Shadow theater moving from stage to screen: Series of commercials for Pepsi and whom?

Abstract

Does the transformation of context and function in Turkish shadow theater amount to a loss? If such a work of folklore accents divergence from the usual characters and setting, does it no longer belong to "us"? Delving into a series of five Pepsi commercials broadcasted on TV for a Ramadan promotion in 2005, this article shall seek an answer to such questions. Voicing Pepsi's slogan "under every cap", this series shall be considered as a product of secondary orality based on an assessment of how similar techniques, structure and characters seen in the shadow theater known as "Karagöz" are put to use. With a critical standpoint towards the identity of the folk group addressed by this series, the article shall thus shed light upon how the shadow theater is reproduced by means of the city and technology.