Post on 08-Aug-2018
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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=qwppBm43eb88/22/2019 Cultural Studies Presentation - Hipsters and Marketing
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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
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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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Medias Susceptibility
Brands use the ironic image created by hipsters to
create new, attractive campaigns/ads
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Medias Susceptibility
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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