Encoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising Production

In this article I argue for the expansion of cultural studies to include sustained research into the subjective aspects of commercial cultural production. In particular, I focus on an analysis of creative workers in advertising and design, presenting historical notes, theoretical elaboration, and empirical evidence to explore the social stratum Bourdieu (1984) identified as the "new cultural intermediaries" (p. 366). It is argued that the first-and often the only-audience ad creatives and designers have in mind is themselves; furthermore, this work is in itself a form of cultural sustenance. An underlying commitment here is that cultural studies should expand beyond its investigations of consumption, the text, and reception. A schematic model is proposed that takes an existing conception of the project of cultural studies and adapts it to the findings presented herein.