cultural studies presentation - hipsters and marketing

8/22/2019 Cultural Studies Presentation - Hipsters and Marketing

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Power of the Mind vs Power of the Wallet


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Research Questions

The average human is targeted by 3000 marketing

messages daily. What inf luence does this have on theconsumers?


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Research Questions

The market can only survive through spending of

capital on goods. But what is the market?


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Research Questions

What determ ines the select iveness o f

consumers in regards to the messages they act

on and the messages they are agains t?


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Research Questions

Can some consumers can see through the

propaganda craf ted by PR and Market ing wh i ls t

other can' t?


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Thesis

Tensions of late modernity (such as the identity as a

process) lead to anti-consumerists using cynicism as

a form of resistance to the capitalist consumerism.


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Thesis

PR and Marketing incorporatecynicism in their promotionaltactics, therefore developingmore sophisticated adverts,convincing the cynical conformistthat they chose what to buy ornot to buy.

This has the potential to blur theline between the two types ofconsumer (the classicconsumerist and the cynical one)and increase companies profits.


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What is Capitalism?

The Marxist view (which opposes Capitalism) :

the capitalists (owners of the means of

production) exploit workers by depriving them ofvalue that workers themselves create.


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Ideological Mystification of

Capitalism

Jameson (1994) claims that: it seems easier to

imagine the end of the world, than a far more

pragmatic change in the mode of production.


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Ideological Mystification

The capitalist ideology has captivated us so much

that we rarely question it. It has become the REAL

that cannot be stopped even by an ecologicalcatastrophe.

Most criticised aspect of capitalist doctrine:

CONSUMERISM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwppBm43eb8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwppBm43eb8


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The Postmodern Individual

Adorno (1944) an individual only experiences

himself as socially mediated and fetishizes man-

made institutions.


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Reification

Bewes (2002) describes reification as a conversion

of abstract concepts into something concrete.

The best example is THE MARKET (inexistent in

itself, yet such a pressing reality in todays economy)

A market The Market


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Resistance to Capitalism

An ideology is destined to

convince us of its truth, yet

actually serving someunavowed particular power

interest. (Zizek, 1994)

Activists, usually radical

ones claim that capitalismis a lie as an ideology.


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Anticonsumerism

The anticonsumerist & the cynical conformist have

realised that cultural capital and status (class) as

defined in the consumerist society is merely amechanism to drive sales.


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Ideological

Demystification

Zizek (2009)

Ideological mystification or the Blind consumer

Consumerism as belongingness to a class Object (mass produced) precedes subject

Demystification or the Knowledgeable consumer

2 axioms: - Egalitarian : radical or the

Anticonsumerist

- Moderate: the Cynical conformist


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Identity as a Process

DuGay (1996) : identity changes from inflexible

(based on family/religion) to a state

of process.


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What is it made of?

Bourdieu (1986) : cultural capital concept it assigns

any object, manner of speech or

style to a social class or subculture ofpeople


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Can we then assume

that

Given sufficient fungibles, one can believe they

attain status through purchasing huge amounts of

cultural capital, therefore gaining status.


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Just a Song?

All I know

Is everything is not as it's sold

But the more I grow the less I know

And I have lived so many lives

Though I'm not old

And the more I see, the less I grow

The fewer the seeds the more I sow

The pains of a pragmatic cynical conformist


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Anticonsumerism in its

Incipient Stage

French revolutionists called Situationists (Situs)

intuited how hard it would be to hang on to ones

core self in a world of manufactured desires andmanipulated emotions.


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Radical Anticonsumerism

AdBusters, the media activists who aim to eradicate

consumer capitalism

Buy Nothing Day

Credit Card Cut Up

C i l C f i t


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Cynical Conformists:

Hipsters

Hipsters = an ironic pastiche (combine cultures that

arent theirs, in an ironic manner)

Lumberjack outfit (never seen an axe in his life)

Works as part-time bartender Listens to country music and rap at the same

time


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Hipsters

Hipsters enjoy things ironically, not effusively, oozing

smugness and arrogance, which irritates people

around.

F C i i t


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From Cynicism to

Kynicism

Kynicism a playfulness that blurs the lines

between the cynical and a cynicism about cynicism

(Sloterdijk,1987)

Kynicism is expressed through parodical

overidentification, which applies to hipsters.


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Parodical Overidentification:

Hipsters


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Kynicisms impact

PRO: Kynicism reinvigorates discussions that have

been numbed by repetitionMurtola (2012)

The cynical conformist is having fun r id icul ingthetypical consumer


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Kynicisms impact

The example of Reverend Billy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZ4LXQrHSw


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Kynicisms impact

CONS:

If a trend is too inherent to the wide majority of people,

the movements against it can only reinforce the trend.


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Kynicisms impact

Resistance to capitalism resembles a talk show

where everyone shouts out their own justification

without ever managing to affect the injustice andlack of freedom existing in the free world. (Bauman,

2004)


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Medias Susceptibility

Hipsters = already a trend. Most of people can either

identify him/herself as a hipster or a hater of

hipsters.


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Brands use the ironic image created by hipsters to

create new, attractive campaigns/ads


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Featured in the media and targeted by brands, the

hipster movement becomes a way to increase profits

and promote consumerism.

I ti R i t


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Incorporating Resistance:

Che Guevara


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Incorporating Resistance:

Hipsters


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Consumerism helps PR

and Advertising Movements like the hipsters cynical conformism

quench PR and Advertisings thirst for promotion

opportunities. It has in fact helped the hypersaturated media move from a repetitiveness to a

new sophisticated way of promoting, which has

become quite cynical as well.


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Possible Solution

Once you start trusting yourself and relating to the

world as an empowered human being instead of a

hapless consumer drone, something remarkablehappens. Your cynicism dissolves.

Kalle Lasn(1999), founder of AdBusters


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Conclusion

I believe Lasns view is closer to demonstrating my

thesis, that media does incorporate cynicism (or its

more advanced form, namely kynicism) in theirpromotional tactics, therefore eradicating it as a

tactic of resistance against consumer capitalism.


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cultural studies presentation - hipsters and marketing

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