Mediated animal geographies: symbolism, manipulation and the imaginary in advertising

TL;DR: The authors examined the representations of animals in advertisements on prime-time television in New Zealand as a route to explore the manner in which non-human animals are incorporated into our daily lives, highlighting the critical nature of decentring the human from the privileged position within both nature and society.

Abstract: This paper examines the representations of animals in advertisements on prime-time television in New Zealand as a route to explore the manner in which nonhuman animals are incorporated into our daily lives. The discussion is based on close reading of advertisements that draws attention to the everyday manipulation and representation of nonhuman subjects. In focusing on the seemingly banal medium of advertisements, we interrogate the subtle and less than subtle transformations of animal subjectivity and the manner in which these articulate broader discourses around gender and nature in relation to human and nonhuman agents. In this way, we highlight the critical nature of decentring the human from the privileged position within both nature and society. We argue then that gender, anthropomorphism and the placement of animals in everyday media such as television advertisements play an important role in constituting the meaning and limits of how we relate to nonhuman life. In this regard, the arguments have s...