Alcohol advertising and hegemonic masculinities in Ghana: a Public Relations perspective
Abstract
Henry Kojo Bonsu-Owu's doctoral thesis, which analyses 182 beer and bitters advertisements in Ghana, combines Taylor's messaging strategies with Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity. He examines how advertising links characteristic elements of friendship, dominance and sexuality with the implication of different types of beverages, which reinforce masculine stereotypes. It invites us to reflect deeply on visual messages and their impact on male identity. From a Public Relations perspective, it highlights the non-Western approach and its ethical call to rethink the role of graphic communication.
Keywords
Advertising, Alcohol, Masculinity, Public Relations, GhanaReferences
AGGARWAL, Pankaj. (2004). The Effects of Brand Relationship Norms on Consumer Attitudes and Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1086/383426
ARIAS, Erick. (2018). How Does Media Influence Social Norms? Experimental Evidence on the Role of Common Knowledge. Political Science Research and Methods, 7(3), 561–578. https://doi.org/10.1017/PSRM.2018.1
ATKINSON, Amanda Marire.; KIRTON, Andreu.; SUMNALL, Harry. (2012). The gendering of alcohol in consumer magazines: An analysis of male and female targeted publications. Journal of Gender Studies, 21(4), 365–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2012.681180
DILLI, Selin.; CARMICHAEL, Sarah.; RIJPMA, Auke. (2019). Introducing the Historical Gender Equality Index. Feminist Economics, 25(1), 31–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2018.1442582
EISEND, Martin. (2010). A meta-analysis of gender roles in advertising. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38(4), 418–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11747-009-0181-X/METRICS
GILL, Rosalind. (2008). Empowerment/Sexism: Figuring Female Sexual Agency in Contemporary Advertising. Feminism & Psychology, 18(1), 35–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353507084950
GRAU, Stacy Landreth.; ZOTOS, Yorgos. (2018). Gender stereotypes in advertising: a review of current research. In S. L. Grau & Y. C. Zotos (Eds.), Current Research on Gender Issues in Advertising (1st ed., pp. 3–12). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351213745-1
GRUNIG, James.; HUNT, Todd. (2007). Dirección de relaciones públicas. Escuela de Relaciones Publicas Universidad de Girona, 757.
HEATH, Robert.; COOMBS, Timothy. (2006). Today ’ s Public Relations : An Introduction Ethical and Legal Restraints on Public Relations Practice (M. H. Seawell, M. B. Crouppen, & L. Shea, Eds.; 1st ed.). SAGE.
HOLTZHAUSEN, Derina. (2005). Public relations practice and political change in South Africa. Public Relations Review, 31(3), 407–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PUBREV.2005.05.011
KOEHLER, Adrie. (2025). Digital Literacy and Social Media: Understanding Affordances for Meaningful Use. In J. , Zajda & A. Rapoport (Eds.), Discourses of Globalisation and Citizenship Education. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Researc (Springer, Vol. 46, pp. 87–105). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-86145-1_6
KOTLER, Philip.; ZALTMAN, Gerald. (1971). Social marketing: an approach to planned social change. Journal of Marketing, 35(3), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.2307/1249783
MAKAMA, Funom Theophilus.; JAMES, Stephanie Attah.; MAKAMA, Esther Funom. (2025). Intrinsic social media literacy: a public relations strategy addressing problematic social media use among teenagers globally. Cogent Social Sciences, 11(1), 2518437. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2025.2518437
MUTZ, Diana.; SOSS, Joe. (1997). Reading Public Opinion: The Influence of News Coverage on Perceptions of Public Sentiment on JSTOR. Public Opinion Quarterly, 61(3), 431–451.
SEBASTIÃO, Sónia Pedro.; TRINDADE, Alice Donat. (2025). The Role of Critical Media Literacy in Civic Participation. In Sónia Pedro Sebastião & Alice-Maria Cotton (Eds.), Global Public Goods Communication (pp. 207–225). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-90667-1_13
STORTINI, Gabriel Pablo. (2019). La ética en las Relaciones Públicas. Cuadernos Del Centro de Estudios de Diseño y Comunicación, 35, 117 a 127–117 127. https://doi.org/10.18682/CDC.VI35.1737
URIBE, Rodrigo.; MANZUR, Enrique.; HIDALGO, Pedro.; FERNÁNDEZ, Rebeca. (2008). Gender stereotypes in advertising: A content analysis of Chilean magazines. Revista Latinoamericana de Administración, 41, 1–18.
WILCOX, Dennis.; CAMERON, Glen.; REBER, Bryan.; SHIN, Jae-Hwa. (2015). Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics (11th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

Published
How to Cite
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2025 Yulmar Runel Montoya Ortega

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.