"What if technology worked in harmony with nature?" Imagining climate change through Prius advertisements," Organization
Authors:聽Garland, Jennifer; Huising, Ruthanne;聽Struben, Jeroen
Publication: Organization, 2013
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In this article we examine the marketing representations of the Toyota Prius, the first 鈥榞reen鈥� massproduced聽automobile. Drawing on an interpretive analysis of Prius print advertisements in Canadian聽publications between 2006鈥�2011 and a matched sample of other automobile advertisements, we聽observe how the Prius advertisements invoke imagination and how this process is channelled, via聽the integration of text and images offered in the advertising space, to particular themes and ideas.聽Through the use of an ambiguous system of signs, audiences are invited to imagine and thereby聽co-create the significance of hybrid electric vehicles. Three areas of imagining are emphasized by聽the advertisement structure鈥攏ature, harmony and agency鈥攁nd we analyze these imaginings as聽potential moments of knowledge creation about climate change. We examine how the activity of聽imagining in relation to these three areas influences viewers鈥� knowledge and perception of climate聽change as well as their sense of responsibility for anthropogenic climate change. We discuss the聽consequences of using ambiguous messages to promote socially and politically charged products聽for consumers鈥� understanding and imagination.
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