This volume examines advertising for McDonald’s, Levi’s, Frito-Lay, and Coca-Cola used in Poland from 1990 to 2007. Case studies reveal a complex relationship between the corporations and Polish society and challenge the assumption that companies force products and ideas into a new market and thus destroy traditions and cultures. Companies instead found that they must adapt to meet Poland’s cultural needs and pressures. Against a backdrop of globalization, the book contends, Poles transform and assimilate these outside products into their culture.

Jeffrey K. Johnson, a World War II historian for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Honolulu, Hawaii, is the author of several books and articles.

Jeffrey K. Johnson
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 244
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3797-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5256-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Introduction      1

1. In the Beginning: Socialist-Era Advertising      27

2. McPoland      57

3. Levi’s: Rebellion in a Size 6      86

4. When the Chips Are Down: Frito-Lay Poland      116

5. Red, White, and Cola: Coca-Cola Advertising in Poland      141

Conclusion      173

Works Cited      181

Index      189

“Johnson’s study should serve as an ideal model for all future examinations of commercial advertising…provides an incisive and extremely perceptive analysis of how advertising works as popular culture narrative…brilliant…wonderfully well-written…one of the best I have ever read”—The Journal of Popular Culture.