National identity and Americanization in Israeli advertising. Obama to Trump (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2021 in the subject Communications - Research, Studies, Enquiries, grade: 93/100, University of Haifa, course: Advertising and society, language: English, abstract: This research's objective is to further examine possible political and national dimensions, and the way national identity is mediated, constructed and preserved by advertising. Moreover, this study aims to achieve that objective by focusing on Israel as a case study and examining the national narrative that is mediate through the narrative of Israeli advertising, and what part the American myth plays in it. The study aims to examine how the narrative of Americanization is abandoned and then readopted as changes occur in USA-Israeli relations, in hopes to shed more light on the subjects of the role of advertising in constructing and preserving national identity, the negotiation of national identity through the prism of advertising, and the Americanization of Israeli society.

The previous objective will be achieved by examining the different ways in which the American motif has been adopted in Israeli advertising during two different periods of American presidencies: the first period examined will be during the eight-year presidency of Barack Obama, and the second during the four-year presidency of Donald Trump. This study focuses on the American image as reflected in Israeli advertisements on the online video streaming website "YouTube," in hope to answer the question in what ways is the American image adopted differently in Israeli advertisements in each of the two periods of American presidencies previously mentioned, and what those differences (if existing) can further inform us about the Americanization of Israeli advertising and thereby of Israeli society, as well as the negotiation of Israeli national identity through the prism of advertising.

A previous body of research has been dedicated to the examination of the Americanization of Israeli society, surprisingly, only few have focused on the prism of advertising. The presence and invocation of the American image in Israeli advertisements by associating American values, lifestyles, and symbols with different consumer products (even ones that have no connection to The United States in any way), has been apparent for many years. As previous research has shown by emphasizing the relationship between advertising and social and cultural values and norms, the invocation of the American image in Israeli advertisements reflects the Americanization of Israeli society.