# INTRODUCTION ccording to Wikipedia the definition of postmodernism is"Any style in art, architecture, literature, philosophy, etc., that reacts against an earlier modernist movement". The term was first used around the 1870s in various areas. For example, John Watkins Chapman avowed "a postmodern style of painting" to get beyond French Impressionism and J.M. Thompson in his 1914 article in "The Hibbert Journal" used it to describe changes in attitudes and beliefs in the critique of religion. Basically, the meaning of postmodern is the era of after the modernism when all the things have gone beyond modernity. Postmodernism brought change with itself. It changes the style of art, concept, paintings, religion most importantly it changes the thinking of people. After, the modern era the thinking of society changed and this turn around changed everything according to their thinking and that's why the postmodern came into existence. In short words, postmodern is the era where genre of art and literature and especially architecture in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism. Postmodern and modern are interrelated with each other, so we also have to understand the concept of modernism. The definition of modernism is "modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice". Modernism is the era before the postmodern where a historical change takes place according to their Author : Student of M-Phil (Marketing), Lahore Business School, University of Lahore, 1 K-M Defense Road, Lahore, Pakistan. Email : nimran_mustafa@hotmail.com environment. A historical period in Western culture and has its origins in the Enlightenment movement (a movement in Europe from about 1650 until 1800 that advocated the use of reason and individualism instead of tradition and established doctrine) at the end of the 18th century. In the period of modernism, people work in a contemporary style. Focus related to work of art in that era was to make it unique. The overall thinking of individuals was based on accepted cultural values and norms. There is nothing like over exposure and does not enhance the materialistic thinking. The modernism practices are typical of contemporary life or thought. Now, these two eras have also evolved in advertising. The type of postmodern advertising and modern advertising are totally different from each other. In the advertising industry the postmodern era started in 1944 onwards. In this industry, due to postmodernism a lot of things changed and its effects can also be seen in our society. If we see today's postmodern ads compared to the ads of modern times we can clearly see the difference between the two. The new postmodern technique comprises of techno based ads, full of graphics, digitally manipulated images and the excessive use of vulgarity and sexuality in the ads. Our life is surrounding by TV commercials, outdoor billboards, company's broachers, ads on radio etc. there is a vast use of electronic and non-electronic media these days unlike anything experienced ever before. Every corporate firm adopt advertising to promote their product through marketing campaigns, ads on the television, display their products on the billboards and through different advertising techniques they try to acquire attention of the customers. When we examine television advertising, we once again find art and technology being used to create simulations that tell stories in an effort to evoke desired reactions from audiences. But in advertising we see a strange new cultural creation, the 30-second commercial is full of drama, graphics, images, music, theatrical performances, superimposed illustrations, narration, and other elements, which reinforce each other to achieve their effect. To examine postmodern ads, we need to discuss some techniques that are used in such ads. Some of the techniques are given as under: ? Inventions of sound-bite, the sizzle of cooking food turns out to be a sound effect added during editing ? Simulation in the form of digitally manipulated images-full of talking dogs, children who grow to giant size, products that zoom into space, dancing credit cards and scenes that suddenly become twodimensional screens, ? Visual fantasy, deceptive images of the products, and false claims ? Trivial product information as if it is of momentous importance ? Use glamour or sex to attract audience ? A great many use humor to win over viewers and reduce the pretentiousness of the message ? Try to evoke a sense of empathy and sincerity in an effort to melt viewers emotionally into buying the product ? Last but not the least, females are used for erotic and pornographic purposes in the ads Now the advertising agencies mostly follow the postmodern techniques because they are following the rule of: "when you are in Rome, do as the Roman's do". When we are living in a society that follows the postmodern techniques, so how we can leave these things? Obviously we can't because a society is a formal association of people with similar interests. That's why the ad agencies follow the postmodern approach on the demand of society. When ads are running on the television or other devices, it directly effects on the society. Ads are for the people (who form the society collectively) to pursue them to buy products and services of the company. That's why it has a direct impact on the thinking, views, and personalities of the people and generates desired/undesired responses. A company's uses every possible postmodern technique in their commercials to ensure that a message goes to their customers that their product is perfect for them. Because of these things our society is gradually adopting postmodernism day by day. A lot of these changes have also been accepted by the Pakistan's society. Here a question arises. Has the Pakistan's society adopted these changes or not? If yes, than what is the response of the consumer and as well as the response of the society? If you study the ads made by the Pakistani advertising agencies, you can easily understand that they are following the postmodern advertising techniques here. Some groups in our society do not agree with these kinds of things. # II. # THEORETICAL SETTING Advertising is the main source of communication that connects the company's product and the customer. A company cannot sell a product by their own way; they have to adopt a source to transfer their message to the target audience. Either a very small firm or a giant corporation, both have to advertise their product and service to sell it and acquire a profitable margin. Advertising is the only way of doing this. But the main thing is what kind of method they adopt to advertise their product. If we study the ads in Pakistan, mostly are based on postmodernism. Pakistan's industry is growing day by day and companies have to face tough competition in the local market. As investment came here in the form of foreign investment and aid we saw a boom in our economy. The companies advertise their products through advertising by adopting the method of postmodernism or modernism in Pakistan. In this piece we have looked at the changes that have taken place in society over the last few decades and briefly examined the idea that we have now entered into a new postmodern era. Both postmodern advertising and modern advertising are being practiced in Pakistan's society. But due to postmodernism, a change has also come. This change has manipulated the concept of advertising. The ads are based on vulgarity and sexuality by using the females. This kind of concept is against our norms and values of the society but still prevailing. Due to this, one has to look at possible response of the consumers to see whether they are accepting this kind of ads or not. Whenever the company will go to distribute their product into some other country, firstly they study the characteristics of the society to check if the product is according to their norms and values, than promote it with their own way. By this way, a lot of new techniques also come from abroad and manipulate our society's culture. Technology is also a major driver of postmodernism. As we have discussed the techniques of postmodern ads, some of these techniques are driven through technology. Technology is the only way by which you can make digitally manipulated characters, graphics and pictures. For the last few decades, technology has been revolutionized and become an important and significant part of our life. Technology has provoked the post-modernity in the advertising industry. ![Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XI Issue XI Version I November 2011](image-2.png "A") © 2011 Global Journals Inc. (US) Globalization is the process by which a world is becoming interdependent; the information is shared on a worldwide scale. Globalization can also be a driver of postmodernism advertising in Pakistan. Nowadays, the process of communication with each other requires little effort. When you can easily access the information on worldwide web then you can adopt whatever you like. Pakistan markets are being increasingly globalized and trying to follow international standards. This is why the industry of advertising is in a position of progressiveness. We should also check the consumer response, when the audiences consume the ads by watching it on the television. What are their response regarding the ads and how they react by the effect of the postmodern or modern ads? The answer to this question is that such kind of advertisements greatly impact on society. They tend to change the characteristics, norms and values of the society. Pakistan industry follows the postmodern advertising but to certain limits. Because, our country is an Islamic country that's why there are people who do not accept such kind of things. ## III. ## DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Advertising is momentous for the promotion of the company's product to the target audience. Advertising is the only way through which we can deliver our message and increase the desire of audience to consume the product. But, there is a choice for the companies to either deliver their message through postmodern techniques or by modern techniques. It depends upon the acceptance of the society. In Pakistan, both techniques are being practiced but the level of postmodernism advertising is higher than the modernism advertising. To check the consumer response for accepting the postmodern ads in Pakistan, one should consult with the concerned people of advertising agencies to find out about their work and see where they stand now. Plus gather information from the members of the society to see what impact these advertisements have on their life. Consumer response will guide about the acceptance of these techniques (postmodern & modern) and is there any change in the society. It will also answer the question of whether; we should go for postmodern advertising or modern advertising in Pakistan. ## Future Research Future research can be done to study the status of Pakistan advertising industry, are they following the postmodern advertising or modern techniques. Research should also be done to check the response of the consumer and their impact on the society.