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Resource type: Journal Article Language: en: English Peer reviewed DOI: 10.3167/eca.2019.120105 BibTeX citation key: Leishman2019 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details |
Categories: General Keywords: "The Adventures of Ba-Bru", Advertisement, Comic strip, Intermediality, Nationalism, United Kingdom, Western Creators: Leishman Collection: European Comic Art |
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Abstract |
Barr’s Irn-Bru (previously Iron Brew), Scotland’s best-known soft drink, was promoted by recurrent comic strip advertisements in Scottish newspapers from 1939 to 1970. ‘The Adventures of Ba-Bru’ featured an eponymous Indian character who was joined by a kilt-wearing companion known as Sandy. This article explores how what the firm presents as the longest-running promotional comic strip in history has helped shape the construction of Scottishness in the drink’s advertising. The exotic nature of the central Ba-Bru figure provides a counterpoint to manifestations of local particularism but also grounds the drink’s discourse on Scottishness in a wider imperial and unionist context. The comic strips also generate examples of intermedial transfer that underline the impact of quotidian consumption habits in a national identity shaped by popular culture.
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