El humor en la publicidad gráfica de la Dirección General de Tráfico en España (1960-2009)

Miguel Ángel Nicolás Ojeda; Esther Martínez Pastor; Carmen  Gaona Pisonero

doi:10.4185/RLCS-2015-1070

Authors

Miguel Ángel Nicolás Ojeda San Antonio de Murcia Catholic University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0356-8227
Esther Martínez Pastor Rey Juan Carlos University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2861-750X
Carmen Gaona Pisonero Rey Juan Carlos University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0080-0844

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2015-1070

Keywords:

Graphic advertising, humour, General Directorate of Traffic, comedy resources, emotions

Abstract

The objective of this research article is to analyse the use of humour as a semantic resource in the advertising campaigns of Spain’s General Directorate of Traffic and identify the emotions expressed in the ads that use this resource. Methods: An interdisciplinary methodological approach is used to review previous research on humour as a resource for the development of the content and form of advertising messages. A historical review of the graphic advertising of the General Directorate of Traffic is offered to establish when and how humour has been used in the configuration of its advertising messages. The universe under study consists of all the graphic advertisements circulated by the General Directorate of Traffic from 1959 to 2009 (a total of 246 ads). Results and conclusions: The results confirm the presence of humour as a semantic resource in the advertising campaigns of Spain’s General Directorate of Traffic across the decades under study. The ads that use humour associate this resource with the objectives, messages and types of emotions the General Directorate of Traffic aims to project.

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Author Biographies

Miguel Ángel Nicolás Ojeda, San Antonio de Murcia Catholic University

Miguel Ángel Nicolás Ojeda holds a Doctoral degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia. Associate Professor at the School of Communication of the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia where he teaches in the bachelor’s degree programmes in Advertising, Journalism, Audiovisual Communication and Tourism, and the M.A. programmes in Communication (DIRCOM), Tourism innovation and marketing and Marketing and communication. His current research lines are advertising (strategy, creativity and planning) and advertising development in participatory media and platforms and toy advertising. His recent publications include: The Construction of Tourist Space by Public Administration and Institutional Communication (Martínez and Nicolás, 2014); La representación de género en las campañas de publicidad de juguetes en Navidades 2009-12 (Martínez, Nicolás y Salas, 2013); Estrategias de Comunicación en redes sociales (Nicolás Ojeda y Grandío, 2013); The Image of Youth in Mobile Phone Advertising (Nicolás Ojeda, 2012); La implicación del usuario en la producción publicitaria. Una reflexión sobre la publicidad espontánea generada por los usuarios/consumidores (Nicolás Ojeda, 2013); De la publicidad como fenómeno cultural: una reflexión sobre el lenguaje publicitario y YouTube (Nicolás Ojeda, 2012).

Esther Martínez Pastor, Rey Juan Carlos University

Esther Martínez Pastor holds Doctoral and Bachelor’s degrees in Advertising and Public Relations, both from the Complutense University of Madrid. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the UNED. Professor at the School of Communication Sciences of the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid. Her research lines are digital advertising, advertising regulations and the targeting of minors and immigrants. Her recent publications include journal articles such as: En busca de equilibro entre la regulación y la autorregulación de la publicidad comportamental en línea (Martínez & Muñoz, 2013); Investigación sobre publicidad digital en revistas científicas españolas (Martínez & García, 2013); Revisión conceptual de la comunicación persuasiva en las normas jurídicas. Caso español (Martínez, 2013).

Carmen Gaona Pisonero, Rey Juan Carlos University

Professor at the Department of Communication I, of the School of Communication Sciences. Holder or a Ph.D. degree in Sociology from the School of Economics of the University of Barcelona. Professor of Information theory at the School of Communication Sciences of the Rey Juan Carlos University. Guest Professor at the University of Amiens, the University Bicocca (Milan), the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of Strasbourg and the University of Porto, among others. She has given seminars on: “The transformation of the concept of body in European urban space”, “Cultural mediation in the construction of news”, “Interpersonal communication models”, “Reflection on immigration from the mass media”. Her lines of research are: immigration, intercultural communication, health, and uses and effects of new technologies among children and teenagers. Other lines of research are: childhood and ICT, intercultural communication, family’s role in the health care, rural development, immigration, anthropology of the body, health policy analysis, cyber-culture, communicative practices and identity, urban tribes, and collective memory.

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