SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF BLACK PEOPLE IN AWARD-WINNING CAMPAIGNS FROM THE GANA AGENCY: POSSIBILITIES FOR BRAZILIAN ANTI-RACIST ADVERTISING
Name: IGOR EMILIO FONSECA OLIVEIRA
Publication date: 09/07/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ELISA FABRIS DE OLIVEIRA | Presidente |
| FLAVIA MAYER DOS SANTOS SOUZA | Examinador Interno |
| SÉRGIO RODRIGO DA SILVA FERREIRA | Examinador Externo |
Summary: Understanding in recent years a dynamic of
change and spatial occupation inherent to the Black ethnic group in various
instances of Brazilian society, the present study analyzed the social
representations of Black individuals in advertising campaigns that won the
most prestigious and traditional award in the field in Brazil. These
campaigns were developed by an agency composed entirely of Black
professionals. The research investigated whether the occupation of positions
related to the promotion and creation of advertising materials by members of
this group materials that circulate widely in the media can generate shifts
in the stereotypical representations of Black people in advertising. This
study is characterized as exploratory and descriptive, and relies on
bibliographic and documentary research throughout its course. The corpus
consists of advertisements produced by Agência Gana within the 2022
timeframe, the year the agency won awards in multiple categories at the Clube
de Criação Festival, Brazil’s most prestigious advertising competition,
in its very first participation. To analyze the static visual and audiovisual
materials comprising the corpus, the first methodological step involved
applying a structured guide protocol (Gaskell, 2015), which gathers primary
information and serves as a preparatory framework for the second
methodological step: content analysis (Bardin, 1977) complemented by visual
analysis contributions (Rose, 2012), considering the visual nature of the
materials. The theoretical framework is divided into two main axes. The first
draws on the Theory of Social Representations (Moscovici, 1976; Jodelet,
2022; Cabecinhas, 2004; Guareschi, 2013; Arruda, 2002) to discuss
representation. The second axis articulates interdisciplinary authors who
explore the relationship between Black identity and advertising (Leite;
Batista, 2019; Corrêa, 2019; Gastaldo, 2004; Evaristo, 2018; Shohat & Stam,
2006; Trindade, 2019; Hooks, 2019; Kilomba, 2019; Maciel, 2016; Hall, 2006,
Monsma, 2017, Bhabha, 1994; Carneiro, 2023), contributing to the debate on
how this group is portrayed in the field. Through the investigations, it was
found that Black individuals were prominently featured in the analyzed
materials, recognized as consumers, and that there was a positive
appropriation of Black aesthetics in the branding of advertised products,
suggesting signs of identity affirmation. However, the study also identified
elements linked to hegemonic representations of Black people historically
perpetuated by Brazilian advertising.
