The Empire Strikes Back: Projections of National Identity in Contemporary Russian Advertising

The circulation of allusions, resonances, and emotional propositions connected with the marketing of native products in the Russian Federation today is an important source of information about projections of national identity. Of particular interest is tobacco and alcohol advertising. A ban on access to television means that tobacco companies spend enormous resources on the blanket coverage of urban areas with billboards and, increasingly, on the routes of communication between those areas.' The ephemeral nature of these advertisements, and their relatively recent appearance in Russia, means that they are an underutilized resource in the analysis of post-Communist cultural changes. Since the recovery of the economy after 1995, a large number of specifically Russian products (leaving aside, for the moment, whether the concerns that produce them are Russian-owned or not), as opposed to generic, or multinational brands have been marketed on a scale comparable to that in other European countries. However, it is only since the devaluation of the ruble after the economic crisis of 1998 that the Russian advertising industry proper can be said to have taken off. The rapid switch off of imports after the ruble crash proved a perfect opportunity for Russian companies to respond to consumer demand with cheaper home-produced products. With the exit of multinationals in large numbers the growing advertising industry was quickly transformed into a machine for promoting Russian and quasi-Russian products. The proportion of global products