Imperial persuaders: Images of Africa and Asia in British advertising (Studies in Imperialism, 46)

The first book to provide an historical survey of images of black people in advertising during the colonial period. Analyses the various conflicting, and changing ideologies of colonialism and racism in British advertising. Reveals the historical and production context of many well known advertising icons, as well as the specific commercial interests that various companies' images projected. Provides a chronological understanding of changing colonial ideologies in relation to advertising, while each chapter explores images produced to sell specific products, such as soap, cocoa, tea and tobacco. Front matter 1 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of illustrations 10 General editor's introduction 14 Acknowledgements 16 Advertising and colonial discourse 18 Soap advertising, the trader as civiliser and the scramble for Africa 41 Cocoa advertising, the ideology of indirect rule and the promotion of the peasant producer 80 Tea advertising and its ideological support for vertical control over production 110 The Empire Marketing Board, tobacco advertising and the imaging of the white male imperial archetype 148 Corporate advertising, decolonisation and the transition to neo-colonialism 190 Conclusion 231 Select bibliography 240 Index 248 This text traces the historically changing image of non-white people in British advertising during the colonial period. It reveals the historical and production context of many advertising icons and also develops a detailed textual analysis of the images