REFLECTIONS OF CONSUMPTION CULTURE IN ADVERTISEMENTS: A READING ON ELIDOR ADVERTISEMENTS IN TURKEY

Abstract

Consumer culture is generally a reflection of mass culture and popular culture. In this sense, it also includes social changes and transformations. Assuming that consumption is not only limited to 'real needs' but also an act that an individual performs to define himself socially and culturally, it is explained what consumer society means today. Attention is drawn to how individuals in consumer society construct and define themselves through symbolic consumption. In this sense, advertisements in the media are discussed as a tool of consumption culture. The symbols and meanings transmitted through cultural products in the media are analyzed through advertisements. Because advertisements undertake the task of transferring meanings and symbols from the cultural environment to products. In this direction, two commercials of the Elidor brand broadcast in Turkey constitute the sample of the study. The texts of these two commercials are analyzed with the critical discourse analysis method. In the analyzed commercials, it is observed that the brand not only tries to attract the attention of consumers but also tries to gain their trust and respect. As a result of the findings, it is revealed that the advertisements are structured within the framework of 'femvertising' with a representation outside the gender stereotypes of consumer culture. It is seen that while advertising texts seem to reject old ideals, they construct new ideals.