Teaching advertising

The level of interest in the teaching of advertising has been distinctly modest to date in Italy, despite the considerable economic and social importance of this tool of communication. Only a few useful textbooks for teaching the subject have been published, but, more significantly, there has been no in-depth reflection on what specific approach and teaching methods should be adopted. This article seeks to start a reflection on what it means to teach advertising in universities, but also to ordinary citizens, who are usually major recipients of advertising messages today. The article attempts to analyze the main topics to address when teaching advertising communication, and looks at the tools required in order to teach these topics. It then considers the usefulness of the semiotic and social semiotic approach in teaching advertising. Finally, it examines the difficulties for teaching advertising posed by today’s economic and social role of the brand, whose nature is particularly complex.