Rebels and Colleagues

A significant but largely unremarked aspect of recent social change in Quebec - the striking transformation of the advertising industry in that province - under the impact of the Quiet Revolution - is here examined for the first time in depth. The change dates from the early 1960s, when an industry in which English Canadians had long held most of the positions of responsibility, and Quebecois rarely advanced beyond the level of translators and clerks, first experienced the growing public demand that Quebec institutions should express a distinctive French-Canadian culture. Professor Elkin analyses and documents the subsequent developments, in particular the increasingly successful fight by French Canadians in advertising to gain more important decision-making roles in the profession. Personal resentment, professional concern, and the new spirit of nationalism are all shown to have played a part in the activities of the French. The reactions of their English colleagues are explored as well.The study includes material on the changing advertising themes in the mass media, the growth of a French-Canadian professional association, improved language adaptations, the development of independent French-Canadian advertising agencies, and on the role, in the dynamic events of the decade, of the "new middle class" advertising men. The final chapters go beyond a discussion of advertising to offer a contribution to a wider knowledge of occupations, ethnic groups, and social change. Two general models of a subordinate ethnic group in upsurge are presented-one dealing with the dilemmas and choices of the members of an occupation and the other with the reaction against the increasing cultural influence from the dominant group.

Frederick Elkin is a Professor of Sociology at York University.