“Fantasy Island”: Marketplace of Desire

The affirmative character of U.S. cultural studies

“…The flow of commercial television, the seemingly unrelated sequence of commercials, program segments, and promotional materials, can be usefully defamiliarized once we understand how everything is part of a marketing system. Form responds to function: Those heterogeneous fragments start to look and sound more alike once you consider their economic purpose (Browne, 1984;Budd, Craig, & Steinman, 1983). Raymond Williams, the originator of this line of analysis, saw similarities between game shows and ads as the kinds of presentation of people, as isolated and negotiable features and quantities, which are characteristic of many commercial television forms.…”

A Content Analysis of Problem‐Resolution Appeals in Television Commercials

“…Evidence accumulated over two decades suggests that television portrayals can influence a viewer's perception of reality (Budd, Craig, and Steinman 1983;Greenberg et al 1982;Moschis and Moore 1978;Murray 1980;Ward and Wackman 1971;Ward, Wackman, and Wartella 1977;Hawkins and Pingree 1981). Research by Gerbner and the Cultural Indicators Project team at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrates the capacity of television to figure prominently as a source of input to an individual's perception of the world (Gerbner et al 1980;Gerbner et al 1982).…”

“…Resolutions represent the solutions portrayed in the advertisement. Based on problem-solving literature and studies of television's portrayal of problem solving, five resolution criteria are identified: clarity/presentation, time required, certainty, process complexity, and cost of product (Davis 1966;John 1957;Budd, Craig, and Steinman 1983). It is hypothesized that presentation of resolutions is explicit rather than implied in a majority of the sample.…”

“…Three categories are used to measure process compfexity in terms of the number of steps to obtain the production service: one, twothree, and more than three. Budd, Craig, and Steinman (1983) found that one episode of a popular television program contained commercials that showed solutions in one easy step. Based on this small sample, it is hypothesized that a majority of resolutions present solutions obtainable in one easy step.…”

Only for You; Brazilians and the Telenovela Flow

“…Williams' flow sequence has been a source of inspiration for other media researchers. Budd et al (1985), for instance, did a content analysis of what they called a "television flow" -an episode of an American serial and of the advertisements shown within the commercial breaks. They found a structural coherence between the fictive narratives and the advertisement that immediately followed them.…”