"From Baby's First Bath": Kaō Soap and Modern Japanese Commercial Design Export

@article{citeulike:5870719, abstract = {This article examines the effective application of modernist aesthetics to mass commerce in the advertising designs promoting Kaō soap in 1930s Japan. I demonstrate how the company aestheticized and distinguished its brand-name products, keying the deployment of modernist styles to the democratization of soap. Together with the state, advertisers played a central role in the molding of modern consumer subjects and in the creation of a national society. Kaō soap advertising reveals the processes by which the mobilization of women in the construction of new concepts and practices of modern living in Japan intertwined aesthetics, domestic hygiene, and national identity.}, author = {Weisenfeld, Gennifer}, citeulike-article-id = {5870719}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4134447}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/4134447}, doi = {10.2307/4134447}, issn = {00043079}, journal = {The Art Bulletin}, keywords = {1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, advertisers, advertising, aesthetics, babies, bath, bathing, brand\_name\_products, brands, clean, cleanliness, commerce, conceptualization, consumerism, democratization, deployment, design, domestic\_hygiene, domesticity, gender, health, hygiene, identity, japan, japanese, living\_in\_japan, masses, mobilization, modern, modernism, modernist, modernist\_aesthetics, molding, motherhood, national\_identity, nationalism, practice, soap, society, state, style, subjectivity, subjects, water, women}, number = {3}, pages = {573--598}, posted-at = {2009-10-01 22:40:37}, priority = {4}, publisher = {College Art Association}, title = {"From Baby's First Bath": Kaō Soap and Modern Japanese Commercial Design}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4134447}, volume = {86}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5870719 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5870719 N2 - This article examines the effective application of modernist aesthetics to mass commerce in the advertising designs promoting Kaō soap in 1930s Japan. I demonstrate how the company aestheticized and distinguished its brand-name products, keying the deployment of modernist styles to the democratization of soap. Together with the state, advertisers played a central role in the molding of modern consumer subjects and in the creation of a national society. Kaō soap advertising reveals the processes by which the mobilization of women in the construction of new concepts and practices of modern living in Japan intertwined aesthetics, domestic hygiene, and national identity. IS - 3 JF - The Art Bulletin SN - 00043079 EP - 598 TI - "From Baby's First Bath": Kaō Soap and Modern Japanese Commercial Design PB - College Art Association VL - 86 SP - 573 KW - 1890s KW - 1900s KW - 1910s KW - 1920s KW - 1930s KW - advertisers KW - advertising KW - aesthetics KW - babies KW - bath KW - bathing KW - brand_name_products KW - brands KW - clean KW - cleanliness KW - commerce KW - conceptualization KW - consumerism KW - democratization KW - deployment KW - design KW - domestic_hygiene KW - domesticity KW - gender KW - health KW - hygiene KW - identity KW - japan KW - japanese KW - living_in_japan KW - masses KW - mobilization KW - modern KW - modernism KW - modernist KW - modernist_aesthetics KW - molding KW - motherhood KW - national_identity KW - nationalism KW - practice KW - soap KW - society KW - state KW - style KW - subjectivity KW - subjects KW - water KW - women AU - Weisenfeld, Gennifer PY - 2004/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4134447 ER -