Security for sale! The visual rhetoric of marketing counter-terrorism technologies

Abstract

ABSTRACT While much is written on government, legal and media discourses of security and counter-terrorism, very few studies turn a critical eye towards 'mediation' as it applies to the marketing of counter-terrorism technologies. Counter-terrorism technologies include everything from surveillance cameras to biometric scanners, data protection software to perimeter-security fencing. Together they comprise one of the largest, most profitable product sectors in the global economy. In this article I look at the visual corporate communication strategies used to market counter-terrorism technologies to both governments and the private sector. I use a dual method approach to perform this investigation. First, I conduct a visual analysis of promotional material produced by counter-terrorism technology manufacturers including product brochures and advertisements in defence magazines. Second, I draw from participant-observation research carried out over the past three years at counter-terrorism expos. This research offers insight into how discourses around security and counter-terrorism are shaped not only through government and military PR (as it is often spread through the mass media), but also by defence technology manufacturers and marketers ranging from major security conglomerates such as Group4Securicor and Magal Security Systems, to telecommunication giants including AT&T and IBM.