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Puccini, Botticelli and Celebrity Endorsements: The Art of Magazine Advertising

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Popular High Culture in Italian Media, 1950–1970

Part of the book series: Italian and Italian American Studies ((IIAS))

Abstract

This chapter explores Italian advertising’s long history of putting the powerful symbols of art, literature and opera to commercial use. From Puccini’s impassioned ode to Odol mouthwash in 1902, through to Martini & Rossi ’s 1950s magazine campaign Art and Good Taste, masterpieces, including Botticelli’s The Rites of Spring, created a sense of belonging to a special and elite group, a shared understanding and cultural reference for consumers. These advertisements targeted the middle-class and yet also pursued lower-middle-class consumers with taglines like ‘a product of class at an accessible price’. Mass culture advertising saw American images of blonde housewives alongside Italian images of art.

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Correspondence to Emma Barron .

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Barron, E. (2018). Puccini, Botticelli and Celebrity Endorsements: The Art of Magazine Advertising. In: Popular High Culture in Italian Media, 1950–1970. Italian and Italian American Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90963-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90963-9_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90962-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90963-9

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