Transnational Advertising and International Relations: US Press Discourses on the Benetton ‘We on Death Row’ Campaign

Abstract

This article analyzes Benetton’s 2000 ‘We on Death Row’ advertising campaign as a site of cultural production where ideological differences on capital punishment between the United States and Europe are played out. We examine the massmediated public discourse framing the campaign in the US prestige press. More specifically, we conduct a textual analysis of news stories and editorials about the campaign in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune. Our analysis uncovered three themes, denigration, commodification and othering, that the press uses to discredit the campaign. The discussion focuses on how national hegemonic media frames ‘domesticate’ foreign social ideals.