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76 Throughout the world Indigenous populations have had to reckon with the forces of “progress” and “national” unification. The results have been both destructive and inventive . Many traditions, languages, cosmologies, and values are lost, some literally murdered; but much has simultaneously been invented and revived in complex, oppositional contexts. . . . Something more ambiguous and historically complex has occurred, requiring that we perceive both the end of certain orders of diversity and the creation or translation of others. —James Clifford, The Predicament of Culture Advertising is a pervasive discourse that has been recognized as permeating every aspect of symbolic expression.1 By progressing the political and economic interests of business and of governments, advertising has also psychologically, sociologically , and culturally impacted people en masse.2 Advertising’s significant impact on Indigenous communities has come about due to the privilege it has been afforded because of its perceived “development” potential that, in turn, has led to the destruction and reinvention of cultures and identities. Marketing communication relies heavily on visual representation to produce meaning . Representation is used to create an image of the product or service by linking brands to an identity of their own.These representations often replace an actual experience , that is, representations can entice people into believing they have knowledge of something that they have no experience of, which, in turn, influences future experience . The “distorted mirror”3 refers to the professional selection of behaviors and values that supposedly reflect culture, yet in truth may not reflect reality at all and are selected precisely to achieve the best results for business. This can be seen in the overuse of stereotyped symbolism. Stereotypes occur in advertising because they enable understanding, that is, they simplify and decrease the amount of information transmitted to the consumer in order for them to understand the message. The inadvertent effects of the use of social stereotypes is the reinforcing of preconceived ideas, dehumanization of interpersonal relationships, encouragement of simplistic social analyses , and the propagation of ageism, sexism, and/or racism.4 5. Consume or Be Consumed Targeting Maori Consumers in Print Media S U Z A N N E D U N C A N C O N S U M E O R B E C O N S U M E D 77 As a postcolonial example, from the early 1900s to the 1930s, cigarette manufacturers in New Zealand targeted Maori smokers through campaigns that associated their product with Maori culture.5 “Loyal’s Burley Blend Roll Your Own Smoking Tobacco,” for example, “was packaged in a red, black and white tin, which featured the image of a tekoteko [carved figurehead] beside a cigarette.”6 The colors and imagery are closely associated with Maori art and carving, and served to target smoking to Maori consumers . Likewise, the “Maori Brand of Impregnated Safety Matches” targeted their audience via Maori imagery that included the head of a Maori male with a full-facial moko (tattoo).7 Such cultural appropriation resembles what NgahuiaTe Awekotuku argues is a“deliberate,and . . . promiscuousplunderingofMaorimotifs—design,forms,myths.”8 Over a century later, the advertisement (Figure 5.1) reflects a promotion by Auahi Kore (i.e.,“smoke-free”), a program developed by the New Zealand Health Sponsorship Council predominantly aimed at Maori.9 Similar to the cigarette manufacturers cited earlier, Auahi Kore uses Maori imagery and language to target a Maori audience with their message. The figures depicted are distinctly and highly recognizable contemporary Maori symbols, such as the tiki (stylized figure) and kowhaiwhai (scroll ornamentation) patterns.10 The main text’s English translation reads: “Strengthening the family, strengthening the clan, strengthening the people in a Smokefree world.” The text at the bottom translates as: “A strong bloodline is a Smokefree one.” Significantly, the advert through both imagery and text appeals to the notion of whakapapa (genealogy ), which is central to Maori epistemic beliefs and embodied in the contemporary expression, “I belong, therefore I am.”11 The advert’s reference to whakapapa thus signi fies a genealogical moral obligation and responsibility for Maori smokers to quit. The smoking-related examples above speak to what James Clifford refers to as the “destructive and inventive” results of colonization. Sardonically, in this case, the initial use of Maori cultural motifs to sell cigarettes to Maori has in part led to the destructive acculturation of smoking into postcolonial Maori communities and subsequent health issues. However, in contemporary society, reinvented Maori motifs are now being creatively used to produce a...

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