Advertising has played a central role in shaping the history of modern media. While often identified with American consumerism and the rise of the 'Information Society', motion picture advertising has been part of European visual culture since the late nineteenth century. With the global spread of ad agencies, moving image advertisements became a privileged cultural form to make people experience the qualities and uses of branded commodities, to articulate visions of a 'good life', and to incite social relationships. Abandoning a conventional delineation of fields by medium, country, or period, this book suggests a lateral view. It charts the audiovisual history of advertising by focussing on objects (products and services), screens (exhibition, programming, physical media), practices (production, marketing), and intermediaries (ad agencies). In this way, the book develops new historical, methodological, and theoretical perspectives.
Biografie (Yvonne Zimmermann)
Yvonne Zimmermann, geboren 1969, hat in Zürich studiert und 2005 in Filmwissenschaft promoviert. Sie arbeitete in verschiedenen Forschungsprojekten zum dokumentarischen Film in der Schweiz, war 2010/11 Gastprofessorin an der Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3 und ist derzeit Visiting Scholar an der New York University, wo sie zu Hans Richter und den Schnittstellen von Avantgarde und Auftragsfilm forscht. Zu ihren Publikationen zählen "Bergführer Lorenz: Karriere eines missglückten Films" und die dreiteilige DVD-Serie "Zeitreisen in die Vergangenheit der Schweiz: Auftragsfilme 1939-1959".