Western influences in Turkish advertising

Introduction

Popular culture and its cultural artefacts provide insights about a society's socio-cultural characteristics and transformations (Fiske, 2010;Mukerji and Schudson, 1984;Neuhaus, 1999). As a significant element of the popular culture, advertising plays an important role in reflecting the prevailing values, traditions and stereotypes of a society. Advertising imagery acts as a catalyst that reinforces and reshapes society's norms and beliefs, including the notions of 'good life', gender roles and interpersonal relationships (Martin and Gentry, 1997;Pollay, 1985). Historical accounts reveal the transformation of advertising representations along with the social, political, cultural and economic changes. However, much of the existing research discusses advertising history in the contexts of North America (Fox, 1984;Marchand, 1985;Strasser, 1989;Tedlow, 1990) and Western Europe (Richards, 1991;Church, 2000;Pincas and Loiseau, 2006;Ciarlo, 2011). Few studies that focus beyond the advanced capitalist countries (Sheresheva and Antonov-Ovseenko, 2015;Whelan 2014) identify the routes through which advertising industry developed in these markets and show the extent and nature of the influence of American and European advertising conventions.

Our goal in this research is to contribute to the scholarship on advertising histories of non-Western countries through a study of advertising practices in Turkey in the 1950s and 1960s.

The post-World War II period witnessed important changes in the world dynamics.

The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as two superpowers lying at the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Both countries were preoccupied with expanding their influence around the world. The young republic of Turkey, although managed to stay neutral during the Second World War, was in dire need of economic uplift. With its strategic geographical position, Turkey emerged as a viable and important asset for the US political agenda. In 1947, the US government voted for extending economic aid to Turkey. American Marshall Plan came as an economic safeguard for Western Europe and, in extension, Turkey (Erdoğan and Kaya, 2002;Jacoby, 2003).

In the decade following the Second World War, Turkey went through significant socio-political and economic changes (Tachau and Heper, 1983). In 1950, the first multiparty elections were held, ending the twenty-seven years reign of the Republican People's Party. The triumphant Democrat Party had a different vision for the nation and regarded the US as an important ally and role model in achieving it. The climate favourable for the American soft power resulted not only in the expansion of American economic activities in Turkey but also intensification of its cultural flows (Karademir, 2012). American aesthetic influences soon became visible in fashion, architecture and design (Gürel, 2009). A new culture of consumption disseminated through Hollywood movies, popular magazines, brands and advertising captured the interest of the emerging urban upper-middle classes. As in similar other contexts, women were the key targets of this new consumerist ideology.

Marketers and advertisers sought to reach out to women and persuade them to participate in the joys of consumption.

In this study, we focus on print advertisements targeted at women in the 1950s and 1960s and seek to understand how Western (i.e., American and European) influences shaped the advertising images and representations of women in Turkey. In particular, we are interested in understanding the impact such influences had on the advertising strategies of local brands. Through a combination of social semiotic and compositional analyses, we investigate the key stylistic features characterizing these advertisements as well as the gender norms, responsibilities and aspirations communicated through them. Next, we first discuss the impact of Americanization on advertising during the post-war era. We, then, review the key dynamics of Turkish advertising industry in the first half of the twentieth century. In the following sections, we explain the research context and methodology and present our findings. We conclude by discussing the ramifications of our study.

Americanization and the Images of Femininity in Advertising

The increasing mistrust and hostility between the USA and the USSR during the Second World War escalated into the Cold War and shaped the world politics in much of the twentieth century. From the perspective of the American foreign policy, the USSR represented a threat as it imposed its communist political and economic vision on countries that it wanted to bring into its orbit (Stole, 2016). In response, the USA devised and executed plans to globally market and sell the American political ideology and the capitalist economic system.

One of the major tools that enabled the US to access to European markets and shape the cultural climate was the European Recovery Programme (ERP), also known as the Marshall Plan (Amerian, 2015). Implemented in 1948, the ERP sought to contain the communist expansion and offered a benchmark against which the advantages of each system capitalist and communistcould be easily visualized (Tadajewski and Stole, 2016). It was also designed to serve as a strong counterforce against Soviet communism. Thus, it required that aid be accompanied by "full and continuous publicity […] as to the purpose, source, character, and amounts of the commodities made available by the USA" (Stole, 2016).

In the post-war period, America emerged as the symbol of modernity, freedom, wealth and peace, and was equated with a better, faster, and more attractive lifestyle. The US government used virtually every cultural medium, from art exhibitions to books and education, as a "weapon of mass attraction." (Karademir, 2012). For example, the collaboration with the American Advertising Council aimed to systemize the ways of selling the American superior way of life to the European countries that received aid under the Marshall Plan (Stole, 2016). As American cultural influences spread rapidly through media, advertising indeed proved to be a very effective channel for the progressive construction of American hegemony in Europe (Iulio and Vinti, 2009;Kortti, 2007). As historian Victoria de Grazia (2005) observes "by virtue of appearing to be the natural, modern and good way to do things," marketing and advertising played a significant role in substituting the Old-World values of status, craft and good taste with the American style consumer-driven imperialism.

Moreover, branding and advertising has been crucial in creating demand for American products and services (Galbraith, 1998;Schroeder, 2009). Disseminating American values (e.g., individual pursuit of happiness, liberalism) through advertising and branding practices had helped institute American ideological hegemony and economic colonization (Baran and Sweezy, 1966). As consumerist ideology has gained more prominence, conspicuous consumption has emerged as a key means for the construction and dissemination of identities.

The individualist pursuit of happiness, achieved through consumption of branded products, was spread to the rest of the world as the most progressive and modern model. As Süerdem notes, the sign system generated by branding did not only "produce economic profits for the brand-makers but also establishe [d] the American way of life as a form of super-brand identity" (p. 22, 2016).

The images of modern consuming women were crucial for the formation and dissemination of this new consumer culture. The model American housewife enjoying the benefits of modernity, technology and prosperity travelled into foreign markets along with the American products (Rosenberg, 1999). As companies saw the potential of using films and advertisements to promote not just products but also consumer desires and aspirations, the cooperation between Hollywood films and American brands increased (Whelan, 2014). As American films became popular in Europe and elsewhere, the demand for American ideas, fashions and products grew (Ford, 1993). With the increasing popularity of Hollywood films, emerged the glamorous movie stars who promoted the "pleasures of extravagance and consumerism" (Whelan 2014, p.171). Until the 1920s, Paris and London had set the standards in fashion; however, in the late 1930s Hollywood had surpassed Paris as the arbiter of fashion standards (Ford, 1993). In the post-war era, Hollywood came to epitomise glamour and beauty.

In the 1950s, the emerging consumer culture were disseminated through various media and reflected primarily through the image of the new, modern female consumer.

Advertising, movies, and popular magazines projected this image both in the USA and the overseas markets. However, as much as women were heralded as the modern consumers of the new era, advertising representations of ideal femininity continued to exert pressure on women to conform to the traditional roles of being a mother and a wife (Forde, 2002).

Advertising has a certain impact on the establishment and preservation of social norms.

Studies suggest that advertising images tend to reinforce the stereotypical notions of "proper", "best", or "natural" by reflecting certain narrowly defined roles (Hawkins and Coney, 1976;Uray and Burnaz, 2003). As such, the images of beautiful women fulfilling their homebound roles dominated advertising in the post-war era.

Turkish Advertising Industry in the Early 20 th Century

In comparison to Europe and the North America, advertising industry has a rather short history in Turkey (Çakır, 1997;Hiçyılmaz, 1987;Koloğlu, 2000). The late arrival of the printing press, low literacy rates, oppressive and authoritarian political climate and unawareness about the role of advertising as a business tool all contributed to the slow development of the profession. The first newspapers in the Ottoman Empire were published in the late 17 th and early 18 th centuries by the non-Muslim communities (Topuz, 1973).

While these were rather short-lived ventures with very limited circulation, they included some announcements for local merchants and products (Yavuz, 2007). The very first commercial advertisement in the Ottoman press was published in Ceride-i Havadis newspaper on August 20, 1840 (Çakır, 1997;Koloğlu, 1999;Yavuz, 2007). It was an advert for wall paper imported from France. In the early years, advertisements were typically textonly announcements. Commonly advertised items included property for sale or rent, retail shops, hotels, and products, such as, ironware and agricultural equipment (Türkoğlu, 1995).

Towards the end of the 19 th century, illustrations depicting the product and/or user began to appear and the variety of products (i.e., clothes, furniture, soap, medicine and food) being advertised increased markedly (Dilber, Eraslan and Artamel, 2012).

The declaration of the Second Constitutional Era in 1908 triggered a boom in the Ottoman press (Baykal, 2013). The relatively more supportive environment for freedom of expression led to an increase in the number of newspapers and advertisements (Heper and Demirel, 1996). Shortly after, in 1909, the first advertising agency was founded. It was a partnership of Ernest Hoffer, the ex-manager of Cairo branch of the French agency Havas and two Istanbul-based Jewish businessmen, Jak Hulli and David Samanon (Baransel, 2003;Barouh, 2010). The agency, named Hoffer, Samanon and Hulli Ilanat Acentası, adopted the Western advertising principles and immediately became a magnet for advertisers. However, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, the First World War, and the eventual collapse of the Ottoman Empire disrupted all economic activities including advertising. It was after the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 that advertising industry began to develop.

In the early 1920s, foreign brands, such as Ford, Good Year, Bayer, Telefunken, AEG, Phillips, and Osram, dominated the advertising pages of newspapers and magazines (Hiçyılmaz, 1987;Koloğlu, 2000;Öztürk, 2018). Following the establishment of the state economic enterprises in 1920s and 1930s, such as Sümerbank (1933), İş Bankası (1924), and Tekel (1932), public companies became important advertisers. Along with economic reforms, changes in social and cultural domains had a significant impact on the nature of advertising.

In particular, the adoption of western clothing and the acceptance of the Swiss Civil Code that gave equal rights to women led to changes in the content, composition and style of advertisements. As Türkoğlu (1995) observes, advertisements featuring modern, Westernlooking female role models promoted a wide range of products, from cosmetics and clothing to gramophones and alcoholic beverages, to their prospective buyers.

In the early years of the republic, Turkey adopted statist economic policies and sought to build a national industrial base. The emphasis on domestic production and consumption also echoed in the advertisements of the period. State Economic Enterprises used advertising to promote the use of local products. A key figure in the 1930s advertising scene was the graphic artist İhap Hulusi Görey. Born in Egypt as the son of a prominent architect, İhap Hulusi received art education in Germany. After his return to Turkey in 1925, he established his studio in Istanbul and began designing posters. Among his clients were the major local public and private enterprises. His conception of form reflected the universal traits of the 20 th century poster art, in particular the German poster design style Plakastil (Hızal, 2012) and the dominant avant-garde art styles of the period, such as Constructivism and Bauhaus (Merter, 2003). The content and form of İhap Hulusi's posters not only promoted the use of domestic goods but also helped propagate the republican ideologies along with disseminating and teaching Western aesthetic style and taste to the Turkish public (Mutlu, 2012;Hızal, 2012).

While advertising assumed additional roles in the 1930s, it also continued to perform its key functionluring consumers to the comforts of a good life. Despite the economic difficulties, advertisements for a wide range of products from imported electrical appliances (i.e., Frigidaire, Kodak, AEG, Phillips, Telefunken, RCS, Osram), cars and tyres (i.e., Ford, Chevrolet, Renault, Good Year), cosmetics and shaving products (i.e., Nivea, Tokalon, Radium) to locally manufactured food and drinks (i.e., Çapamarka, Piyale, HacıBekir, Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi), cosmetics and fragrance (Pertev, Eyüp Sabri), and fabric and clothing (i.e., Ipekiş, Ece), to name a few, promised to their prospective buyers a healthy, comfortable and pleasant life (Türkoğlu, 1995;Yavuz 2007). However, the growing advertising industry came to halt during the World War II years. Although Turkey managed to remain neutral, economy stagnated. Higher import tariffs, rising inflation rates and problems in supply resulted in drops in economic growth and consumption.

The post-war era had been a turning point in Turkish advertising history. In 1944, the second prominent advertising agency, Faal Reklam Acentası was established in Istanbul. Its founders were three Jewish businessmen from Istanbul, Eli Acıman, Vitali Hakko and Mario Beghian. Right from the beginning, Mr. Acıman was keen on learning the American advertising principles. In his memoirs, he mentions that he regularly visited Prof. Frank Potts, the then head of the marketing department at Robert College (now Bosphorus University) and discussed advertising (Baransel, 2003). He strongly believed that "America was the pioneer of advertising" and followed foreign magazines such as the Advertising Age to develop his knowledge (ibid. p.41). Faal Agency began to grow rapidly when Mr. Acıman met with Vehbi Koç in 1946, a leading businessman of the time, and added Koç companies to his client portfolio (Öztürk, 2018). In 1956, Mr. Acıman went to New York and worked for four years as a writer and client director at J. Walter Thompson. A few years after his return to Turkey, he ended his partnership and set up Acıman Ajans, which later became Man Ajans.

Mr. Acıman and his agency played a key role in disseminating American advertising principles to the Turkish advertising profession (Baransel, 2003).

From its very beginning Turkish advertising had been influenced by Western conventions. In the early years, foreign companies and their representatives were the major advertisers and their advertising practices provided a role model for the local firms (Dilber et al., 2012). Advertising styles of the state economic enterprises, which advertised heavily in the 1930s, followed the norms of Western advertising. The pioneers of advertising (e.g., İhap Hulusi, Eli Acıman) had close contact with the European and American advertising industry, received formal or informal training from Western institutions and sources, and disseminated Western advertising principles to the Turkish advertising industry (Baransel, 2003;Merter, 2003). This particular origin along with the increasing influence of the USA in the post-war era significantly shaped the nature of advertising in Turkey.

Furthermore, the development of Turkish advertising industry had been closely related to the economic conditions and the availability of media. As the purchasing power of Turkish consumers improved and the number of newspapers and magazines grew, the prominence of advertising increased. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the newly established newspapers, such as Hürriyet and Milliyet, provided additional advertising space. Around the same years, many new women and lifestyle magazines, such as Yeni Moda (1948), Yeni Holivud Magazin (1948), Hanımeli (1948), Büyük Moda Mecmuası (1949), Dişi Kuş (1949), and Resimli Hayat (1956), were launched. Through their editorial and commercial content, these magazines conveyed the West, but more prominently, the USA as an object of desire and the American way of life as a social fantasy (Gönenç, 2007;Yavuz, 2015). In the postwar decade, the 'American dream' was becoming fast fashionable among the urban Turkish upper-middle class who had seen an elevation in their standards of living (Erdoğan and Kaya, 2002). Images of good life were propagated through advertisements of both local and foreign brands.

Methodology

Research Setting and Data

On 6 April 1956, inspired by the American Life Magazine, Hayat Dergisi (literally translates as Life Magazine) was launched in Turkey. Owned by the famous journalist and publisher Şevket Rado and edited by another prominent journalist of the time, Hikmet Feridun Es, Hayat Dergisi positioned itself as a weekly lifestyle magazine, targeting the urban uppermiddle class female audience (Gönenç, 2007). It was the first Turkish weekly that closely followed the European and American lifestyle magazine format (Yavuz, 2015). It was printed by the latest technology of its time and, with its high image and colour quality, quickly became attractive for both advertisers and readers (Gönenç, 2007).

Hayat presented light and entertaining reading material including news, art, history, literature as well as practical knowledge on good-house-keeping. It paid special attention to covering the lives of celebrities and royal families (e.g., the Kennedy Family with an emphasis on the First Lady, Jackie Kennedy; The British Royal Family; The Royal Family of Monaco with an emphasis on Princess Grace Kelly; and, The Iranian Royal Family with an emphasis on Princess Soraya). Similar to its American counterpart, fashion had a strong presence in its pages and reports from fashion centres of the world, especially Paris, appeared frequently. It also provided news stories from Hollywood, Milan and London and introduced hair and clothing styles of Hollywood stars to the Turkish readers (Dağtas, 2014;Yavuz, 2015). Hayat magazine proved to be a successful venture, reaching to record high circulation (around 100 thousand) shortly after its introduction. For two decades, Hayat provided reliable and relevant lifestyle and fashion guidance to its readers. However, the popularity of the magazine was diminished during 1970s' economic and political climate, and eventually, it was shut down in 1978.

Hayat magazine was also an important medium for advertising and with its high circulation attracted the prominent local and foreign advertisers of the time. Among the foreign brands that advertised regularly were Nivea (cream), Lux (soap), Sana (margarine), ViTA (vegetable oils and margarine), Gibbs (shaving soap and cream), PONDS cream, L'Oreal and VICKS VapoRub. Now less common brands, such as Louis Philippe lipsticks, Havilland cream and Roger and Gallet Eau de Cologne/Perfume, also placed their advertisements in the magazine. Turkish brands that appeared regularly were Piyale (pasta), Ankara (pasta), TAMEK (canned food), Pereja (cologne), FREDO (cologne and baby powder), Necipbey Briyantinleri (brilliantine), Vita (margarine), İş Bankası (bank), Garanti Bankası (bank), Yapı Kredi Bankası (bank), Doğan Sigorta (insurance company), and Doğan Kardeş Yayınları (publisher).

In this study, we focus on Piyale Pasta advertisements published in Hayat magazine between 1956 and 1966. There are several reasons for our focus on this particular brand and the time period. Piyale is the one of the oldest Turkish brands operating in the food category.

Established in 1922, it is the first company to industrially produce pasta in Turkey (Öğüt, 2013). The company introduced many pasta varieties to the Turkish consumers and ruled the market for a long period. The brand still exists today; however, it commands a low market share. Right from the start, Piyale was a regular advertiser in Hayat magazine, promoting its pasta through advertisements that utilized different formats, such as illustrations and photography. In total, there were 97 different Piyale pasta advertisements published in Hayat magazine during this time interval. Some of these ads were published only once, others appeared frequently. The total advertising frequency (including repetitions) is 204. That is, a Piyale pasta advertisement was present in roughly half of the issues published between 1956 and 1966. Interestingly, we observe that no Piyale advertisements appeared in Hayat magazine between 1966 and 1971. And, from 1971 until the closure of the magazine, only new products marketed under Piyale brand (soup, rice, spices) were advertised. Overall, its prominent position as a local advertiser regularly present in Hayat magazine makes Piyale a relevant brand to explore the Western influences in Turkish advertising in the post war-era.

Analysis

In analysing advertisements, researchers can take different approaches. The focus can be on producers' intentions, consumers' interpretations, and/or content of the advertisement. Given the historical nature of our study and the lack of archival company data, we are unable to determine what meanings Piyale managers intended to convey through these advertisements and how consumers interpreted them. Hence, we focus on what is in the advertisementsvisual and textual componentsand explore their socio-cultural, political, economic reflections and ramifications. To do so, we utilize a combination of social semiotic and compositional analysis methods.

Rooted in the principles of semiotics (e.g., Peirce, 1991) and semiology (e.g., Barthes, 1977), social semiotics is also interested in understanding the signification process. In difference to them, social semiotics view all semiosis to be embedded in broader economic and cultural practices and power relations (e.g., Hodge and Kress, 1988;Kress andVan Leeuwen, 1996, 2001;Van Leeuwen, 2005). Social semiotic analysis extends the scope of semiotic resources from signs and symbols to all the artefacts and actions that people use to communicate in specific historical moments and social contexts (Jewitt and Oyama, 2001).

As such, social semiotics goes beyond relating texts to contexts and explores related social tendencies and their political implications (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2001).

The social semiotic approach is especially relevant for the analysis of visual material as it provides a systemic way to assess the rhetorical functions of images (Jewitt and Oyama, 2001;Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996). From this perspective, visual resources are seen as simultaneously performing three functions: representational, interactive and compositional.

What one sees in a visualpeople, objects, places, etc.is the representational work of the visual. The interactive function concerns the relations among all the participants involved in the image producing and viewing process. Focusing on the subject's look/gesture/etc. within the visual, one understands the interactive work the picture does. Through interactive meaning, images can create particular relations between viewers and the world inside the picture frame. In this way, they interact with viewers and suggest the attitude viewers should take towards what is being represented. Finally, compositional work refers to the way in which all the representational and interactive participants and elements are 'integrated into a meaningful whole' (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996, p. 176). For example, by interacting with compositional meaning, such as, framing, layout, placement, salience, and modality of picture and text, the viewer can identify the type of a visual (e.g., a print advertisement).

We complement social semiotics with formal compositional analysis. Compositional analysis allows us to first, describe what we see in the ads using relevant design terminology; and second, decipher the contents of the visual data in relation to the design trends and practices of the period and compare the similarities and differences between Turkish and American print advertising styles. In conducting compositional analysis, we draw from Gillian Rose's (2016) compositional interpretation approach. Specifically, we evaluate the ads by examining their design elements including content, colour, typography, layout, image, and the 'expressive content' (Rose, 2016); that is, the mood or atmosphere of an image.

Overall, compositional interpretation offers a particular way of looking at content and form.

In practice, these components are related to each other, and the notion of composition refers to all of these components seen together (Rose, 2016).

Our analysis began by compositional interpretation. We identified design elements present in the advertisements and evaluated their overall content and style. We then continued with social semiotic analysis. By examining the various forms of work visuals performed, we sought to uncover their meaning potentials in relation to social, cultural, political and economic dynamics of the period. Each of us conducted compositional interpretation first on our own, and then compared our notes. After disagreements were resolved and a consensus had been reached, we independently undertook social semiotic analysis. We then compared the results of our analysis. As we interrogated each other's interpretations, we discovered new connections and angles. This iterative process continued until we reached a consensus.

Findings

The overall analysis of the data reveals that Piyale mostly followed the stylistic and thematic trends prevalent in American advertisements at the time, and crafted ads that constructed and communicated a Westernized image of Turkish women and families. In line with the cultural currents of the 1950s and 1960s, the ads emphasize patriarchal gender roles and traditional family values and address the woman as a consumer whose priority is to please her husband and take good care of her children. Next, we discuss three themes prevailing in these advertisements: the American Dream, the glamour of movie stars and fashion, and the cult of domesticity. We conclude our analysis with an overall comparative summary of the key features of the Piyale advertisements.

Propagating the American Dream

In the post-World War II period, advertising industry developed rapidly in the United States and American ad agencies became worldwide trend-setters (Fox, 1984;Sivulka, 2011).

Advertising both reflected and defined the ways Americans thought and bought. It did not only help sell products but, more importantly, boost optimism of an expanding middle class who craved for material rewards after enduring economic depression and war (Heimann and Heller, 2015). As manufacturers utilized the technological innovations of wartime to develop new products for individual and household consumption (e.g., shaving cream, deodorant, furniture polish, frozen and prepared foods, kitchen and laundry appliances, automobiles and consumer electronics) marketers became busy advertising them. Many new products promoted labour-and time-saving properties, promising consumers increased productivity and leisure time.

The growth in population, the post-war 'baby boom', also led to higher demand for new housing. By the end of 1960s, one-third of the U.S. population lived in suburban areas surrounding metropolitan centres, lured by the expanded road network and affordable housing (Anonymous, 2003). The suburban house and its leisurely landscape promised spaciousness and privacy to the America's new middle class and fitted well to the ideals of modernization (Isenstadt, 1998). Combining glamour and utility, advertisements of this period disseminated the positive futuristic portrayals of the idealized modern familymother, father, son and daughterenjoying the comforts of their new home, the convenience of their automobile and added leisure time together. A new aesthetic standard rooted in technology, known today as mid-century modernism, promised a modern lifestyle that emphasized prosperity, optimism and security to the whole family (Anonymous, 2003).

These ideals were also prominent in Piyale advertisements published in the early 1960s (Figures 1 and2). For example, the ad in Figure 1 In terms of compositional meaning, the centrally-placed happy mother-father-children illustration signifies the salience of the concept of family. The layout puts more emphasis on the children and the pasta by giving them more space and placing them in the forefront. The father and mother are at the very back; in front of them are the kids and, at the forefront, is the pasta package. There is simplicity and clarity in the layout with the use of a plain, light colour background, which helps to emphasize the images in the foreground. The greyscale (semi-)realistic, cartoon-like illustration of the happy family has medium level naturalistic modality and follows a traditional portrait photography style where the focus is on the face (i.e., head-shot). Overall, the advertisement connotes a calm, happy and modern-traditional feel by its incorporation of the cultural lexicon of its time.

The ad in Figure 1-b is also based on the ideals of a happy, modern, nuclear family.

At the representational level, the ad combines the image of a modern kitchen, conveyed through a sleek, shiny and geometric countertop, with the idyllic images of what appears to be a family enjoying their summer holiday. On the countertop, the focal point is the package of Piyale and the newly cooked pasta in a stew pot next to it. With its steam coming out, the pasta dish awaits to be served and consumed. Through the large kitchen window, we peek to the outside: a summer day at either the lake or the sea, with the mountains and trees in the background. We see the family members in their swimsuits; father reads his newspaper sitting in his deck chair, children play beach ball, and the smiling happy mother in her bikinis, walks towards the window, probably to finish up the lunch preparation. The woman, who is placed at the centre and forefront, visually connects the product with its intended users and directs the interactive work.

Compositionally, the layout of this advertisement is symmetrical. The greyscale illustration is in the square format and lies at the top of the advertisement space, occupying two thirds of the composition. The illustration is based on semi-realistic representation and creates a feeling of almost cartoon-like drawing. This style of illustration well-matches the casual design style used both in the logotype and slogan. The logotype of the brand appears at the top-left corner of the composition. The brands slogan 'Piyale Adı... Ağız Tadı...' ('The name Piyale... Delightful palate...') is placed below the illustration and emphasized through the use of bold and large size typeface. The brand name and the slogan, due to their position, colour and size, appear as the most salient elements of the layout. They carry high information value and signify the importance of the brand's message. The illustration of the pasta package is of secondary salience; and, due to its smaller size, more intricate form and lower contrast with the background, the logotype of the brand is of tertiary salience.

The ad uses the semiotic potential of framing in a clever way. As Kress and van Leeuwen note (1996), depending on the placement of design elements framing can emphasize either disconnection or connection among the elements of a visual composition. The illustration shows both a scene inside the kitchen and a view outside of it. The window frame also functions as a painting frame which helps to emphasize leisure time spent with family.

The illustration calls attention to the inside-outside and asks the viewer to dream about the pleasures of holiday time with family along with consuming freshly cooked Piyale pasta.

Overall, the style of the advertisement denotes a cosy, friendly, and playful atmosphere. The characters and the storyline connote a desired style of living embedded in the notions of leisure time, happy family, and modern house.

A similar emphasis on happy family enjoying a modern life is visible in Figure 1-c.

The family is now portrayed on the driveway of their house, preparing for a holiday trip. Both the house and the car connote the lifestyle of American suburbs. Yet, the detached villa sits in contrast to the typical housing format in Turkey, the apartment flat. The mother's clothing follows the prevalent Western fashions of the time; she wears a strapless full skirt summer dress, with tiny waist and sexy bust. The daughter, who also wears a summer dress, holds an excessively large-sized package of Piyale. In line with the prevailing gender roles, while the daughter carries the pasta package, the son and father deals with packing and organizing the trunk of the car. The Panama style hat that the father wears is in line with the fashion trends of the time and further symbolizes leisure.

Compositionally, this ad also employs symmetry. The illustration is placed in the central position, and the family members, the house, the car and all other visual elements are evenly distributed around the vertical central axis of the composition. This is an easy-tofollow visual organization that gives the viewer a feeling of balance. The most salient part of the composition is the brand name, PİYALE MAKARNASI, which is placed at the bottomcentre of the advertisement. The illustration is a semi-realistic representation and, to some extent, has a cartoon-like feel. The illustration style and the composition connote the concept of family and suggest the modern, affluent, suburban housing environment as the markers of a desired style of living.

Overall, the advertisements in Figure 1 revolve around the idea of a happy, middle class family, enjoying a prosperous lifestyle. The ads feature the nuclear family and showcase a lifestyle that is embodied in Western inspired objects such as Dior's New Look inspired full skirt dress, modern and sleek kitchen furniture, car, and detached house. While disconnected from the traditional Turkish culture and ways of living, these advertisements reflect the images of affluent and consumerist lifestyle associated with the American culture. In reality, in those times, living in suburban villas, driving latest model cars, or going on holidays would be out of reach for the majority of Turkish consumers. Nevertheless, Piyale's use of such imagery suggests that the allure of the American Dream, the modern, comfortable, flourishing life reflected through the use and display of modern mass consumption items, had been an attractive advertising strategy in reaching out to the emerging middle class consumers. At a broader level, this strategy resonates well with the prevailing discourses and trends of the period.

As the United States came to symbolize progress and modernization in Turkey in the 1950s and 1960s, it had profound effects on the local design culture and architectural style (Gürel, 2009). Since the 1930s, but especially in the 1950s, prominent contemporary Turkish architects and decorators endorsed the taste and appeal of European Modernism that favoured the simple, geometric and unadorned. Modernist furniture and architecture, which disseminated extensively from the United States after the Second World War, connoted stability and the spirit of modern civilization. In mid-20th century Republican Turkey, consumption of modern domestic furnishings was a strategy for displaying the superiorperceived Western taste and a modern way of living in Turkey especially among the uppermiddle and upper-class consumers (Gürel, 2009).

The luxurious hotel projects of the era, particularly the pivotal Istanbul Hilton Hotel, were instrumental in spreading the Western design codes and consumption practices. Built by the American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in collaboration with Turkish architect Sedad Hakkı Eldem, Istanbul Hilton opened in 1955. According to Conrad Hilton, the hotel and the city, standing "thirty miles from the Iron Curtain" was "a tremendous place to plant a little bit of America" (Hilton 1957, p.264-5). The hotel soon became a favourite gathering place of Istanbul's high society for dining, entertainment, parties and weddings (Erce, 1957(Erce, , 1958)). The Hilton did not only provoke a shift to modern taste in home decoration (Eldem, 1973) but also promoted new habits. For example, the idea of socializing over alcoholic beverages led to the incorporation of 'American bar' in the homes of higher income groups in Turkey. As a spatial structure, the American bar organized the space for socializing and entertaining; as a status symbol it enabled the inhabitants to "reproduce [d] themselves as members of a socio-cultural group shaped by the changes of society in response to global dynamics, aspirations for modernity and the post-war American influence" (Gürel 2009, p. 61).

It is not surprising, then, to see a reference to the American bar in Piyale advertisements. For example, in an ad published first in 1962, as greyscale (Figure 2) and then re-published in 1964 in coloured version, we see a woman sitting at what appears as an American bar and talking on the phone. The text located at the bottom centre reads: 'Evet efendim, makarna muhakkak Piyale olsun…' (Yes Sir, pasta must definitely be Piyale'). It is not clear whether she talks with her husband or somebody else (i.e., instructing delivery from the grocery store) but she insists that the brand should be Piyale. In terms of formal composition, the advertisement uses a layout structure similar to those of advertisements in Figures 1-a, b andc. The layout is symmetrical along the vertical axis. The illustration occupies a large area and, below it, the tagline appears in an easy-to-read typeface size. The illustration is colourful; the yellow background provides a good contrast with the red dress of the woman. The colour of the dress matches the colour of the brand name PiYALE, reinforcing the idea that Piyale is the preferred choice.

The overall decoration of the setting resonates with Western aesthetic taste and the modernist furniture design. The American bar with its sleek and shiny surface and unadorned geometric form reflects the spirit of its time and responds to a concern for taking part in a new modern identity. As Maffei (2013) notes, shininess was a popular marketing concept and acted as a symbol of modernity in post-WWII America. Qualities like lustre, brightness and gleam were used to connote a range of meanings associated with consumer modernity, including stylishness, novelty, cleanliness and even a kind of domestic 'magic' (ibid.). By incorporating the narratives of modern design and architecture, the advertisement seeks to associate Piyale brand with the symbols of progress and modernity. In sum, signifiers of American style consumption and references to the happy, nuclear family are abundant in Piyale advertisements. Prominent in these ads are the images of the Western-looking, wellgroomed family members who enjoy the pleasures of a modern life.

New Look and the Glamour of Movie Stars

Advertising is notorious for promoting a 'beauty ideal' (Greer, 1999) and presenting "the exemplary female prototype" (Cortese, 1999). Studies indicate that advertisements often use attractive female bodies to draw audience attention (Jhally, 1989;Kilbourne, 1999).

Furthermore, research suggests that many of the Western advertising conventions are transferred cross-culturally and shape the advertising practices in non-Western contexts (Griffin, Viswanath, and Schwartz, 1994;Frith and Mueller, 2003). Hence, while advertising messages can be resonant with the social norms and cultural values of a given society, they may also reflect non-local aspirations, imaginations and behaviours (Mueller, 1987;Zhao and Belk, 2008). In this regard, advertising plays an important role in promoting new images and ideals, and influence consumers' expectations and desires.

The way women are represented in Piyale Pasta advertisements discussed so far indicates endorsement of Western beauty and body ideals. The images promoted always show Western-looking, well-groomed, young and fit women. Even though the advertisements may not directly mention beauty and physical allure, through their imagery they convey the message of an attractive female role model. We find that there are also examples in which references to beauty are more explicit (Figure 3). These Piyale ads are part of a six-ad series that ran in the Hayat Magazine in 1957. All feature close-up greyscale portrait photographs of female models who seem to be enjoying good time out, may be dining or partying. They all look attractive in their sexy evening gowns and Hollywood inspired hair styles and make-ups. The pictures of women have high naturalistic modality and, through their central placement, constitute the most salient elements of the composition. The symmetrical layout of the composition in the top section sets a contrast to the asymmetrically-placed logotype at the bottom-left corner. The texts are simple and encourage women to consume pasta. The copy of the ad published in the May 17 issue (Figure 3-a) reads: "Enjoy eating the pasta, the doctor approved it. Your silhouette won't be damaged". The text refutes the concern over gaining weight because of eating pasta and, in contrast, promotes the idea that consuming pasta helps preserve youth and body shape. Highlighting the importance of a fit body, the woman featured in the advertisement published in the June 28 issue (Figure 3-c) proclaims: "Look, more than any other thing, I owe my beauty, my slenderness to Piyale!" An advertisement designed by Ihap Hulusi, which appeared in May 16, 1963 issue (Figure 4), features a woman whose soft curly medium-short hair and dignified stance remind the iconic beauty of Grace Kelly. The illustration is photo-realistic and has high level of naturalistic modality with its perfect greyscale colour balance. The illustration of the woman occupies most of the ad space and, along with the pasta package, constitutes the most salient element of the composition. The seductive gaze of the woman is on the viewer, signifying an invitation to try the product. Likewise, the woman presented in the ad in Figure 5, with her short hair and perfect curls, is reminiscent of Hollywood stars; she looks like Doris Day. The overall layout of this ad is asymmetrical where high salience is given to the illustration, the headline, and the brand name via colour and size contrast. Such an arrangement provides the ad with high information value. The copy reads: "Ask the one who has a refined palate! All good-food enthusiasts say (if you want to eat the best pasta choose PIYALE). Indeed, PiYALE is manufactured in the most modern factory of our country, with the best semolina and the best technique.

-For children, Piyale is a nutritious and delicious food, always eaten with pleasure.

-For the housewife, Piyale is easy-to-cook and a palatable treat.

-For the head of the family, Piyale is the economical, healthy and ideal food."

The text addresses its audience in a very polite and respectful manner; the careful selection of words and courtly style of expression typify the prevailing attitude of Turkish advertising copywriters of the time (Baransel, 2003;Özkan, 2004). The copy gives information about Piyale pasta's high quality ingredients and modern production facilities and summarizes its key benefits to children, women and men. The benefits for each target consumer group align with the stereotypical gender role expectations.

In these and other advertisements previously discussed, the visual cues communicated through hair styles, body shapes, and clothing play an important role in disseminating the Western ideals of beauty. The post-war decade had been influential not only in political and economic terms but also in shaping design and fashion trends. Innovations from both European and American sources helped create new looks that aimed to erase the residue of the humble, dull and mannish appearances women adopted during the austerity of the war years. In the 1950s, Western women would look lavish, luxurious and ultra-feminine with their neatly-coiffed hair and elegant dresses (Sinclair, 2012). With the invention of blow dryer and hair spray, hairdressing industry grew rapidly and created new hairstyles. Among the most popular were bouffant and beehive (Ch, 2017). Hollywood stars, such as Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, had been highly influential in popularizing the new hairstyles (Team, 2013). These trends found a welcome reception in Turkey as well, both among the hairdressers and the consumers (Öztan and Korucu, 2017). In line with this general acceptance, the images of women featured in Piyale advertisements reflect the popular hairstyles of the time: the perfect and playful soft curls (Figures 2,3,4 and 5), the bouffant (Figures 1, 6 and8) and the beehive (Figure 7). Moreover, their outfits mirror the prevailing fashion trends of the period, which mostly emanated from Paris and disseminated through Hollywood movies and stars. We observe two dominant dress styles. First, there is the full-skirted dress, typically associated with the 1950s housewife (Figures 2, 6 and7). Second, there is the slim-skirted dress that emphasizes the tight hip and buttocks along with contoured shapely legs (Figure 8). Both styles were designed by Christian Dior and aimed to show off the ideal female body type of the 1950s -a small waist, shapely childbearing hips and the pointy bombshell bosom.

Christian Dior presented his first haute couture collection on February 12, 1947. The show featured his 'flower' line which employed a highly-defined tiny waist, a bust standing proud with soft shoulders, and the skirt long and full flowing. The look was regarded as opening a new era in the world of fashion and symbolising a new femininity (Sinclair, 2012).

Came to be known as the 'New Look', the style fitted well to the post-war gender role division. Women, who had been active in the labour force during the war years, were expected to return to passive roles as housewives and mothers. Dior's 'flower women' epitomised the caring, capable and beautiful womanhood (Anonymous, 2018). When Hollywood stars, such as Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly, wore Dior dresses, the New Look became the look (Sinclair, 2012). On 29 July 1954, Dior presented another line, referred to as 'H' Line. As the form of the letter 'H' implies, the silhouette was straight with a slight accent on the waist, featuring a flattened high bust, emphasising length in the leg. The pencil/slim skirt soon became another popular style (Borrelli-Persson, 2016;Sinclair, 2012). Overall, the images of women featured in Piyale advertisements reflect the popular fashion trends of the time and reinforce the Western ideals of beauty and body that privilege youth, elegance, slimness and glamour. Women, with their uncovered hair and fashionable clothing of the times, look like their counterparts featured in American and European advertisements.

The Cult of Domesticity

The culture of domesticity (or, in short, cult of domesticity) refers to the value system prevailing in the United States and the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century (Keister and Southgate 2012;Welter, 1966). This value system emphasized the role of women as the centre of the family and promoted the idea that 'true women' possess four cardinal virtues: piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. In addressing women as modern consumers, advertising in the 1950s and 1960s continued to reinforce the cult of domesticity and disseminated images that aligned with traditional and patriarchal family values and gender roles. While women were depicted as happy housewives, caring for their families, men were shown as the bread-winners of the household. The families typically had two children, one girl one boy; the girl resembled the mother and boy resembled the father in terms of roles and appearances.

Domesticity is also a key theme that characterized Piyale Pasta advertisements. Many of the ads published between 1956 and 1966 depicted Turkish women as home-bound and subservient wives happily fulfilling domestic chores and serving delicious and nutritious pasta dishes to their husbands and children. These advertisements depict marriage and domesticity as the ultimate goal for a woman and send the message that being a housewife and mother is the proper female role. The scenes of happy and joyful housewives glorify the notion of a nurturing mother and reinforce the traditional feminine identity. The advertisements often use visual cues to communicate the domestic status and responsibility of women. For example, the woman in Figure 2 wears the classic half apron that runs from the waist down to the knee on her short-sleeved full skirt red dress. Historically, an apron-wearing woman either signified the mother who took care of her family or represented a servant working in a wealthy home. As the 1950s highlighted women's role as the primary caregiver for family and witnessed their return to full-time homemaking, aprons exploded in popularity (Bradley, 2012). The apron-wearing housewife appeared on television and in advertisements and movies, and perfectly matched the family-centric view of the 1950s (ibid.). This stereotypical accessory seems to have found a welcome reception in Piyale Pasta advertisements. In a group of ads that ran in the 1965, Piyale used the apron, both in the form of the classic half apron and the French maid inspired mini version (Figures 2, 6 and7). In comparison to the half apron, The French Maid style is smaller and paired with short skirts and form-fitting tops. In the later form, the apron becomes a more sexually provocative object. Both apron styles were referenced in Piyale advertisements. However, in both cases, the advertising message highlighted the role of woman as a housewife and downplayed the potential of a seductive female character. For example, the ad in Figure 6 shows a gathering over dinner. The copy reads: "The time of Ramadan came. The mosques are illuminated with light. The call for breaking the fast is out. Piyale is eaten eagerly". While the scene depicts a Turkish family waiting to break their fast with a plate of pasta, the clothing and furniture styles suggest Western ambiance. The dining chairs are plain, unadorned, simple and functional. The lead woman, who brings the food to the table with enthusiasm, is dressed in the dominant fashion trends of the time -Dior's A-line inspired skirt widening over the legs and the classic half apron. With her tiny waist, composed posture and elegant look, she reproduces the prevailing images of the perfect housewife. In terms of compositional structure, the advertisement layout is mostly symmetrical. The centrally placed, large-size illustration of happy family gathered around the dinner table reflects the salience of both the notions of family and the housewife. Among different elements, the woman carrying the plate of pasta, with her large-size and active pose, has the highest salience. She proudly and happily serves her family while looking well-groomed and fashionable. The cartoon-like illustration of the ad has low-level naturalistic modality and the style complements the cartoonlike typeface style of both the slogan and the logotype.

Similarly, a series of ads published in 1965 featured illustrations of beautiful, wellgroomed, and slim women ready to serve a large plate of pasta (Figure 7). They all appear in their fashionable gowns -either in Dior's New Look inspired full skirt dresses or slim pencil skirts, accompanied mostly by mini, French maid style aprons. They all look happy and smile. The illustrations have low naturalistic modality with their cartoon-like drawing styles; yet, they look attractive as they resemble the highly stylized fashion illustrations. These ads employ simple layout designs; the illustrations are placed centrally and the remaining elements: the slogan, headline and logotype are placed either at the top or the bottom part of the ad. The brand continues to use its then famous slogan 'Piyale adı ağız tadı' accompanied with headlines highlighting different features of Piyale Pasta. In all the executions, women are depicted standing or sitting legs or ankles closed. This particular posture signals respect and a dignified stance and lessens the sexual connotations that might arise from the outfits they wear. In terms of interactive work, the advertisements direct consumers' attention to the product advertised through fixing the gaze of women on the plate of pasta.

In another series of ads that appeared in the same year (Figure 8), the illustrations of women are now accompanied by recipes of different pasta dishes. In these ads, the stylistic unity in terms of layout organization is well-managed; they all employ the same unifying asymmetrical layout structure. Similar to the representational format of the ads in Figure 7, the illustrations have low naturalistic modality due to their cartoon-like styles. The outfits used in these ads, strap slim-skirted mini dresses accompanied with French Maid style aprons, make women look sexier. In an attempt to soften sexual connotations, they are shown sitting legs and ankles closed. In line with the trends of the time, their hairstyles are either bouffant or beehives. The ads use frames to emphasize the design elements. The highest salience is given to the illustration of flowers (via their high size and colour contrast), then to the brand name (via its large size and high colour contrast), and then to the image of the plate of pasta and the woman. The slogan of the brand has tertiary salience with its smaller size and decorative style. The combination of images and the text produce multi-layered set of meanings that simultaneously convey messages about being a well-groomed, fashionable, sexy but at the same time good and creative housewife.

In sum, the advertising reflections of the cult of domesticity glorify the traditional female role of caring for family and convey being a housewife as the most desired career for women. Similarly, Piyale advertisements portray an image of happy family that valorises the patriarchal gender roles and portrays the kitchen as an extension of a woman's identity.

Summary

In general, we observe that Piyale advertisements followed the trends established by American advertising agencies both in terms of content and composition. These advertisements reproduced gender, family and lifestyle related ideals that were disseminated through American advertising and popular culture of the period. Moreover, they sought to copy the compositional features of the American advertisements of the early 1950s. As we have discussed, image dominant, simple layout designs characterized most of the Piyale ads published in Hayat magazine between 1956Hayat magazine between -1966. More than half of these ads are heavy on pictorialisma standardized format developed by the American advertising masters in midtwentieth century (Heimann and Heller, 2015). This conventional design approach entails symmetrical layout, with large-size image on top and ad copy at the bottom of the composition.

Mainstream print ads in the post-World War II America mostly appealed to middlebrow tastes. In order to provide a comfortable reading experience to the consumers, advertisements tended to employ literal and colourful illustrations rather than abstractions and hard-to-understand ideas. By the late 1950s, with the advancements in photographic techniques, illustrative solutions came to be replaced by more realistic photographic images (Heimann and Heller, 2015). American print advertisements began to utilize full-colour realism, experimental placements, crops, angles and layouts to create a sophisticated photographic experience and introduce surprise and playfulness into the composition. In comparison, Piyale advertisements are in the form of narrative, literal representations that mostly consist of simple, greyscale cartoon-like illustrations (68% of the ads in the sample) with medium (or low) level naturalistic modality. Use of photography is rare; only %18 of the ads in the sample has photographic image. Avoidance of colour indicates an economical design decision. Rather than dynamic and/or experimental compositions, image-making and typography, Piyale ads use static, calm, and simple compositions. This easy-to-understand and economic model seems to be a convenient choice in 1950s Turkey, where adult literacy rate was only 28% (Altuğ, Filiztekin and Pamuk, 2008) and advertising was still a rather new practice for both consumers and companies. The low literacy rates might also be related to the little use of text in Piyale advertisementsonly 9% of the ads in the sample has copy. In addressing their audiences, the ads use an honest, respectful, naïve, and clear manner of expression. As Özkan (2004) observes, until 1970s, Turkish advertising industry had closely followed literary norms and copywriters tended to favor courtly, scrupulous and very polite language. The texts and slogans used in Piyale advertisements confirm this observation. Moreover, the textual elements convey a rather serious attitude and present mostly factual information, such as details about price, production technology, and nutritional value of the product. While use of humour and/or satire was a deliberate strategy in mid-twentieth century American advertising (Heimann and Heller, 2015), it is less evident in Piyale advertisements. Nevertheless, there is some element of humour and surprise in the illustrations and the logotype style. The cartoonlike illustration of the male cook and the cartoon-like typeface style of the logotype have an air of playfulness. Images used in Piyale ads are mostly cosy and friendly, and they unite well with the brand's playful and humorous logotype.

Overall, unlike the American advertisements that creatively blended humour and satire with a sophisticated visual approach, Piyale Pasta advertisements are characterized by the use of simple visuals and simple layout design. The lack of good-and-balanced typography, realistic and full-colour illustration, and balanced-and-creative layout design indicate lower level of design proficiency. Furthermore, the lack of witty and humorous copy result in a rather bland reading experience. Within the broader social, cultural, political and economic context of the Turkey, Piyale Pasta advertisements are indicative of Turkish brands' aspirations toward mimicking the conventions of American advertising albeit in a more economic, novice and modest manner.