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This book explores twenty-first century environment-themed advertising with a global reach in relation to three key emerging persuasive themes: governance, morality and transnational rhetoric. Adopting a social semiotic approach, and exploring key examples including Greenpeace's "Everything is NOT Awesome" brandjacking advert, Volkswagen's "Think Blue" campaign and Unilever's "Why Bring a Child Into This World?" advert, Alexander puts forward a number of observations about the ideological character and function of environmental advertising as a new form of transnational persuasion.
List of contents
Introduction
Part I: Apocalypse Now 1. Selling a Berth on the Titanic: Copenhagen & Climate Change Ads
Part II: Image Wars: "the immortal part of myself" 2. How Ken (and Greenpeace) dumped Barbie and Ecofeminism 3. The Yes Men and the Oil Men 4. The Lorax Speaks for the SUVs
Part III: Persuasive Partnerships 4. Earth Hours and Days 6. Planet Celeb
Part IV: The "New Optimism" 7. "The Greenest Olympics Ever? 8. Vote Unilever - Project Sunlight/ Bright Future 9. Climate Change Advertising at COP21 10. Conclusion
Summary
Environmental Communication is a growing area of academic enquiry. But, whilst there are key texts on environmental communication and new texts on environment-themed media, there is, as yet, no book specifically devoted to "green" (environment themed) advertising.
Filling this lacuna, this book explores twenty-first century environment-themed advertising with a global reach in relation to three key emerging persuasive themes: governance, morality and transnational rhetoric. Such environment-themed advertising with transnational reach, addressed to transnational publics and produced by global actors (from NGOs to multinationals to the United Nations to celebrities), is now a significant form of environmental communication. This book considers that form and its meanings; the "environmental imaginary" it builds in the minds of its publics, its ideological and emotional landscapes, and its limitations. Adopting a social semiotic approach, and exploring key examples including Greenpeace’s "Everything is NOT Awesome" brandjacking advert, Volkswagen’s "Think Blue" campaign and Unilever’s "Why Bring a Child Into This World?" advert, Alexander puts forward a number of observations about the ideological character and function of environmental advertising as a new form of transnational persuasion.
The first book to explore the social and symbolic significance of "green" advertising as a transnational form of environmental communication, this book will be of great relevance to scholars and students with an interest in this growing field.
