Food, Culture and the Media: A Critical Analysis of Food Advertisements and Cultural Politics

The current study critically evaluates the impact of food advertisements on the politics of culture, particularly about the American culture in Turkey during the time of the Democrat Party, 1950 to 1960. This paper employs methods including archival research and qualitative content analysis of the periodical Hayat Mecmuası to analyze how and to what effects American products and lifestyles were advertised. A similar structure was used in Turkish advertisements which reflected aspects such as family, health, and modernity, and women as managers of the household. These advertisements created consumer tastes that were considered benign by Western standards and viewed American products as markers of modernity. The study denies the influence of cultural exchange on media and the consumers but the study has certain lacunas such as scope limited to print media and restriction from getting adequate archival information. This study enriches discussion on how media and advertising connect mass communication, food culture and Westernization and helps make sense of the role of media and advertising in processes of cultural exchange and societal change.Keywords: Food Advertisements, Cultural Politics, Media Representation, Consumer Behavior, Identity and Culture, Gender Stereotypes, Media and Advertising, Food and SustainabilityDOI: https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2025.SpecialIssueMBP.193-213