by Gennifer Weisenfeld
504 pages, softcover, $45
Published by Duke University Press
dukeupress.edu

Advertising has always been about more than targeting shoppers and pushing product sales. It’s a tool that can shape culture, politics and the very way people see the world. In The Fine Art of Persuasion, Gennifer Weisenfeld, professor at Duke University, uses thoroughly researched case studies and a close-up look at the key players behind Japan’s ad landscape to unravel the history of Japanese advertising design from the early 1900s through the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Her recent work showcases how advertising became intertwined with national identity, politics and empire.

From the very beginning, trade journals like Advertising World and Commercial Art have supported, dissected and debated commercial art, pointing to the idea that Japanese advertising has been a mainstay of the corporate sector for some time. Weisenfeld herself studies the campaigns of Morinaga chocolate, marketed as not just a treat but a sign of progress. The candy company’s strategy tapped into health and wellness by partnering with athletes like Futabayama Sadaji. Ads featuring modern women, children and romantic couples highlighted Morinaga’s efforts to link the consumer good to health, strength and modernity. Or, as Weisenfeld writes, “Morinaga marketing wove grand-scale international politics into the fabric of daily consumption.”

Although dense at times, The Fine Art of Persuasion takes a thorough look at the close, complex relationship between consumer capitalism, Japan’s visual culture, militarist regime, war and globalization. Ultimately, Weisenfeld makes the case that advertising was the catalyst for not just branding building but political ideas, globalization and modernity in Japan. —Kimeko McCoy ca