advertising

is able to tap into individuals' psychological depths and compel them to identify with what they consume.

the consumption of an ever-increasing volume and diversity of goods. In Judith Williamson's (1978) combination of a semiotic and a psychoanalytic approach, advertising is seen to tap into individuals' psychological depths and compel them to identify with what they consume. Within this framework, the representation of women in advertising is often seen as emblematic of more general processes of alienation and objectification (see Goldman 1992). 'False' images of women are thought to symbolise the manipulative ideology of capitalism.

 mystifies us, deprives us of knowledge and appropriates other real needs and desires to serve the interests of capitalism.

a highly powerful cultural form. For Williiamson, advertising mystifies us, deprives us of knowledge and appropriates other real needs and desires to serve the interests of capitalism. Following Williiamson, Goldman (1992: 8) argues that advertising is a force which erodes the fabric of social life and functions as 'a form of internal colonialism that mercilessly hunts out and appropriates those meaningful elements of our cultural lives that have value'. From this perspective, the close textual study of advertising images is thought to reveal 'the underlying social grammar of meaning in ads' which in turn illuminates the deeper ideological significance of advertising (ibid ) .

Judith WilliamsonThinkers

Judith Williamson