Faces in Popular Advertising: Aspirational Consumption in Peru
The aim of this article is to analyze the representation and use of faces in popular advertising in Lima (Peru). While previous literature has examined how aspirationality is constructed in major brand advertising campaigns, it has left a gap in the study of popular consumption and vernacular advert...
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Published: |
2025
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.ort.edu.uy/inmediaciones-de-la-comunicacion/article/view/4097 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11968/7691 |
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| Summary: | The aim of this article is to analyze the representation and use of faces in popular advertising in Lima (Peru). While previous literature has examined how aspirationality is constructed in major brand advertising campaigns, it has left a gap in the study of popular consumption and vernacular advertising. To address this, a qualitative approach was employed, analyzing 143 faces in 73 images collected from Lima’s Gamarra commercial emporium. The analysis identified four types of faces: concentrated, which look straight ahead with rigidity; conformist, which also look straight ahead but in a relaxed manner; maintained, which avert their gaze with a relaxed attitude; and effortful, which avert their gaze with rigidity. These facial representations construct consumer narratives and show how aspirationality, associated with Caucasian faces, permeates the visual strategies of popular commerce. Whiteness is linked to immediate consumption and ostentation, while mestizo (“cholo”) faces are more often oriented toward attracting purchases, frequently in a sexualized manner. The scarcity of Afro-descendant faces and the limited presence of everyday life discourses in the analyzed advertising suggest that popular consumption prioritizes direct sales and heightened provocation toward the act of purchase, leaving asiderepresentations of rest, social interaction, or reflection. |
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