1938.  Then in an answer of no less than two paragraphs explain why yours is the best example of an advertisement that utilizes colonial propaganda. Your paragraphs along with an embedded copy of the advertisement should be posted, per the norm, by noon on Tuesday, March 3. You may want to use outside sources to bolster your claims (remember to site them!)

Limitations: Your advertising example must be from sources outside of the United States, and must have been published between 1870 and 1938.  Your example can “advertise” any product, idea, or goal.  Therefore, government posters encouraging men to enlist in the army to fight in the Boer War or WWI are permissible.

GROUP BONUS: I will look through each post and embedded advertisement on Wednesday morning and select the best advertisement (taking into account the group’s argument for why theirs is the best example of colonial ideology embedded in marketing material).  The best example will then be discussed in-class on Friday, March 6.  As a reward, the winning group will receive between a 10-15 point bonus on their final Quiz Grade.  This will effectively turn a “0%” on a weekly quiz into a grade between “100% and 150%.” (The better the winning team’s answer, the more points the reward will be)

Individual Portion

After you have submitted your group answer, look through the other posts and provide a 2-3 sentence (minimum) argument for which group’s advertisement you think is best.  If you think your group had the best example of an advertisement utilizing colonialism to promote a good or cause, I might suggest providing counter claims to the arguments of other groups.  These “counter arguments” must be made utilizing facts and not rest solely upon opinions.

 

Research Assistance

There are numerous examples of colonialism in advertising from between 1870-1938. Here are some sources and ideas to help you get started. You may choose to ignore all of the following advice!

Questions you might want to explore in your paragraph

  • What is the advertisement selling?
  • What message is the advertisement trying to make? How is it trying to sell its product?
  • Why is the advertisement using imperial motifs to sell the item? What does the company hope to get by using “empire” as an advertising theme?
  • Is there any real connection between the item being sold and imperialism?

Online Advertising Archives

 

Tips for Research on Google

  • Try a Google search of “empire and advertising”
  • Tips for when you’re doing a Google search
    • Search by image – not just a generic “web” search
    • You may want to search by “date range”
      • You can do this by just adding dates to your search parameters
  • If you find the “perfect” picture, but it’s too small to use
    • Try clicking and holding picture
    • Then dragging it into the “search by image” box that will pop up

 

Common items and companies that utilized imperialism within their marketing (1880s – 1930s)

Try a Google search for these companies. If you fail to find relevant advertisements try the following in a Google search “company name advertisement” or“company name advertisement date range”  EX: “Imperial Airways advertisement 1930”

Travel

  • Imperial Airways

Oil Companies

  • Shell Oil

Soap

  • Pears’ Soap
  • Vinolia Soap
  • Gold Dust Soap
  • Plantol Soap
  • Swan Soap
  • Sunlight Soap

Cocoa/Chocolate

  • Baron Liebig’s Cocoa
  • Cadbury’s Cocoa
  • Fry’s Cocoa

Tea

  • United Kingdom Tea Company
  • Lipton’s Tea

Tobacco

  • Empire Tobacco
  • Gold Flake Tobacco
  • Adkin’s Rhodesian Tobacco
  • Digger Tobacco
  • Craven Mixture Tobacco