Är SJ på rätt spår? : En kvalitativ studie om SJs normkritiska reklamkampanj och hur den tas emot av två generationer

Sammanfattning: For companies and organizations there's an ongoing battle to maintain reputation, by actively taking a stance in the public debate companies and organizations maintain their position on the market. SJ, Statens Järnvägar, is a Swedish train operating company owned by the Swedish state. In 2017 SJ released the first commercial from their advertising campaign ‘Vem du än är, vart du än ska’ that portray norm-breaking people on their rail travel. The purpose of this essay is to analyze, on the basis of three commercials that are part of SJ's advertising campaign ‘Vem du än är, vart du än ska’ how norms are maintained and challenged through the campaign. The study also aims to investigate how the commercials are being received among younger (22-25 years) and older (58-72 years) age groups, with particular focus on the group's perception of the campaign in relation to norms and corporate responsibility in society. Using tools based in the multimodal analysis we analyzed the commercials and through focus group interviews we gathered thoughts about the commercials from the older and the younger age groups. The theoretical framework based on representation, stereotypes, myths, norms and Corporate Social Responsibility has helped us analyze the commercials and distinguish the respondents thoughts about norms and corporate responsibility. The analysis showed that the respondents understood the message that everyone is welcome to travel with SJ, but they thought the shape of the commercials were weak. Although SJ wants to break norms and stereotypes, we could see that they consolidate certain stereotypes. The respondents stated that they saw a ‘designation’ and meant that by allowing a person to represent a whole group, others within the group may feel designated. The two age groups had similar opinions and we could not determine any major difference based on age. The two age groups did however differ in which subject they discussed most. All respondents expressed how important it was that everyone got a place in the media and that companies have a great responsibility over our social development.