How is morality understood in the marketplace? Why do brands speak out about certain issues of injustice and not others? And what is influencer culture’s role in social and political activism? Big Brands Are Watching You investigates corporate culture, from the branding of companies and nations to television portrayals of big business and the workplace. Francesca Sobande analyzes media, interviews, survey responses, and ephemera from the history of advertising as well as exhibitions in London, brand stores in Amsterdam, a music festival in Las Vegas, and archives in Washington, DC, to illuminate the world of branding.
Francesca Sobande is Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Studies at Cardiff University, author of The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain and Consuming Crisis: Commodifying Care and COVID-19, and coauthor of Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland.
"Corporations no longer simply aspire to rule the world. At the confluence of global crises and digitally enabled calls for accountability, today's businesses must market themselves as morally just, if not social-justicely driven. Drawing from a remarkable array of literatures, archives, exhibitions, and perspectives, Francesca Sobande brilliantly captures the shifting stakes surrounding what contemporary corporations stand for and how they strive to enact it and represent it."—Anthony Kwame Harrison, Edward S. Diggs Professor in Humanities, Virginia Tech
"Sobande offers an insightful exploration into the relationship among consumer culture, social justice, and digital culture. This book is a must-read for scholars, practitioners, and anyone interested in understanding the interrelated state of branding practices and current political actions. Delving into the mechanisms of 'how brands watch people and how people watch brands' is eye-opening for marketing professionals as well as for conscientious consumers."—Dina Rasolofoarison, Associate Professor of Marketing and Communication, Université Paris Dauphine-PSL
252 pp.5.5 x 8.25Illus: 10 b/w illustrations
9780520387072$29.95|£25.00Paper
Jan 2024