The 2015 Billboards Campaign: WhatWas That All About?

Abstract

The community organisations’ public relations campaign during 2015 and 2016 was extraordinary in several ways. Despite their reputation for gangsterism they publicised their organisations with many very large billboards displaying the names and pictures of their leaders, with hands held in prayer but muscles, tattoos and logos drawing upon old symbols of violence also prominent. This chapter draws upon Fairclough’s methodology for media discourse analysis to interpret both the text of the billboards and their context as they impacted community perceptions. The organisations constructed an image of themselves as organisations offering security and stability and this image resonated well with local practices but the campaign largely failed to dislodge negative perceptions of them (Translator: Miriam Ramsay).