Public relations and popular culture as system repreducers: An evaluation of John Fiske

Capitalism shapes not only economic production but also cultural production, restructuring popular culture to fit market conditions. Cultural products become objects of mass consumption through public relations and advertising strategies. According to John Fiske, this commercialization is not only economic but also ideological, as public relations play a key role in shaping values and consumption habits.This study critically examines how the capitalist system directs and reproduces popular culture, drawing on Adorno and Horkheimer’s culture I ndustry approach and Gramsci’s theory of hegemony. It argues that public relations, beyond being marketing tools, serve as mechanisms for disseminating ideological messages and maintaining the capitalist system. Using John Fiske’s Understanding Popular Culture as a foundation, the study explores how popular culture is commercialized and the role of public relations in this process. The research investigates the interaction between popular culture and public relations within the capitalist system, analyzing how public relations facilitate commercialization. Employing a qualitative methodology, it utilizes content analysis to examine academic studies on the subject from a historical and comparative perspective. The findings reveal that public relations are not just marketing strategies but tools that shape social norms and influence consumption habits, functioning as part of broader social engineering processes. This study offers a theoretical and critical framework for understanding the deep connection between public relations and popular culture.