Key Concepts in Advertising: Discourse

Key Concepts in Advertising articles provide short lectures on an important concept to help understand advertising's place in society, culture, history, and the economy. This article focuses on the concept of discourse, which can be defined as a culturally and socially sanctioned way of communicating about a topic. A series of short videos provide background information about the idea of discourse, define discourse, and encourage viewers to apply the concept in their own creation and analysis of advertisements. In the end, viewers learn that discourse reveals how to unpack advertisements' explicit and implicit messages as well as how advertising might be a force of restraint and conformity as well as a site of resistance and change. A recommended reading list provides other sources to learn more about the concept and its associated topics.