Social Advertising Industry in Contemporary Ukraine: A Sociological Interpretation Attempt

Abstract

The article offers a sociological interpretation of social advertising as a multifunctional phenomenon that combines elements of public communication, social control, meaning-making, and civic mobilization. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing role of social advertising in the context of the full-scale war in Ukraine, where it transcends purely informational or moral communication and becomes a tool of cultural resistance, solidarity support, and the formation of new models of civic identity. The author examines how social advertising in a (post)war society performs not only educational but also normative and integrative functions, acting as a crucial element in the construction of social order. Methodologically, the article is based on the combination of two paradigms: structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism. Within the first, social advertising is interpreted as an institution that fulfils macro-functions of integration, socialization, and adaptation, reinforces values and norms, and ensures the reproduction of social order. Within the second, advertising is analyzed as a field of symbolic interaction, where an ongoing struggle over meaning, representation and normativity takes place. Drawing on examples of real Ukrainian social campaigns (e.g., Together We Are Strong, How Are You?, Mine Danger Is a Reality), the article demonstrates how social advertising constructs meanings, normalizes practices, and publicly articulates social problems. In the concluding section, the author reflects on the limitations of the chosen methodology: structural functionalism is assessed as potentially reducing the dynamic nature of advertising to functional stability, while symbolic interactionism may overlook broader institutional and political-economic contexts. Thus, social advertising emerges not only as a communication tool but also as a driver of social change and an indicator of societal transformations.