Elite Advertisement in Nigeria

Elite Advertisement In Nigeria

Elite advertisements in Nigeria are various forms of personal leaning print, audio and visual ads sponsored by Nigerian elites to elaborate the achievements of a deceased acquaintance or to congratulate a colleague, family or friend. The advertisement are readily seen in the pages of Nigerian dailies, with some ads consuming more than ten pages filled with congratulatory messages to a prominent Nigerian on his birthday, wedding or recent honorary award. Usually, the obituaries of deceased businesspeople tend to be the most space consuming. Critical views have been expressed on the prominence of this forms of ads, ranging from Ken Saro-Wiwa view that the obituary ads were obnoxious to some readers view that the ads are merely a form of communication. However, the ads brings out questions about the influence in popular opinion and culture of excessive and dominating imagery and text made up of an individual's self-definition of his social and communal achievement and the elites influence within and beyond their circles. The ads are sometimes seen as an indirect way for elites to augment their status symbol in the society. Also it challenges the notion of social responsibility in the Nigerian press

However, there are ethno-regional variations in opinion and disposition towards the social marketing of elites in the country.