Constructing Thai Masculinity through Beer Advertising: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Chang Commercials
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study investigates how masculinity is constructed and ideologically reinforced in Chang Beer advertisements through the interaction of verbal language, visual design, and auditory cues. Using a qualitative design, the study applies Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), theory of hegemonic masculinity, and broader media and cultural frameworks. The dataset includes two high-view Chang Beer commercials published between 2017 and 2020 on the brand’s official YouTube channel. The analysis followed a systematic coding protocol to examine the interplay between linguistic, visual, and sonic modes. Findings reveal that the advertisements construct a form of hegemonic masculinity characterized by refinement, discipline, social prestige, and national identity. Verbal cues invoke meticulousness and mastery, while visual techniques such as camera angles, gestures, and symbolic imagery position male characters as dominant yet composed. Auditory strategies—including silence, traditional Thai instruments, and ambient sounds—convey emotional control and cultural rootedness. These multimodal features collectively promote a narrow vision of masculinity while marginalizing alternative gender representations. The study highlights how such branding not only sells beer but also circulates sociocultural ideologies that privilege elite Thai masculinity. It argues for more inclusive advertising strategies that reflect the evolving dynamics of Thai society, including gender diversity and cultural pluralism.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).References
An, T. L., Waling, A., & Bourne, A. (2022). Men and masculinities studies in Vietnam: A brief review. Sociology Compass, 16(2), Article e12965. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12965
Anderson, B. R. O’G. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (3rd ed.). Verso.
Barry, B. (2018). (Re)fashioning masculinity: Social identity and context in men’s hybrid masculinities through dress. Gender & Society, 32(4), 638–662. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243218774495
Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies (A. Lavers, Trans.). Farrar, Straus & Giroux. (Original work published 1957).
Byun, C. (2016). A narrative strategy of storytelling advertising videos: Heineken’s case. Culinary Science & Hospitality Research, 22(1), 9–18. https://cshr.jams.or.kr/
Centre for Alcohol Studies. (2019). Alcohol control policies in Thailand. Thai Health Promotion Foundation. https://old.cas.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Alcohol-Control-Policies-in-Thailand.pdf
Chaiyasuk, I. (2008). A critical description of the persuasive discourse of British and Thai university web pages [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Birmingham.
Chang Beer. (n.d.). Lamiat. https://www.changbeer.com/en/our-lamiat
Chang Beer. (2017, January 5). Taste the unexpected [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSW798fC_xw
Chang Beer. (2018, January 18). Chang beer Lamiat TVC (60s) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP1Y9Ert86w
Chanvised, K. (2022). The role of social media in negotiating gender identity among young Thai women [Doctoral dissertation, University College London]. UCL Discovery. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148350/
Chen, Y. (2024). Media representation of male protagonists in Thai boy love commercials: A visual discourse analysis. Journal of Creative Communications, 19(2), 221–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/09732586241292461
Chladek, M. (2021). Defining manhood: Monastic masculinity and effeminacy in contemporary Thai Buddhism. The Journal of Asian Studies, 80(4), 975–995. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911821000723
Chung, M. K. (2012). Between the traditional and the modern: Image representations of women in Hong Kong and mainland China TV commercials [Master’s thesis, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University]. PoLyu Electronic Theses. https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/8522
Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003116479
Couldry, N. (2003). Media rituals: A critical approach. Routledge.
Eisend, M., Dens, N., & De Pelsmacker, P. (2019). Gender roles in advertising. In S. Rodgers & E. Thorson (Eds.), Advertising theory (2nd ed., pp. 187–198). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351208314
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Polity Press.
Feng, D. (2023). Multimodal Chinese discourse: Understanding communication and society in contemporary China (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003130659
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Harvard University Press.
Guest, G., MacQueen, K. M., & Namey, E. E. (2012). Applied thematic analysis. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483384436
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, media, language: Working papers in cultural studies, 1972–79 (pp. 128–138). Hutchinson.
Jaturapat, T., & Khattiya, S. (2020, May 1). Multimodal discourse analysis of gender ideology in television food advertisements in Thailand. In Proceedings of the RSU International Research Conference 2020 (pp. 1443-1453). Rangsit University. https://doi.org/10.14458/RSU.res.2020.144
Johnson, I. C. (2020). The Chinese rabbit seller and other (extra)ordinary persons: Reflecting on agency in traditional Central Thai mural painting. The Journal of the Siam Society, 108(1), 1–23. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/241793
Jukping, S. (2020). Re-inventing the martial ‘hero’ and the weak ‘beauty queen’ through the sporting identity: A tale of two competing gendered bodies, Muay Thai and the stability of the Thai nation-state. Sport in History, 40(3), 296–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2020.1775693
Klaisingto, P., & Aroonmanakun, W. (2010). Thai gender ideology: A view from representations of social actors in crime news headlines. Manusya: Journal of Humanities, 13(2), 37–49. https://doi.org/10.1163/26659077-01302003
Kornboontritos, S. (2023). Industry outlook 2024–2026: Beverage industry. Krungsri Research. https://www.krungsri.com/en/research/industry/industry-outlook/food-beverage/beverage/io/io-beverage-2024-2026
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Lee, T. K., & Song, G. (2017). Masculinity and aspiring consumption: A reception study of men's lifestyle magazines in contemporary China. East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 3(1), 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc.3.1.39_1
Louiyapong, K. (1996). A content analysis of the representation of masculinity in Singha beer commercials [Master’s thesis, Chulalongkorn University]. Chulalongkorn University Intellectual Repository. https://cuir.car.chula.ac.th/handle/123456789/37913
MacQueen, K. M., McLellan, E., Kay, K., & Milstein, B. (1998). Codebook development for team-based qualitative analysis. Field Methods, 10(2), 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X980100020301
Martin, G. (2022). Stories and selling: The impact of narrative storytelling in video commercials [Unpublished honors thesis]. Bryant University. https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=honors_communication
Messner, M. A., & De Oca, J. M. (2005). The male consumer as loser: Beer and liquor ads in mega sports media events. Signs, 30(3), 1879–1909. https://doi.org/10.1086/427523
Moor, L. (2007). The rise of brands. Berg.
Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
Paulus, T. M., & Lester, J. N. (2021). Doing qualitative research in a digital world. Sage.
Royal Institute of Thailand. (2014). Royal Institute dictionary: 2011 edition (2nd ed.). Royal Institute of Thailand.
Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Sage.
Schroeder, J. E. (2013). Brands and Branding. In D. Cook & M. J. Ryan (Eds.), Wiley-Blackwell Concise Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies (SSRN Working Paper No. 2352294). Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2352294
Schroeder, J. E., & Zwick, D. (2004). Mirrors of masculinity: Representation and identity in advertising images. Consumption Markets & Culture, 7(1), 21–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/1025386042000212383
Siripai, J., & Haywood, C. (2016). “Branding men”: Exploring men, masculinity and Thai alcohol brands in East Asian global markets. In X. Lin, C. Haywood, & M. Mac an Ghaill (Eds.), East Asian men (pp. 151–168). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55634-9_9
Thai Beverage Public Company Limited. (2024, January 9). Annual report 2023 [PDF]. Singapore Exchange. https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/THBEV_Annual_Report_2023_EN.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=782522
The ThaiTimes.com. (2025, August 26). Chang Beer intensifies rivalry in the Thai beer market. https://thaitimes.com/chang-beer-intensifies-rivalry-in-the-thai-beer-market
van Dijk, T. A. (2015). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Tannen, H. E. Hamilton, & D. Schiffrin (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (2nd ed., pp. 466–485). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584194.ch22
Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding advertisements: Ideology and meaning in advertising. Marion Boyars.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2016). Methods of critical discourse studies (3rd ed.). Sage.
Wongchalard, N. (2019). Heroes and representations of masculinity in Thai action films. Manusya: Journal of Humanities, 22(1), 34–53. https://doi.org/10.1163/26659077-02201002
Zahra, S. M., Mehdi, M., & Mehdi, A. (2024). The social media landscape: A multimodal discourse analysis of representations of women characters. Journal of Arts and Linguistics Studies, 2(2), 641–671. https://jals.miard.org/index.php/jals/article/view/122
Zayer, L. T., & Coleman, C. A. (2015). Advertising professionals’ perceptions of the impact of gender portrayals on men and women: A question of ethics? Journal of Advertising, 44(3), 264–275. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24749859
Zhang, L., & Jocuns, A. (2023). A multimodal critical discourse analysis of stance-taking in English news reports on the environment. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 18(2), 108–142. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/268653
Zhang, L., & Smith, C. A. (2024). Neoliberal, trouble-free worlds for an aspirational middle-class in Chinese EFL publications: A multimodal critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Communication, 18(2), 139–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813241237377
Zhao, J. J., & Bao, H. (Eds.). (2024). Routledge handbook of Chinese gender & sexuality (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003273943
