Johnnie Walker's advertising and the construction of male identities in late modernity

Abstract

In this work, we analyzed six advertorials of Johnnie Walker’s company, that were published in four Brazilian magazines during the year 2009. The main objective is to explain the relation between advertising and journalistic practices and the building of masculinity in late modernity. We use as reference the theoretical approaches of Critical Genre Analysis (CGA), associated with Bakhtin’s theoretical framework. The Johnnie Walker selected individuals that are supposedly successful men, to associate an alleged positive image to the brand, reinforcing the usual representation of the beverage’s consumer and the social class to which he belongs. The story characteristically shows a representation of male success linked to a heroic profile and to several characteristics coming from the neoliberal discourse: the individual and his success as the central aspect, reverence for businesses activities, and appreciation of entrepreneurship.

Keywords

• jornalismo
• publicidade
• masculinidade