Ad-Men and Empire: U.S. Advertising in Inter-American Relations, 1930–60

This paper examines the relationship between U.S. advertising and inter-American relations from 1930-1960. Commercial advertising became a central aspect of the United States' mid-century propaganda strategy in Latin America. During the Good Neighbor Policy, export advertising agencies collaborated with the U.S. government to promote the idea of a "United Americas" throughout the region. Promotion of U.S. power came about not only through the creation of visual imagery, but also as a form of business practice: as U.S. advertising agencies coordinated their international programs, they became conscious of their collective economic power over Latin American media. In the post war period, this U.S. international advertising campaign expanded in both scope and discourse. This paper will first illustrate how culture, economics and politics converged in the coordination and dissemination of U.S. advertising to Latin America. It will then analyze advertising's importance as a part of local visual and consumer culture in Brazil and Argentina, paying particular attention to how this coordinated advertising campaign became a part of local cultural politics.