Decoding Ad Culture: Television Commercials and Broadcast Regulations in Bangladesh critically examines the pervasive influence of Western multinational companies in South Asia, focusing on Bangladesh. Harisur Rahman argues that these corporations exploit cultural differences to execute deceptive advertising in developing countries, a practice curtailed in more regulated developed nations. This book reveals a symbiotic relationship between local and multinational companies, media production houses, and television channels, which, Rahman posits, facilitates this exploitation. Adopting a qualitative methodology, this study delves into social backgrounds, cultural capital, and consumption habits in Bangladesh and utilizes multimodal critical discourse analysis and rhetorical analysis to evaluate television commercials (TVCs). These analyses reveal the propagation of racism, sexism, classism, and patriarchal values through this form, along with a disregard for ethical standards and social responsibilities. Highlighting the disillusionment among Bangladeshi audiences towards advertisers' unmet promises, Rahman contrasts TVC regulations in developing and developed countries. The book concludes with policy recommendations to foster ethical advertising practices against mindless propaganda in Bangladesh, underscoring the need for equity, equality, and inclusivity in advertising standards.

`This book represents a significant intervention and, as such, should be used on numerous cultural studies courses. In its intellectual honesty and clarity Tudor's book will stand as an authoritative basis for further developments in the coming years' - David Chaney Decoding Culture offers a concise and accessible account of the development of cultural studies from the late 1950s to the 1990s. Focusing on the significant theoretical and methodological assumptions that have informed the cultural studies project - the text: covers the key thinkers and key perspectives including, structuralism and post-structuralism, Screen theory, the Birmingham School, and audience analysis; offers a timely corrective t

The author of Consuming Passions and Deadline at Dawn presents a classic text--used worldwide--revealing how advertisements sell us ourselves. Includes over 180 illustrations.

Marcel Danesi is an entertaining and insightful tour guide to decoding the messages woven into the advertisements, commercials, brand names, and logos we see on a daily basis. Guiding readers through the basics of how to interpret ads, Danesi explores everything from product and package design to jingles, cyberadvertising, ad campaigns, global impacts, culture jamming, and advertising effects. Why It Sells will fascinate and inform all readers interested in how ads, marketing, and branding take hold in the consumer psyche.

“This is the most culturally sophisticated history of the Internet yet written. We can’t make sense of what the Internet means in our lives without reading Schulte’s elegant account of what the Internet has meant at various points in the past 30 years.”—Siva Vaidhyanathan, Chair of the Department of Media Studies at The University of Virginia In the 1980s and 1990s, the internet became a major player in the global economy and a revolutionary component of everyday life for much of the United States and the world. It offered users new ways to relate to one another, to share their lives, and to spend their time—shopping, working, learning, and even taking political or social action. Policymakers and news media attempted—and often struggled—to make sense of the emergence and expansion of this new technology. They imagined the internet in conflicting terms: as a toy for teenagers, a national security threat, a new democratic frontier, an information superhighway, a virtual reality, and a framework for promoting globalization and revolution. Schulte maintains that contested concepts had material consequences and helped shape not just our sense of the internet, but the development of the technology itself. Cached focuses on how people imagine and relate to technology, delving into the political and cultural debates that produced the internet as a core technology able to revise economics, politics, and culture, as well as to alter lived experience. Schulte illustrates the conflicting and indirect ways in which culture and policy combined to produce this transformative technology. Stephanie Ricker Schulte is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Arkansas. In the Critical Cultural Communication series

Embrace the culture and get the most out of your time in China. Going to China for the first time can be an intimidating experience, even for those who have studied the language. In fact, traveling to China for the second, third, or fourth time can also be a challenging experience, especially if you intend to be fully immersed in daily life, get off the beaten path, and experience the "real" China. This China etiquette and culture guide is about how to get things done in China. Decoding China gives you down-to-earth information on how to deal with everyday situations--like eating at a restaurant or shopping at an outdoor market--that present unique and unexpected challenges for foreign visitors. Why being polite when you board a bus is a big mistake Finding a toilet (and what to bring along!) How to bargain for anything in a Chinese market Which train ticket to buy--hard seat? Soft seat? How the Chinese view privacy, and why it may make you seem suspicious Working in a Chinese office, and the politics of lunch As the Academic Director at the Chinese Flagship Center of Brigham Young University, Dr. Matthew B. Christensen has seen countless foreigners arrive in China…and fail to accomplish simple tasks like ordering food, boarding a bus, or making friends with a Chinese colleague. Why? Because they didn't understand China's basic cultural codes. This travel book will help you crack these codes. And with it, you'll soon be able to navigate your way in any situation.