The social marketing of elites: the advertised self in obituaries and congratulations in some Nigerian dailies

Abstract

Abstract This paper rests on the belief that various forms of advertisement of self such as the obituary and congratulation publications in the Nigerian daily newspapers exhibit a number of common themes in the imagery with which they handle the fact of achievement. Further, it argues that these themes may be a mix of modern and traditional criteria of success and represent an attempt by the elite to restate their superior attributes. The data were collected from NigerianDaily TimesandDaily Sketch, from interviews conducted with the business managers of theDaily Sketchand the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, withGuardianandDaily Timescorrespondents, and with newspaper vendors and advertisement agents based in Ile-Ife. A survey of attitudes to the publications and their implicit criteria of success was also investigated. In all, the consensus of opinion is that the publications do raise the revenue base of the print and the audio-visual media, that attitudes to the publications vary across ethnic, religious and class groups, and that the construction of selfhood within each of the advertisement formats is but an aspect of social relationships, mediated in this case through the forms of economic or political development in Nigeria.

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