From the Editor

Source: Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 41, No. 1, Advertising and Promotion (Spring
1989), p. 3
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the University Film & Video
Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20687845
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From the Editor
Despite our ability to overcome the tradi
tional criticism of film and television as
aesthetically impoverished forms of com
munication, we have rarely broached the
even less redeemable subject matter of
advertising and promotion as textual phe
nomena, and more significantly, their his
torical role in film and television culture.
We recognize the significant role com
merce plays in both television and film; we
acknowledge the relevance of the concept
of broadcast "flow"; and we are trying to
come to grips with the significance of the
extra-textual (including commercials, pro
motions, and star interviews) to a specific
work. Yet, we are far from producing a
body of scholarship, especially historical
scholarship, which confronts the essential
role advertising and promotion play in film
and telvision culture. With this in mind,
this issue of the Journal of Film and Video
attempts to make a contribution to the
historical analysis of advertising and pro
motion in television and film, and their
significance to the media's textual prac
tices.
Jim Hay's article, the first in the issue,
investigates some of the limitations of the
concept of "flow" to an understanding of
the positioning of advertisements and pro
motions in television. Analysing specific
endorsements in comedy and variety
shows from the 1950s, Hay pinpoints the
manner in which early television adver
tisements were integrated into the content
of the program itself, rather than marked
by commercial "breaks." Recognizing the
intended seamlessness of such commer
cial insertions, as in / Remember Mama,
he goes on to investigate the implications
of an ironic performance of advertise
ments and endorsements, as in The Bums
JOURNAL OF FILM AND VIDEO 41.1 (Spring 1989) 3
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and Allen Show and Milton Berle's Tex
aco Star Theater. As Hay points out,
these ironic performances produce a range
of possible meanings, possibly undermin
ing the manifest content of the ad.
Ellen Seiter's article also examines 1950s
television from a perspective which calls
into question any easy demarcation be
tween commerce and program content.
Exploring the relationship between early
soap opera writer Irna Phillips and her
shows' sponsors, Seiter reviews the let
ters, memos, and telegrams which indicate
the ways in which Phillips' shows were
fashioned with the sponsors' interests in
mind. By comparing Phillips' successes
with the far less eminent career of soap
opera writer Jane Crusinberry, Seiter is
further able to develop a historical context
in which we can view the impact of spon
sors on program content.
Mark Fenster's article on David O.
Selznick's Since You Went Away also
analyses the significance of promotion and
marketing to the production process, and
specifically to the public image of Selznick
as a producer of "quality" films. By ex
amining available archival materials, Fen
ster reconstructs Selznick's self-conscious
elaboration of an "authorial presence," a
presence intended to distinguish his films
from the major studios' products. Fenster
concludes by placing this specific case
within the context of theories of author
ship, specifically focusing on the manner
in which post-structuralist approaches can
facilitate an understanding of how author
ship delimits the potential readings of a
film and impacts on its reception by an
audience.