Advertising themes: car ads and road safety [ABSTRACT ONLY]

The paper looks at the connections between aspects of driving culture and the themes that advertising draws on. We take the view that advertising is a factor in encouraging and reinforcing driving behaviours through its connections to cultural themes. Advertising works by drawing on and reinforcing cultures of driving. Some of the road themes represented in advertising will be considered, in particular, racing themes. We will also look at some alternative road safety campaigns from overseas.