On Thursday, December 8th, 2022, Prof. emer. Diana Stolac, PhD, and associate Prof. Anastazija Vlastelić, PhD held a lecture at Moise Palace titled The Past and Present of Croatian Advertising: Is Beauty (Really) in the Eye of the Beholder?

Associate Prof. Anastazija Vlastelić, PhD and Prof. emer. Diana Stolac, PhD

Advertisement is media content that aims to inform potential buyers about goods or services.

If we expect advertising to be primarily informative, we won’t be able to make sense of most of today’s adverts – many of which engage with the user primarily through attention-grabbing visuals or content, leaving the actual information in the background. These eye-catching strategies have been growing for three centuries, and continue to develop today.

The principle remains the same: omitting or clouding certain information in favor of shiny pictures and upbeat messages of happiness, success, safety, wealth, youth, and beauty.

This dream of perfect beauty and eternal youth – an essential part of the female identity, along with self-affirmation through spending, and consumer culture which has been a critical factor in society’s development since the 1950s – has contributed to the steady and rapid growth of the cosmetic industry.

Croatian cosmetic advertising from the 1930s shows this same goal: to stay forever young and beautiful – “because I deserve it“.

UNIRI The Moise Palace: Cres Island

An education center of the University of Rijeka. A five-hundred-year-old patrician townhouse and the largest Renaissance palace on the Croatian islands. A venue and forum for various scientific and research activities, it welcomes visiting academics, students and scholars.