GLOCAL LIMITS OF POSTFEMINIST ADVERTISING: THE CASE OF ORKID'S LIKEAGIRL CAMPAIGN


Nas A.

THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL RESEARCH, cilt.9, sa.45, ss.833-842, 2016 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Postfeminism emerged as a critical interrogation of contemporary feminism, particularly drawing attention to the ways in which feminist motifs are incorporated in consumer ideologies through advertising and popular culture. This article aims to problematize the local articulations of postfeminist representation from the perspective of Turkey’s contemporary advertising landscape. A global brand of women’s hygiene products, Always launched its “#likeagirl” campaign in June 2014. As the Turkey branch of Always, Orkid adapted the campaign and broadcast an advertisement on TV in January 2015. On discursive level, both ads share in common postfeminist sensibility as they sound women’s certain problems by at the same time not providing a radical critique. However, feminists in Turkey observes that Orkid ad is less progressive than the original Always ad, which they celebrate for sounding women’s issues despite its postfeminist character. Analyzing two ads and their feminist articulations, this article problematizes the cultural limits of postfeminism in Turkey’s social landscape to point out the complexities of a glocal postfeminist experience.