Consuming Crisis

Consuming Crisis is a crucial account of how consumer culture capitalized on Coronavirus (COVID-19). Sobande explores how brands claim to care while they encourage people to 'keep calm and consume'. This critical analysis of the power and politics of marketing examines an eclectic mix of campaigns, content, and experiences. Such work outlines the societal significance of fast-fashion adverts, banana bread's pandemic 'moment', university social media strategies, and how digital technology mediates memories and work. Based on the belief that brands cannot be activists, Sobande creatively considers how brands construct care, camaraderie, culture, and so-called 'normal' life during times of crisis.

Francesca Sobande is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Studies at Cardiff University

Auteur

Dr Francesca Sobande is a Lecturer in Digital Media Studies at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University, UK. She is the author of The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), co-editor with Professor Akwugo Emejulu of To Exist is to Resist: Black Feminism in Europe (Pluto Press, 2019), and co-author with layla-roxanne hill of Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland (Bloomsbury, forthcoming). Francesca tweets at @chess_ess and more information about her work is available at francescasobande.com