Corporate colors and trademarked images in the Mexican retail landscape

"The Mexican retail sector is characterized by the existence of a great number of small semi-formal shops. Because these small businesses are typically located in structures that are all but indistinguishable from those of houses, store owners traditionally employ vivid colors and handpainted advertising art to communicate their retail function and to advertise the goods and services they sell. Since the 1940s, the traditional use of colors and murals has increasingly been replaced by corporate colors and logos and appropriated images from the mass media that are associated with the United States. This dissertation analyzes and explains the corporatization of the Mexican commercial landscape through a case study of the Mexican city of Hermosillo, Sonora. In particular, it addresses the contemporary use of colors, murals and logos, signage, and media and architectural images within three study sites and the impact of external and internal factors on this vernacular tradition. Two processes of hybridization are emphasized. They consist of the hybridization of traditional forms of advertising art by large multinational corporations to promote their brands and the hybridization of corporate logos and media images by small business owners to sell products. Several questions are posed in this research that focus on the corporations involved in painting the facades of local businesses, the origin of appropriated symbols and images, the types of retail businesses that employ them, and the socioeconomic context in which they are used. Utilizing the concept of place-product-packaging, it is shown that the use of these images can be explained by the need for a recognizable retail identity in an increasingly globalized economy in which brand name goods, franchising, and national and international chains play an increasingly prominent role in the economy. At the same time, the widespread use of appropriated advertising art demonstrates the importance of American symbols for selling goods. Besides global forces, national and regional influences are highlighted to explain the widespread presence of corporate logos and media images in the retail landscape."