Alex O'Hagan, L. (2020) Pure in body, pure in mind? A sociohistorical perspective on the marketisation of pure foods in great Britain. Discourse, Context & Media, 34. 100325. ISSN 2211-6958
Abstract
This paper explores the marketisation of ‘pure’ from the late nineteenth century to modern-day using examples of food packaging and advertising. Adopting a sociohistorical approach to the theoretical perspective of social semiotics, it draws attention to the arbitrariness of the term and demonstrates how, over time, advertisers have constructed a particular discourse that equates the purity of a food product with a physical, mental or spiritual type of purity. In doing so, they invest food with a moral authority and legitimacy that leads consumers to understand commodities through marketing discourses and buy into the lifestyle and cultural value that the product promises, although it may not be true. In emphasising how purity has historically been used as a rhetorical device to sell products, the study hopes to encourage consumers to challenge food advertising and be aware of the myths that it can create in order to become empowered and make informed choices about supposedly healthy products.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Discourse, Context and Media. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Pure food; Advertising; Marketisation; Religion; Gender; Class |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 08 Jan 2021 16:46 |
Last Modified: | 08 Jan 2021 16:46 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.dcm.2019.100325 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:169725 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0