From 'Mobile' to 'Really Mobile': Mobile phones in Scandinavian Advertisements from the 1980s

Abstract

Mobile phones represent a new era in telecommunications beginning in the 1980s with the development of first-generation mobile phone networks. This article addresses the early history of the mobile phone from a cultural and aesthetic perspective with focus on representations of mobile phones in advertising. The aim is to explore whether images of early mobile phones as trendy and stylish artefacts suggested by examples in a previous study by the author represent a more common aesthetic trend related to advertising and consumer culture in the 1980s. The study is based on a sample of Scandinavian advertisements from 1980 to 1989.

Keywords

• mobile phone history
• media culture
• representation
• advertising
• 1980s