Term of Award
Fall 2018
Degree Name
Master of Arts in History (M.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of History
Committee Chair
Craig Roell
Committee Member 1
Michael Van Wagenen
Committee Member 2
Brian Feltman
Abstract
The unique circumstances in the United States during the Second World War allowed for business to continue as usual on the home front. Advertisers, public relations experts, and big business all worked for the government to promote the war effort. For a period of time major companies in the United States were producing advertisements that persuaded citizens to support rationing, buy war bonds, hate the enemy, and keep their brand names in mind in the post-war years. Companies who supported the war effort had their brands connected with ideas of patriotism and enjoyed the success of brand loyal consumers in the economic post-war boom. The advertisers and public relations experts cemented a place for their professions in the United States by showing their effectiveness to sway the minds of the public to support the war effort. The advertisements produced during the Second World War acted as a form of wartime propaganda that convinced that sold nationalistic ideology and demonization of the enemy alongside a service of product. The advertising campaigns of the Second World War show a period of time where government, public relations, advertising, and business developed a relationship that changed the way Americans viewed consumerism. It is my assertion that by analyzing the advertising campaigns from the Second World War it is possible to trace the rise of consumer culture dominance, the solidification of the fields of public relations and advertising, and the connection between purchasing brand products and patriotism.
OCLC Number
1085541965
Catalog Permalink
https://galileo-georgiasouthern.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01GALI_GASOUTH/1r4bu70/alma9916212392102950
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Jordan T., "The Real Winner of the Second World War: Patriotic Consumption and the Formation of a Society of Spin" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1863.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1863
Research Data and Supplementary Material
Yes
Included in
Economic History Commons, Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, United States History Commons
