NORMALIZING HAPPINESS: THE RHETORIC OF DEPRESSION IN DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER ADVERTISING

Abstract

Direct-to-Consumer advertisements for antidepressants suggest to a broad audience of American consumers that it is desirable to be productive in work and supportive of friends and family members in addition to being happy and well. The consumers' inability to reach this norm is ascribed to a possible medical condition that can be treated with particular pharmaceuticals. In this way, the ads act as rhetorical agents, defining some inclinations as desirable (normal) and others as undesirable (abnormal), and persuading consumers to regulate their behaviors through medication. Ultimately, these advertisements reinforce the boundaries between normal and abnormal emotional health.