Men, Dogs, Guns, and Cars--The Semiotics of Rugged Individualism

Abstract

Cross-cultural research on advertising has called attention to the important role that core societal values have on advertising production and reception. This study focuses on a core American cultural value, rugged individualism. Drawing on recent scholarship that emphasizes the rhetorical, mythical, and metaphorical bases of advertising imagery, the inquiry identifies seven bipolar tensions underlying the expression of rugged individualism in contemporary print advertisements.