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Soft Focus V.9 .pdf (9.66 MB)

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Soft Focus: The Invisible War For Reality

King, John
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1626953472815601

Abstract Details

2021, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Popular Culture.
This thesis will explore critically and describe new techniques in cultural persuasion, which I refer to as soft focus, built upon earlier models commonly referred to as soft power or soft war, that were used by national governments to create cultural currency to manipulate domestic and foreign policies. Governments would non-forcibly attempt to attract the public to their value systems through culture. These techniques, sometimes referred to as “soft focus” in the small circles that follow and practice them, are now used in service and sales industries to non-coercively persuade potential clients, often in ways that are not detectable as marketing. In glamor photography, soft focus is a term for the treatment of an image that eliminates blemishes and can give a smooth or dream-like appearance. In the commercial world, soft focus aims to do much the same by presenting a reality that is beautiful and welcoming. The techniques, primarily used on or in tandem with social media, take several different avenues but attempt to move the focus away from traditional advertising by creating a reality that is believable, often in ways that do not seem to be distributed by the marketer; although these attempts are often inviting, some methods create difficult situations, dystopian versions of reality, or give the user no other option than what is presented by the social media platform. This thesis will not side with or against soft focus, as the aim is to identify and analyze, not to shame or celebrate. Certainly, these techniques are deployed by companies in a capitalist culture, and with it come all the trappings of unfettered capitalism, including monopolizing the marketplace, exploiting labor, and covering up abuse, and this thesis explores these themes, but it also looks at efforts to use these techniques to produce positive social change.
Jeremy Wallach (Advisor)
77 p.
American Studies; Communication; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications; Web Studies
Persuasion; Hyperreality; Advertising; Convergence Culture; Soft Focus;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • King, J. (2021). Soft Focus: The Invisible War For Reality [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1626953472815601

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • King, John. Soft Focus: The Invisible War For Reality. 2021. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1626953472815601.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • King, John. "Soft Focus: The Invisible War For Reality." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1626953472815601

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1626953472815601
332
© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.