DIGITAL ADVERTISING AS MEMETIC PROPAGANDA

Abstract

This paper aims to show the link between rhetoric and memes in advertising discourse. Digital advertising uses memes as availability cascade tools for commercial propaganda. In contemporary economies of attention, it is critical to capture the interest of consumers and memes can help. Memes are cultural units that are passed on to another person or group. Memes have become extremely valuable assets for brands, since they have built-in audiences that recognize and resonate with them. Not only memes can serve as rhetorical loci: repositories of largely shared ideas and beliefs, but also, they can be used as genuine rhetorical concepts.