1. Advertising in American society
Advertising as a puzzlement
Defining advertising
Advertising agencies
A psycho-cultural perspective on advertising
Running it up a flagpole to see if anyone salutes
Commercials as mini-dramas and works of art
Teleculture
The Super Bowl
Conclusion
2. Consumer cultures
A cultural critique of advertising
Consumer cultures defined
Taste cultures and advertising
The postmodern perspective
Consumer culture and privatism
Neiman Marcus and "couthification"
Needs are finite, desires are infinite
Mimetic desire
Are there four consumer cultures, not just one?
Classified advertising
3. Advertising and the communication process
The Lasswell formula
Focal points and the study of media
The Lasswell formula and focal points
A problem with the Lasswell formula
Metaphor and metonymy
4. Running it up a flagpole to see if anyone salutes
Lisa's morning : a fiction
Lisa Greatgal's and John Q. Public's daily media diet
Television viewing and exposure to commercials
Our all-consuming passion for consuming
The price we pay for "free" television
The illusion of control
Being a "branded individual"
Selling oneself
The problem of self-alienation
We can choose as we please, but can we please as we please?
The agony of choice
Non-advertising forms of advertising


5. Sexuality and advertising
Sex in advertising
Sexploitation and anxiety
The peach that became a prune : a cautionary fable
The pseudo-poetic appeal to the illiterate
Sex sells cigarettes
The case of Joe Camel
Sex and the problem of clutter
6. Political advertising
Kinds of political advertisements
The 1998 California primary : a "virtual" campaign for governor
Questions raised by the "virtual" campaign
The 2002 California campaign for governor
The code of the commercial (and other political advertising)
The emotional basis of partisan politics
The death of the tobacco bill
7. The marketing society
Statistics on advertising
More comments on the illusion of freedom
The marketing view
The VALS 1 typology
Using the VALS 1 typology : a case study
VALS 2 : a revision of the VALS 1 typology
Zip codes and kinds of consumers
The Claritas typology
Magazine choice as an indicator of consumer taste
Types of teenage consumers
Blogs and marketing
A typology for everyone in the world
A comparison of the different typologies
A conclusion in the form of a question


8. Analyzing print advertisements, or : Six ways of looking at a Fidji perfume advertisement
Lotman's contributions to understanding texts
What's there to analyze in an advertisement?
Analyzing the Fidji ad
A semiotic interpretation of the Fidji advertisement
A psychoanalytic interpretation of the Fidji advertisement
A sociological interpretation of the Fidji advertisement
A Marxist interpretation of the Fidji advertisement
The myth model and the Fidji advertisement
A feminist interpretation of the Fidji advertisement
9. Analyzing television commercials
The Macintosh "1984" commercial
A synopsis of the text
The background
George Orwell's 1984 and Ridley Scott's "1984"
The image of the total institution
The prisoners' boots
The blond as symbol
The brainwashing scenario
The big brother figure
The brainwasher's message
The big explosion
The inmates' response
The Macintosh announcement
The heroine as mythic figure
Psychoanalytic aspects of the commercial
The blond as mediator
Alienated proles
The big blue
A clever marketing strategy
The "1984" commercial and a bit of scholarly research
10. Where next?
Drug advertising
Children and advertising
Battling for people's attention
Appendix. Useful Web sites
Glossary.