Constructing problems by promoting solutions: Corporate advertisements about U.S. poverty

Document Type

Article

Abstract

During the 1980s and 1990s corporations publicized their "social responsibilities" in popular print media. These ads make claims about issues such as the environment, consumer protection, neighborhood revitalization, education, arts and entertainment, and health. We examine a set of these ads and analyze the ways in which they construct social problems. We focus on ads about poverty, assessing the meaning and impact of business discourse about poor people and economic inequality. In showing that ads typically construct poverty by promoting quick-fix solutions for particular individuals, we argue that corporations play a unique role in obfuscating the structural causes of poverty and in shaping our understanding of the problem more broadly. As a new channel for claims making, such corporate ads complement and contradict the messages of other media, uniquely establishing corporate authority and influencing public discourse. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Publication Title

Journal of Poverty

Publication Date

2010

Volume

14

Issue

3

First Page

347

Last Page

367

ISSN

1087-5549

DOI

10.1080/10875549.2010.494960

Keywords

advertising, corporations, poverty, social problems, social responsibility

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