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Intro: Modernity and Consumer Culture Consumer culture has been with us a very long time, but it has amplified significantly - these days characterized by the unavoidability of consuming and exposure to advertisement - taking for granted the goods we consume will be produced by strangers at a distance (reduce empathy, increase dependency) - tension: can be both inherently liberating and democratic and enforcing of social divisions - Marketing etc exists to veil the production side Promotionalism: the communication methods of advertising spreading to other areas, commodifying and corporatizing What is consumer culture? - marketized logic, strategies of communication, ownership penetrating more and more aspects of everyday life - IKEA is a good example of the tension o its original conceit was to empower people moving from rural to urban areas to make the most of their space, making aesthetic goods affordable § enabling a degree of access and communication while they commodify our very selves § IKEA as a commercial space is highly accessible § speaks to how buying power can be used to promote change o at the same time, bad labour standards and environmental impact - corporate branding like of stadia is a good example o an experience not available to everyone (increasingly expensive to access), a shift from past treatment of such places as open and available o detaching and shutting out the people who support them Pervasiveness of a spectacle: spectacularization of public spaces - getting harder to find non-commercialized public space o pandemic made clear that when commercial spaces are closed there's basically nowhere to go - commercial actively becoming increasingly spectacular, excess stimulation of senses, a disorienting effect Credit, debt, and storage facilities grow and become commonplace - credit is another good example of the tension - it was not always as available, who could borrow was far more limited o more people can now borrow and have associated freedoms, but debt that can never be paid back is burdensome and unscrupulous

§ normalization of this debt is highly indicative of consumer culture - re: storage, we buy more stuff and tire of it quickly but want to retain it "Retail therapy" and consumer-related addictions - starts young, goods as a reward - not inherently pathological, but the idea of consumption as a go-to mood-lifter is interesting, worth critiquing - heightened consumer culture brings with it the more pathological side like addiction problems - more opportunities to consume, everything can be commodified Consumer choice becoming symbolic of political freedom - pushed a lot in American Cold War propaganda - got equalized completely. so the absence of consumer goods = failure Branding of political candidates - slogans, logos, media strategists (not new but growing) - what does it mean when these things start to mean more than policy - transplanting the language of consumer capitalism Primary arguments suggested to explain consumer motivation 1 Manipulation theories a. primarily associated with the Marxist tradition b. from the critique of capitalism supporting power structures and the status quo c. consumer culture in a manipulative role, intended to underpin the foundations of a consumer capitalist society d. emphasise the perpetuation of consumer capitalism by manipulating people into buying e. this does demystify the exploitative conditions of production and alienating impact of consumer capitalism f. however, it reduces consumers' agency and critical decision-making power, down to passive media zombies g. encourages criticism of the existing political economic system and the hegemonic conditions that may otherwise just be implicit 2 Social emulation theories a. associated with Veblen and conspicuous consumption b. suggests people are motivated to consume out of aspirations for greater social standing, upward class mobility, and inclusion in elite social circles by emulating those they admire

c. strengths: many cross-cultural cases demonstrating the relationship between aspirational consumerism and desire for status d. weakness, there is also significant evidence that social climbing isn't the primary motivator for many people i. also does not account for those who reject trends and conventional notions of luxury 3 Self-fashioning a. primarily associated with Colin Campbell who highlights the emergence of consumerism during the rise of modernity, coinciding with increasing opportunity to develop individual identity outside of strict traditional roles and obligations b. novelty rather than status as the major motivator c. people are active agents who use consumption to create distinct identities outside of elite hierarchies d. strength: treats consumers as active and critical e. weakness: needs greater attention to the constant corporate re- appropriation of unconventional/localized forms of consuming Cash crops, colonialism, and the growth of global capitalism "Conquest" of the new world (1492-): Colonial expansion and plantations grow global capitalism - sugar is ubiquitous today, but developed as a luxury commodity (ex. of power narratives behind products) - sugar production as a cash crop really starts after European contact in the Americas, done for export and foreign consumption o studying the production implications of sugar over time was one of the first introductions of the idea the cycle of production connects perfect strangers - Europeans came seeking goods, consumption as an animating force - separation between sites of production and consumption enables a willful ignorance, allowing consumer culture to develop and flourish o not having to see the ugly side o a central power dynamic o Left structures that perpetuate inequality in the present - Britain not the first to do it, but they did at the most effectively, gaining a significant advantage o develops a more efficient capitalist model o really pioneered the mindset

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o sugar and tea become a symbol of British civilization o commodities as a motor for colonial imperial projects - slavery and genocide were very present; terrible labor conditions o Indigenous peoples decimated, transatlantic slave trade flourished, accelerated by European appetite for sugar o 2/3 enslaved Africans ended up on sugar plantations Consumers of sugar: A world away - colonial plantations allowed sugar to become less of a luxury good o luxury product to daily good over 1650-1900 - European powers fought over colonial control, pirates would plunder ships for it - British developed a ravenous sweet tooth, consumption of sugar becoming a major financial motor of the British Empire - contributes to a transformation in Britain o more productive labour as they were given sugar and sugared tea, a stimulant, rather than alcohol, a depressant o elites also consuming sugar to distinguish themselves, generate vast amounts of wealth for themselves - the separation between the sites of production and consumption is critical - stereotype of British people having bad teeth comes from this sweet tooth - it was introduced as a cash crop because there was sufficient interest in it among the elites - the capital needed to start and run a plantation encourages the British economy to transition to "nascent capitalism" o starting to establish migratory and trade models and networks that would develop into capitalism - sugar created a deeply experienced link between motherland and colony, creating a shared identity between colonies and empires o Europeans migrating to colonies valued maintaining practices of Britishness like having sweetened tea o goods for creating a sense of identity and as a tool of assimilation The Centre-Periphery Model - this relationship is a very useful model for showing the flow of goods and wealth in global capitalism - the relationship developed during the period of European imports - the seat of the empire occupied the centre and exploited colonies in the periphery - colonized areas were seen primarily as sites of resource extraction and plantation agriculture o wealth flowed to the centre as the periphery was left exploited and impoverished - this relationship has had long-lasting impact on many regions, even post- independence

- model creates and sustains a dependency of the colony on the Empire o advanced technology and industry, diversified economy kept in the centre while the periphery stays agricultural and raw materials o all material refinement stays in the seat of power o those refined goods eventually get back to the periphery but they have no capacity to produce them themselves o done strategically to prevent rebellions, reduce autonomy § needed because awful conditions meant risk was high Sugar boycott: Consumers use their power to oppose slavery - separation of sites of production and consumption meant consumers were often ignorant of horrendous production conditions - British abolitionists politicized sugar by promoting awareness of slave conditions - leaflets and non-slave sugar were used to inform consumers and direct them, culturally changing attitudes to slavery and economically weakening slave-made sugar o made it increasingly unfeasible to maintain political support for British practice of slavery - passed the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1883, ordering gradual abolition in all British colonies o plantation owners in West Indies received £20 million in compensation, enslaved people not compensated - these boycotts demonstrate the power of consumers to advance change, oppose atrocities o using their agency to withhold purchasing power - largely driven by people in non-conformist and Evangelical churches - print media to raise awareness, alternative product introduced Slave-like conditions persist - today, horrendous conditions persist in the sugar industry of former colonies - child labour is widespread and locks generations into cycles of exploited poverty and poor health - core-periphery relationships persist between and within nations - we can try not to participate or support this o fair trade is increasingly available, not perfect but an improvement Sugar and Identity - how and what we consume communicates a lot, meaning and structures are culturally and historically contingent, arising from use in social relationships - status and identity expressed through means of sugar consumption - as tea became more common, elites used rituals and elaborate tea sets to distinguish themselves from the masses - sweetened tea became a symbolic marker of Britishness and civilization - you don't get posh cultures without the hidden ugliness

Working class tea drinking - class-differentiated practices of consuming one item - tea break introduced (after extensive labour activism) to feed undernourished workers, improve working conditions and productivity in British workplaces like factories - British obsession with tea fuelled British colonization of Hong Kong o tea obtained in China cultivated on plantations in colonized India Conclusion - global growth of economic models that would foster world capitalism - sugar changes the dietary habits of its consumers - illustrates a good's transformation from luxury good to mass commodity - the core-periphery relationship continues to have consequences to this day - people unknown to each other and separated by time and space linked together - global movement, trade, migration, opening up markets around the world o starting to look like what we see today We are actively trying to reconcile with the legacy of this period today - a very fraught history with longstanding dominant narratives we are having to question - to understand the current moment of change it is useful to look back - goods as communicators of meanings across places Centre-Periphery/Empire-Colony Relationships - beaver hats were a widely sought out European luxury fashion that lasted decades and drove demand for fur - as the numbers of beavers dwindled, European expansion inward was driven by the search for more o administration and political organisation of this country were very wrapped up on the fur trade o companies like the Hudson’s Bay Company were the de facto administrators (who wants to come to the cold uncivilized wilderness?) o tradespeople became administrators sort of accidentally o became part of being granted rights to acquire resources - the climate prevented cash crops, Canada became all about abundant natural resources

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o centre-periphery relationship still active, colony exploited as wealth flows to the centre o beavers came from here, manufacturing technologies were in Europe - in exchange for furs, Indigenous peoples received European manufactured goods, not a fair trade but these items were coveted for usefulness and scarcity o one traded item was weapons, which were very destabilizing for Indigenous Peoples, escalating warfare as external demand disrupted relationships o also destabilizes use of the ecology, external demand drove beavers to near extinction as weaponry made killing more efficient o also traded were pots, pans, fashion items (people like fashion! communicating prestige, identity) o another was alcohol (negative impacts, be aware absolutely everyone was drinking huge amounts to endure just being here) § Indigenous consumption influenced by massive across the board disruption, magnifying negative impacts - hybrid goods combined Indigenous traditions and European goods o using items like glass beads to embroider, something that became a popular means of communication of things like identity through the details Fur trade: a balance disrupted - it's interesting how ubiquitous the beaver is as a celebrated Canadian symbol o yes it was central in our development, but we nearly hunted them into extinction o one of many ironies of consumer culture - control of the fur trade was a real index of world power - beavers are not highly reproductive, drove inward expansion as high external demand disrupted the existing ecological balance - European demand for pelts, combined with new weaponry acquired trough trade, escalated tension and warfare between Indigenous communities - as a result of consumer demand and trade-available hunting tools, the existing environmental + social balance was disrupted - fur trade expansion laid the groundwork for Canadian political + administrative development o trade networks, administration centres, transportation hubs emerged, laying the foundation for what would become Canada - really the work of Indigenous trappers and hunters and European traders

Art as historical reckoning - contemporary artists like Kent Markman play an active role in reconfiguring national understanding of the Canadian colonial past o Markman is a Cree artist who uses his provocative paintings to critique the sanitized accounts of the fur trade Demand for goods drives Canadian political organization - extensive networks + coordination established to extend trade across the continent - political economic structure grew out of expansion and administration necessitated by fur trade - agricultural + political development not related to fur trade suffered from centrality of staples in Canada's subordinate economy o contributes to lingering peripheral status, delayed modernization - England was advantaged over France by its more efficient industrial development that provided a vital asset in the manufacture of the fur trade - look, the Queen and the beaver are on our money - delayed modernization left us vulnerable to the more industrialized US, playing catch-up in the 20th century - Hudson’s Bay Company wasn't interested in being a colonizer, despite assuming that role more formally the further west they went o they just wanted to do business, colonization was an associated responsibly conferred onto them - a centre-periphery relation can exist not only between nations but within, relevant in Canada looking at the development of urban centres with exploitation of rural areas o often happens with resources used to power modern lifestyles Contentious goods and narratives - dominant narratives of history tend to gloss over the devastating impacts of European contact - goods take on symbolic importance in renegotiating power - goods don't have intrinsic value, value is created by its context o goods can take on multiple meanings o the Hudson’s Bay blanket as § building of ending rugged moral character nationalist pride § Indigenous suffering, dispossession, biological warfare, genocide

- statues and moments celebrating figures of colonialism become increasingly controversial with efforts to challenge dominant narratives - when Europeans were more dependent on Indigenous peoples it was a relationship of more respect o as colonization progressed, that relationship changed and deteriorated, visible for our purposes in their treatment by the Hudson's Bay Company - fur has seen a significant change in meaning o originally a luxury good that has been challenged by awareness of animal suffering via animal rights campaigns Optional Class - citation style not dictated as long as recognised - can embed images directly into writing or appendix at the end - focus on rigorous application of sources - articles offer a lot of useful lenses to pick from - demonstrate reading comprehension through application to chosen boycott - cite images! - clear thesis! assessment of boycott via application - purely online can fizzle more then are networked through organizations - digital speed + audience reach is big but easier to lack engagement (back to lack of offline presence) - boycotts used to be a more left strategy, now more often coming from the right, throwing support behind non-progressive (esp in the Trump era) o situate boycott on political spectrum - can cite lecture videos in paper - definitely situation in relation to Whole Foods + Chinese boycotts - can cite social media - boycott from the last four years preferred Consumer Activism and Boycotts Consumer Activism - from the sugar boycott through the consumer movement to today's social media boycotts, consumers have exerted their collective power to push for change - boycotts are of the most visual form of consumer activism, but they're not the only method - the consumer movement saw different groups coming together to push for consumer protections Famous Historical Boycotts: - all of these were pre-digital, consider that influence (pros + cons) in assignment o solely online presence can often be detrimental - sugar boycott to push for British abolition of slavery - Gandhi's cotton boycott + salt march to resist British colonialism in India and push for independence

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o Weaken the empire o Nonviolent resistance of imperialism - Montgomery bus boycott led by Rosa Parks to advance African American civil rights and oppose segregationist policies in the 1950s American South o most people who took the bus were black, leveraging economic pressure - Anti-Apartheid Boycott of South African goods and tourism o Even many famous musicians and athletes refused to perform in Apartheid- era South Africa o international boycott to draw global attention - all highly effective in mobilizing existing networks o point to value of having roots, leaders, networks to achieve success Consumer Movement - after WWII, in many nationss consumerism was positioned as something that should be accessible to everyone and not restricted by class or income o different groups coming together with the common interest of making consumer goods more accessible o pushing for social assistance, quality, safely, prevention of price gouging - the movement predated the war, consisting of diverse consumer protection groups including trade unionism, co-operatives, women's groups, family associations - varying nation to nation, these movements were heavily influenced by existing political and economic frameworks o common basis of making the consumer experience a safer more accessible one o aiming for greater control over the market o progress towards accessibility has suffered since the age of neoliberalism, shifting the fours more to choice by the 1990s o safety and reliability remaining central - seatbelts in cars was something the auto industry was very resistant to o consumer movement played a huge role in making products safer - consumer protectors increasingly shaped by global norms and agendas - 1960s and 70s many significant achievements o durability and longevity of products o guarantees and warranties o restrictions on false advertising claims - these pressures led to dangers and injuries from faulty products significantly reduced in the late 20th century in many nations - consumer recalls save lives but they were achieved as the result of consumer activism o Ralph Nader, consumer advocate, pushed for safer cars and improved quality and reliability of other consumer goods o he wrote an exposé of the dangerous practices of the American auto industry and reluctance to recall o he launched a public interest awareness campaign which successfully pushed for more responsible manufacturing and diligent recalling of faulty goods Use of Media in Consumer Activism - an important consideration in assignments

- what is the role of media? tool to promote awareness, mobilize, communicate, organize - prior to the prevalence of digital media, it relied heavily on other forms of media to promote awareness and mobilize support o print: leaflets, posters, stickers, newspaper coverage o placards at strikes at on-site protests, billboards o TV or film reel coverage of protests or interviews o a lot of significance of people being physically present on-site, a very different sense from online confrontation - in the digital age, consumer activism can harness the wide audience reach and immediacy of Internet communication o but the online environment is congested, info overload is high, decreasing attention span o so sheer competition for audience attraction can negate benefits Whole Foods Boycott - on August 12 2009, cofounder + CEO of Whole Foods wrote an op-ed heavily enticing Obamacare o just a bad PR idea? seriously, know your market o didn't think health care access was a right o Whole Foods shoppers lean left demographically - he proposed health problems could be avoided by a healthy Whole Foods lifestyle o did not go over well with Whole Foods shoppers, blew up in his face o Whole Foods is expensive, exclusionary on cost alone - his neoliberal stance on health care seemed at odds with the Whole Foods image o boycott was initiated, the Facebook group blowing up in a matter of weeks - simultaneously, a “boycott” urged by the Tea Party brought conservatives to stores o an increasing tactic over the past ten years, especially after Trump's election - boycotts traditionally more the domain of the left, but increasingly right-wing groups have been co-opting the method Advantages + Challenges of Digitally-Based Boycotts - they are more difficult to assess the impact of o against Whole Foods, they did not remain organized after the phase of volatile collective action died down later in 2009 o "temporary collective agency" facilitated by social media - there is extensive linking possible, enabling people to become more well informed and start to form lasting networks - the constructed collective can transform individual grievances into a full policy debate - social media protests evoke the worst and best of popular politics, complexity reduced yet anti-elitist and encouraging of easy participation and engagement Grassroots politics or slacktivism? - online participation demands less - trust between participants is also more difficult to establish online and longevity can be fleeting

- a combination of on- and offline network building and a mixed media approach form as ideal approach Boycotts in China - fascinating to look at in terms of consumer culture because their context gives boycotts there different motivations than in the west - while western boycotts tend to be countering unethical policies or practices (social and economic justice), Chinese boycotts tend to be strongly based in nationalism - there have been periods of occupation + historic restriction on consumption that actively influence Chinese responses to foreign goods o western goods both sought at as status symbols while foreign cultural influence is viewed as an encroachment - in the west we think about China as a production site, consumerism often neglected - fascination with western goods combined with looming feeling of cultural encroachment o can be at odds with its recent status as a hegemonic power, itself behaving imperialistically o think critically on the go-to Chinese argument of countering imperial attempts considering its own imperial actions - boycotts in China often target products associated with middle class consumption - also, criticism of government policies or human rights record can prompt boycotts of foreign goods in China - there was international protest opposing Chinese occupation of Tibet objecting to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and counter protests were launched by offended Chinese consumers o targeted French brands large among consumer class - collective action is highly controlled in China o this one got official approval, the first time they explicitly supported a consumer boycott (came after boycott was broadly noble) - some French brands tried to pre-empt impact by demonstrating loyalty o this kind of cynical PR can backfire by alienating consumers outside China with ethical concerns - in China, actual offences often buried beneath a much wider discourse of perceived grievances against foreign powers supposedly intent on preventing China from becoming strong o often how it's framed in China, including by official government messaging - young consumers often spearhead recent boycotts o they negotiate an uneasy space between wanting to embrace Western goods to avoid being labelled old-fashioned while sharing fierce Chinese nationalism - in the boycott of Starbucks in the Forbidden City, arguments were couched in similar language to other anti-globalization consumer policies – need for respect of cultural heritage in an era of corporate globalization - ads perceived as insulting or dominating Chinese culture heavily critiqued - Karl Gerth argues that the "natural products" movement – manifested in the first place in boycotts of Japanese goods – projected onto commodities aspirations of national unity and of living "modern” commodity-filled lifestyles without surrendering to foreign imperialism

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Consumerism as Liberty Yes, consumerism is associated with horrible atrocities, but there is an element that can be associated with identity formation, liberty - looking at the latter today The Birth of a Consumer Society - rise of consumer society in eighteenth century England o wants replace needs (really indicative of consumer society) o things that could be manufactured to look like what rich people had o machinery of mass production in place, enables growth - consumers can purchase goods they desire rather then wait for inheritance - linked to the development of the Industrial Revolution - greater access to lower priced goods, early emulation of elites o quality different, look similar o fashioning an identity more of their choosing (some about emulation and upward mobility) - more sites of selling, development of commercial class that helps people move towards a middle-class secure in their identity o nation of shopkeepers, first consumer society to develop with increasing availability of goods and population to access them - purchasing out of desire, driven by fashionably not durability o movement away from buying for long use o more and more like us - increased family incomes, increased ability to spend, increase in shops and sites of selling - luxuries became seen increasingly as necessities, value of item linked increasingly to fashionability over durability - growth of fashion magazines + advertisements that heighten exposure to latest styles o fashion plate inserts o often looked to Paris

o role of media! o democratizing fashion - breakdown of sumptuary laws - don’t forget about the other side, the exploited working class in the factories enabling this society Sumptuary Laws - restricting consumption - before, particularly in the medieval period, there were restrictions on what you were allowed to wear - part of an array of factors enabling the consumer society, these dissolving right as production is able to increase o it doesn't matter how many factories you have if no one is allowed to use what they produce - social roles were embodied in the way you had to dress o to enforce the legitimacy of authority and social control o modernity is abut fashioning an identity of your own choosing outside of your traditional social role - increasingly blurry of social divisions, contributing to the growth of the middle class in England - sumptuary laws were done to encourage frugality o there were religious and occupational restrictions - relevant in regards to South Africa and Apartheid o racialized sumptuary laws, about categorizing people Apartheid + Post-Apartheid South Africa - experience of freedom + democracy after Apartheid era often expressed through consumption - when racial barriers to consuming were abolished with the end of Apartheid, many people sought to consume lavishly because they now had the freedom to do so - economic barriers persisted for the poor - racist Apartheid regime limited access to many things, mobility based on racial categories o you need a sense of that period to understand what followed - hopes that the end of Apartheid would bring a moment of true equality

o it was a huge improvement but not perfect o consumption played a huge role, after Apartheid ended the more middle class racialized individuals got enthusiastically into consumption and abandoned the elimination of class inequalities - Apartheid lasted 1948-1990s, every facet of life was segregated and controlled by Apartheid laws, including consumption, restricting the non-white majority while privileging the minority European settler population o It’s a Dutch term (lots of Dutch settlers) o an arbitrary series of ethnic divisions ordered from the privileged settlers and black "natives" o certain things just not allowed for sale in non-white areas because they were seen as a luxury o again, a way to enforce social control divisions and legitimize segregation § created conditions of denial across the board, then used low quality of living to justify their continued position of power (“our was of living is so much better just look at them") § if nonwhite people adopted European appearance it could afford them greater mobility, but they were viewed with great skepticism and suspicion because it destabilized their racist structure that elevated the white minority · so increasingly restricted access - abolition of Apartheid o many people were involved in the struggle, the most prominent activist being Nelson Mandela o Apartheid was named a crime against humanity by the UN in the 1960s (adopted and enforced 1970s) § increasingly intonational community cold not turn a blind eye, South African government became a global pariah o Mandela was released from jail after almost 30 years in 1990 and was elected president in 1994 following the country's first free elections - international boycotts were an anti-apartheid strategy o boycotts steering international consumers away from South African goods o divestment (encouraging international companies to withdraw their investments and operations) was important o effective strategies to hurt the racist regime economically o a lot of university activities supporting these efforts

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- post-Apartheid conspicuous consumption o buying, acquisition, and showing off via consumption was prevalent o yet poverty and inequality persist despite Apartheid-era calls for full equality o consumption as an expression of freedom o understanding the incredible racialized and restricted history of Apartheid- era South Africa helps us better understand the prevalence of conspicuous consumption afterwards o movement had previously used a lot of Marxist-Leninist language + rhetoric but the end of Apartheid coincided with the end of the Soviet Union § limited follow-through on economic redistribution because they couldn't look to the Soviets for help § neoliberal capitalism triumphant, became the expression of freedom instead o something similar seen after the end of segregation in America among African Americans § it's a freedom to not take for granted Mass Culture and Consumerism We'll be talking about Munsey's Magazine, the first general interest magazine supported by ad revenue - late 19th century - exemplary of a magazine working in tandem with consumerism - not the first unison, had been around since the printing press enabled commodification of the written word (Gutenberg bible as the first commodity) but significant for its facilitation of consumerism through advertising o offering both culture and consumerism and blending them together in a digest format Selling Culture, Ohmann - looks at emergence of mass culture in the US in late 19 th - early 20 th century - industrial capitalism + advances in print technology combine to create conditions suitable for the development of a mass culture - home production gets marginalised by industrial capitalism

o see heightened urbanization as more people migrated to cities in search of work o those people migrated into the cash economy and wage labor o mass immigration to US also key in supplying workers, consumers - the decline of household production which could sustain the family was a key transition facilitating the growth of manufacturing + consumerism - US shed colonial status, started industrializing sooner than Canada, giving them an economic leg up - developments in ways to disseminate mass culture (telegraph, railroad) converged with industrialization - mass culture was not always the case, it wasn't that long ago people made their own stuff, the transition between the states is significant o home production is not conducive to accumulation - moving to the city removed the ability to create through loss of access to the raw materials o people in the cities still need stuff, leading to dependence on manufacturing Life before mass culture - division between work + leisure less pronounced - people made their own fun - "entertainment existed in a whole way of life" - work involving a different sort of discipline, less supervised - work activities blurred into communal, social activities - didn't have today's hang-up that in adulthood you abandon play o capitalism has a strong theme of discipline, leaving things behind in childhood - interpret these as more general statements than romanticization Face-to-face spectacle - early 19th century beginning of spectacles for profit o attracted large audiences but staged irregularly, unlike mass sporting events - fascination with the "novel, bizarre, sensational" - early public spectacles were still face-to-face experiences and not yet mediated by print or electronic media - PT Barnum a widely-known example - circuses, freak shows, travelling lectures (access to info!)

o a way people could acquire knowledge outside (limited) formal institutions Growth of railroads + telegraphy - national markets + coast to coast distribution and communication opened up America - mass culture and advanced capitalism evolved together, work and leisure becoming increasingly separate - mass culture facilitated the emergence of a national US culture and integration of the US itself as more than a loose political affiliation - railroads and the telegraph facilitated the distribution and dissemination of the same kind of information + goods from coast to coast o aided in building a national identity for Americans - this pattern repeated itself elsewhere too with the growth of media and mass market globally - such distribution is impossible without the nuts + bolts infrastructure of things like railroads + telegraphy o much much faster communication o especially when cables were laid across the Atlantic - goods + information could be distributed across the nation, developing mass culture though both (national brands becoming possible) - especially significant for facilitating national culture in geographically large countries (US, Canada) Growth of Mass Culture/Mass Consumerism - railroad enabled raw materials to be bought from a distance and finished goods to be shipped across the county o most people worked for wages and produced very little at home directly for use - crisis of surplus production and expansion of consumerism o industrial capabilities were such that masses of goods could be churned out rapidly o but consumers were not yet in the habit of constant shopping and wastefulness o these habits had to be cultivated in the public, done through the growth of advertising + mass magazines - advertising supported mass magazines + was prompted by the crisis of surplus production demanding expanded consumer markets - advertising + supportive media develop as a safeguard to enable surplus production o how we get to Munsey's, targeted at the growing middle class o magazines offered guidance for adjusting from rural to urban life along with culture

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Advertising + Mass Magazines create an American identity - mass magazines assisted in the formation of a national market in the US and offered participation in a mainstream national culture to audiences - no national magazines before 1850 but by 1900 they had become highly visible and culturally significant, coinciding with expanded consumerism - the magazines participated in creating + representing the cultural myths, celebrations, iconography of the US o Munsey's was instrumental in transforming Christmas from a religious holiday into a commercial event - Munsey's broke away from the tradition of elite culture as the taste maker, facilitating the growth of a mainstream national culture (visual covers!) o wanted broader appeal to attract advertisers o geared towards mothers, who were seen as consuming on behalf of the family o starts to create a carefully framed notion of what it means to be American Media and Mass Culture - mass media, mass culture, and consumer capitalism developed together - mass culture has key characteristics: o comes at us from a distance, produced by strangers for profit o commodification of culture o regular, reliable intervals (routinization) o notion of the audience as a commodity o notion of demographics in marketing - Munsey's wanted as many eyes (with disposable income) as possible o aiming for the middle and aiming wide o vs today's extremely targeted advertising Growth of advertising and mass magazines - literacy opens up avenues of participation in the social process - magazines catered to audiences in search of middle class respectably - they came at out regular reliable intervals + became something for tired workers to look forward to in their leisure time - general interest magazines acted as guides to modern living, often targeting audiences who weren’t very educated but who had aspirations of advancement - Munsey's magazine was the first magazine to make its money from advertising revenue

- manufacturers and any national brands were eager to have the attention (and purchasing power) of Munsey's readers - similar to how people today can follow social media personalities for life coach-like messaging Problems of Representation - often used women on the cover to appeal to both men and other women o the beginning of long women's bodies as a sales tactic this way - covers pretty uniform in who they featured: white, slim, privileged people - particularly problematic as Munsey's was an active player in creating notions of American identity and defining who was an American - they also tended to feature activities + lifestyles that were out of reach for most of their readers - underlying logic assumed consumers were inherently aspirational o if you wanted to reach the middle class you featured wealthier lifestyles those readers might aspire to o a persistent notion in advertising long after this era Leisure as respite + rejuvenation after work - workers were increasingly managed and surveilled and "on the clock” as industrial capitalism grew - work became a place of stress and supervision - growing concern abut the dehumanizing impact on factory workers, becoming cogs in the machine - by the early 20th century, Charlie Chaplin would become a global icon comically addressing these timely concerns - leisure increasingly became a time of consumption, a place you spent some of what you earned working o consumption-oriented renewal + rejuvenation Fordism - "pay them more, sell them more, prosper more in the equation" - by the 20th century, Americans were integrated onto the new reality of disciplined work and relaxing leisure o importantly, leisure increasingly filled with consumption - Henry Ford realized his workers would be more productive, less likely to turn to socialism, and crucially more likely to SPEND if they felt more secure + better paid, birthing Fordism

- Fordism: efficient production line and pay employees better and provide benefits and protections to encourage greater loyally, productivity, and consumerism during leisure time - Ford wanted his employees to feel comfortable to spend on his cars! It became a model adopted by many workplaces for the better half of the 20th century - unfortunately, we are now in a post-Fordist era characterised by insecure employment, loss of benefits, increased debt - these supportive measures serving to prevent both socialist rebellion and a crisis of surplus production o enabled a great deal of economic prosperity, the loss of which is the source of a great deal of today's unrest Manufacturing, Mass Culture, and American Hegemony - America would come to dominate manufacturing and mass culture (prior to outsourcing in later 20th century) - with increased globalisation + expanding communication technologies, American media travelled the globe - after WWII, America used the Marshall Plan to open up European markets to more American goods - during the Cold War, America would use its success in producing an abundance of consumer goods as a sign of dominance over the Soviet Union - the Americans called it consumer democracy o they framed the availability of a vast variety of consumer goods as a sign of good government + freedom under capitalism o the unequal access to these goods + poverty of many was conveniently forgotten in those propaganda efforts American consumer goods + media: an extension of global influence - critics would accuse the US of cultural imperialism in flooding foreign markets with both American-made goods and American-made culture via magazines, films, etc Inclusion and Exclusion All about the tension in consumer culture between the oppressive conditions it perpetuates and the ways it can offer significant participation in society - inclusion and exclusion are recurring themes Bauman, movement away from a society of producers - today's late modern period is characterized by neoliberalism o a shift since the late 20th century towards a lessening of market regulation o jobs increasingly affected by this - Fordism was about secure employment with benefits and a high wage, propelling consumer culture

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o today we have post-Fordism, characterized by precarious, contract employment o benefits and wages have been greatly impacted o very much due to the growth of neoliberalism - Bauman talks about moving away from being a society of producers o production moved to countries with more lax labour end environmental laws § outsourcing of manufacturing away from the west o the west gained global dominance by industrializing early, built a society of producers (manufacturing!) o when manufacturing, strong industry starts to leave, what happens? § what we're facing now, what Baumen talks about - Britain was one of the first to industrialize, built up a literal empire on manufacturing o what happens in the decline? - for a significant part of the 20" century, blue collar factory work, particularly around manufacturing, due to a lot of union struggle, became pretty decent jobs, though repetitive - we have moved from that to a society of consumers o with this transition factory jobs are largely outsourced to low income countries with few protections o union movement undermined (prohibited in the countries manufacturing moved to) o Low paying service sector jobs are a poor substitute for union-supported wages o jobs serving consumerism instead of producing Flawed Consumers - at the same time that decent wages and job security were becoming more elusive in the west, consumer culture was also intensifying (increasing commodification) - issues of access to full participation in a consumer culture - worth and identity get increasingly connected to value as a consumer (becomes internalized, inclusion and belonging) - gives the notion of flawed consumers, stigma of poverty, and the difficulty of escaping poverty o people here always been poor, but in a society of producers you had the capacity to escape poverty through employment (always needed bodies to work) § growth of automaton is also significant o unemployment, underemployment being a chronic condition o a flawed consumer lacks purchasing power facing increasing stigma of party and decreasing ability to escape Murer Reading - builds on Bauman's flawed consumer idea - lumpen-proletariat: a Marxist term describing these people who don't or can't contribute to production in earlier forms of industrial capitalism (derogatory) - Murer argues in contemporary capitalism the shift is towards consuming, introducing the term "lumpen- consumerate" defined as "defective + redundant non- consumers” - Marxist lumpen-proletariat he saw as riff-raff, not applying themselves to work or only working informally, not useful for his model of worker power

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- Murer takes this forward to describe people who lack purchasing power in consumer society o invoking Marx's language to indicate activities happening on a more informal sector (theft, black market) - frenzy of consumption o Murer suggests the parallels between the "spectacles" of chaotic shopping in Black Friday sales and the 2011 rioting in England (they look the same, one promoted on condemned) o Rioters as those excluded from consumer culture o Deleuze: disciplining society (enclosures) vs a control society (impression of free movement, more subtle forms of regulation) § exclusion is experienced as a deficiency - lumpen-consumerate: lack of a transformative idea (like communism in the past) as a viable way out of poverty + exclusion fuels a feeling of profound disempowerment among poor young people o despite being exuded from full participation in consumer society due to poverty + lack of opportunities, consumer desires of youth are stimulated anyway by ubiquity of advertising and self-worth being judged in terms of material goods o goods are not just goods, they are indicative of social membership and belonging in consumer culture o advertising appropriates images of reckless behavior at the same time the actions of marginalized people are condemned o a sense of it doesn't matter how you get the goods as long as you do somehow § goods as a passport to inclusion Aesthetics of Exclusion - the poor are devalued because their consumer habits are inadequate and not valuable o the poor are seen as bringing nothing to the highly valued aesthetics of consumerism and go unrepresented in consumer culture or shown simply for contrast to an idealized life - commercialised media highly complicit - photo series contrasting models with impoverished people o images associated with a lack of material prosperity often used as just a backdrop to the thing being highlighted as desirable o another level of exclusion o repeated and normalized regularly in media without deeper thought into implications o its more comfortable to identify with the idealized consumer subject - another interesting contradiction is between the constant encouragement to consume and the valuing of thinness o demonstration of a certain kind of discipline o while allowing sporadic moments of frenzy like Black Friday - so the exclusion is not just political or economic but becomes deeply aestheticized Culture is Political

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Political doesn't mean just government, it means it's related to power, relationships of power, between groups of people with different access to resources - dominant hegemonic group exercising power, often at the expense of another - how does culture play into that? legitimate political and economic realities? o cultural studies draws on different areas to answer the question of how culture makes us more compliant with dominance and authority, treating them as valid, possibly invalidating other viewpoints o also how can culture be used to challenge that? Hebdige - early British cultural studies: Williams + Hoggart o highly educated duo from working class backgrounds o argued their culture had had rich traditions and no one culture was superior to another o contrasting of organic working class culture vs mass popular culture: Williams was, however, skeptical of mass-produced pop culture and instead celebrated the folk traditions of the working class o came out of postwar period, it was working class people who suffered most, making it increasingly untenable in Britain to maintain such a rigid class system that denied those who fought and suffered full participation § more public education, public spending § gave fresh eyes to the academy o this suggestion and Williams’ refusal to follow rigid social rules was a huge political gesture at the time § disrupting the notion of culture - there were 2 camps on culture o one circumscribed notion of excellence, defined in terms of pass-times of elites o other, Williams, gave value back to previously dismissed cultures, seeing culture as just a way of life o the dominant shift to the latter today is a sign of how thinking on this subject has progressed - Hoggart joined Williams in shining light on everyday things, saying it's not just things wealthy people do with their time that matter o taking back the value of their culture, voice, participation, and the power that comes with that o harder to disempower a group when they recognize their worth - Williams: culture as a whole way of life o holistic, anthropological view of culture as part of an "organic society" vs culture as "civilization and high culture" o democratic, inclusive definition vs the older, snobby, hierarchical distinctions o relevant to consumer culture since everyday practices encompass so much of consumer culture § consumer culture as participating in a whole way of life § giving many ways consumer culture can be expressed politically - particularly Williams distinguished between organic working-class culture and pop culture, cultural industries o saying ground-up culture is more alive then what is produced and developed in a more industrial form § formulaic production in culture industries

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o one of his concerns was industrial culture lessens people's creativity, disempowering them o this isn't absolutely true of course, he has his own biases and blind spots § had a reverence for literature as a media form over others, creation from scratch § the point has been subsequently complicated by the way people can take what has been industrially produced and make something new § so he seems to have been limited by conventional ideas of what making is § but there is still value to his point about how we become reliant on others to entertain us - though we have broadly developed in how we value culture, we can still see echoes of the old paradigm in things like the lessons we take as kids o classical instruments, etc seen as bettering or improving in a way other genres aren’t - Stuart Hall develops the Williams critique of how culture has been used to maintain the class system but also extends it to race and ethnicity o Hall also experienced elite British school systems § came from Jamaica, a recently independent colony that still held a degree of reverence for the Empire in its culture (embedded despite lived experiences) · culture was used a great deal during imperialism to justify the exploitative relationship o disappointed when he arrived upon seeing the classism and mistreatment in British society § also encountered a great deal of racism § a sense of betrayal by the so-called seat of civilization, causing deep questioning o and so extends class critique to a post-colonial view, looking at how media is used to represent + legitimate authority and its relationship to race § how media could be used to sustain, negotiate, oppose power § has a model of audience reception, viewers can take media at its given meaning that portrays a particular perspective or take an oppositional view to critique the dominant meaning · or accept some parts but not others, negotiated meaning § introduces role of a very active audience that is valuable (consumers!) · amateur products like YouTube and social media disrupt the dominance of the culture industry, its prescribed meanings § brining attention to the fact the representations that are put out are not benign, they play a role in many ways · Sustaining stereotypes, marginalization · also to challenge these things, the audience has agency! not just passive consumers · the pioneering figure in drawing attention to the role of representation in media and its relationship to social movements and power - Roland Barthes: "Reading culture"

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o Focus signs and symbols: used ideas from linguistics (specifically semiotics) to decode the latent meaning of culture found in fashion, food, cinema, magazines, etc (the academy ignored these at the time) o analyzed how cultural texts naturalize cultural distortions and dominant ideology o his studies are a marriage of Marxist beliefs and popular culture o culture as political: attention to class struggle and conflict in cultural studies o working simultaneously with the Brits (50s) § Barthes was French o became a kind of public intellectual o doesn't reject pop culture on the basis of mass production like Williams, wants to understand what people are interested in o most any critique of capitalism + the status quo gets into Marxism so he often looks at how culture messages from pop culture are working to veil and normalize the workings of capitalism § believed the consent of the public is achieved when it reaches them at home with their guard down (think glorification of royal weddings) o not a conspiracy, but dominant ideologies get internalized and media creators come to affirm the status quo by working off of what is normal + commonplace § Barthes dissects these representations to show the underlying power plays o for a more contemporary example, take sports, which are cultural and political § their large audiences offer a platform to oppose dominant messages + advance social movements § 1968 Olympic track athletes protesting American racial injustice § Colin Kapernik taking a knee § these methods capitalize on large audiences to communicate a critique of power § culture is the way to galvanize public opinion, bring attention to significant issues · there are many different groups that can use culture these ways, it is never neutral but a question of whose view is being advanced Politics of Representation - Bowman discusses the significance of Bruce Lee in challenging the exclusion of non-white actors and the stereotyping prevalent in Hollywood o feeding off the tradition of Stuart Hall - Lee included critiques of things like police brutality, racism, racial profiling o while not perfect, significant progress - Lee took on a significance as a global icon, an underdog figure o people everywhere could relate to injustice o films tended to end in an ambivalent way, no neatly tied up defeat of injustice, the fight is never quite done - martial arts became increasingly popular in the west as self-empowerment and self- discipline o took off in African American communities

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§ self-defence significant - so Bruce Lee managed to transcend any identification while specifically working against stereotyped Asian representation Transnational Media Consumption About a melange of cultural influences coming together - how increasingly culturally divergent media is travelling the globe and how new hybrid forms are growing out of cultural contact o genres blurring together Consumerism + the global movement of goods + people - the global circulation of goods expanded exponentially with European imperialism - people + goods moved and migrated around the globe, often by force, establishing ethnically diverse populations around the globe - the economic privileging of Europe during imperialism lingers today o as a result, former colonies often remain economically challenged and immigrants move to the west seeking increased opportunities - diaspora communities forming o with diasporic communities, members often want to maintain a cultural connection to their homeland, propelling transnational media consumption - movement and contact between cultures often results in hybrid forms o blending of cultural products into new forms o transnational media consumption often a product of hybrid processes o blurring of genres a process of artistic hybridity - after Korean war, Korea was very unstable, there are Korean populations distributed across the globe from immigration in those difficult periods o a sign, front factor in the international strength of Kpop Nollywood: Uncertainly, Migration, and the Comfort of Familiar Media - case: Nigerians migrate to Italy in different waves of immigration with different experiences when they arrive o Nollywood films offer an experience of anchoring for immigrants in precarious circumstances and identity negotiation + nostalgia for more established immigrants - Nollywood refers to the Nigerian film industry, which is one of the biggest in the world - transnational media consumed differently by different transnational populations - for more recent immigrants, often encountering disappointment and difficult living conditions, Nollywood films offered inspiration to preserve and 'anchor' themselves o often amidst an unfamiliar and even incomprehensible culture - videos sold at stores selling wigs, cosmetics, and food and offering sources such as Internet usage + international telephone calls, mainly to African customers - Nigerians in Turin prefer films set in Nigeria and dealing with complex family events + occult forces - Pentacostalite films particularly popular amongst recent immigrants (religious sentiment, strong good/evil) o tended to portray successful people at the mercy of demonic faces, resonating with + validating experiences of precarious immigrants

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o reassurance they were still on the correct paths, staying true to themselves despite difficult circumstances o not watching Nollywood films as escapism/idealization but to measure themselves against a familiar, symbolic and discursive order to cope with feelings of disorientation in a foreign sorely - for more established Nigerians in Turin, the films served multiple purposes, a "virtual journey" o allows a balancing + negotiation of tradition + modernity, western sensibilities + Nigerian values o encourages reflections + comparisons of home + host cultures, not a nostalgic idealization of the native county K-pop and Korean Dramas - like Nollywood films. K-pop is widely consumed globally, often quite popular with diasporic communities eager to maintain connection to cultural roots - K-pop, however, has in recent years achieved an appeal that goes beyond that o widely consumed by consumers of divergent backgrounds - K-pop + Korean dramas, however, remain a cultural lifeline for Asians living abroad, often in the west - Korean pop culture has significantly become connected to national identity for people of Asian origin beyond just Korea o role for Asians of non-Korean ethnicity living outside of Asia is particularly interesting (pan-Asian appeal) o K-pop greater appeal for younger o K dramas more popular with older generations, possibly linked to the values + content present reflecting what are known as Confucian values that are seen to represent general Asian values § not meant to be reductive, just speaking generally § respect for elders, social order - digital technology encourages transnational media consumption o examines role of internet, cable channels, online shopping malls, pop music, and social media in maintaining a connection to homelands of Asian immigrants living abroad o the appeal of the Korean wave encourages East Asians in Vienna to consume Korean pop culture § this consumption motivates them to consider themselves East Asians § nourishment of cultural roots like Nollywood - the appeal of Hallyu (Korean popular culture) crosses borders + cultures o research has tended to concentrate on how western culture, specifically US, has influenced local societies and how it influences local identity construction and not the other way around § yet Hallyu has become a major global phenomenon + Korean cultural exports demand study (see: BTS) o Hallyu's popularity opens a new window on the study of globalization + identity to better understand how East Asian nations are influencing each other and even how eastern might influence western culture o America has long dominated mass culture + influence and now Korea is using these tools to exercise a kind of soft power, extending cultural influence § a very lucrative export too § not the same power function as American cultural imperialism

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o the west has long had an advantage in terms of cultural expats due to the British Empire spreading English everywhere § Korean wave, Nollywood, Bollywood challenging this hegemony § moving away from "West and the Rest" o K-pop is also a hybrid product, not uniquely traditionally Korean in its form § takes on a Korean element but it's a mix § significant influence from American popular music § the Korean idol production model is reminiscent of old Hollywood · very factory-like, often criticized for uniformity esp with female performers · implications for aesthetic normalization, identity · American influence present but repackaged through an Asian lens - Hallyu: a pan-Asian appeal? o author suggests Hallyu nourishes cultural roots + retention of Asian identity for Asians living abroad o contains strong Asian sentiments which all East Asians can assimilate § respondents citing values as main reason for purchasing Hallyu o Confucian values originally come from China but their expression through the dramas help East Asians feel a sense of home - the man who pioneered the K-pop industry as we know it today got his inspiration from American performers like Bobby Brown, late 80s R&B hip-hop performances that prominently featured dancing, synchronous movement, intricate choreography o also high production concept videos o when he returned to Korea, he worked to fuse these aspects with Korean culture § certain aspects intentionally dialed down § like Bobby Brown's sexual swagger, expression of sex appeal had to be remodeled to fit Korean sensibilities o result was a hybrid form o K-pop consumption over time becomes increasingly hybridized as creators draw influences from around the world § also things like using English lyrics, priming its transnationalism by boosting hybridity Conclusions - transnational media consumption has been significantly enabled by the growth of media technologies - transcultural media often described as a kind of bricolage, blending different cultural elements into new hybrid forms - the accelerated movement of people and goods with heightened globalization has brought with it the rise of transnational media consumption and culturally hybrid forms - social media HUGE for K-pop o got idols into the American market o especially significant for male idols who had been excluded for their different form of masculinity

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Anti-consumerism and its (mis)appropriation Che Guevera was a central figure in the Cuban revolution in the 1950s - he has a contentious legacy, but was generally committed to continuous revolution against capitalist oppression - ironically, has become plastered on consumer goods o his estate has taken issue with this appropriation of his image - consumer capitalism often uses anti-consumerism towards its own ends, Che is a good example - the persistence of his symbolic value is interesting o ongoing popularly of an anti-capitalist symbol Anti-consumerism - as old as consumer society itself - consumerism is often associated with moral decay, breakdown of tradition, and degradation of quality and craftsmanship - from the beginning, criticisms of the industrial revolution abounded: poor working conditions, deterioration of the natural environment, dehumanizing impact - heightened globalization and neoliberalism from the late 20th century to the present have made these critiques more salient than ever, and they have achieved widespread support across the political spectrum - no matter the fantasies involved, the social, environmental, etc impacts of consumerism are very real - early anti-consumerism usually articulated as moral decay o that’s still the bones of the critique, we just use less religious or moral basis, more ethics o part of the shift towards secularization - mechanization of people themselves in production, deskilling production, dehumanization o present today in concerns about automaton + Al - concerns around degradation today mostly focus on environmental degradation since the 60s o rising awareness of environmental impact, exploitation of 60s came with recognition of consumer capitalism as a significant root cause + perpetuator o the reason for the significant return of anti-consumerism in the decade

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- in the present, all of these concerns have just been emptied In the 1960s, the anti-consumerist critique found a new audience in various protest movements - young people disenchanted with the destructive tendencies of industrial societies o seeking out a greater meaning in life o establishing greater connection + reverence to nature + one another o back-to -the-landers (Bernie), similar to cottagecore - consumerism seen as "part of the problem" - prior to 60s, focus of anti-consumerism mostly associated with unions, also a certain persistent subset that hated everything o became part of the youth movement o they liked consuming some things (anything music! recreational drugs) but against it in its dominance - the anti-war movement was significant, protesting the war in Vietnam and the draft o the sense was that withdrawing economic support was a way to cripple the war effort, linking the movement with anti-consumerism o also growing awareness of how potentially destructive consumer cultures and obsession with innovation could be (atom bomb), people wanted to withdraw o also growing awareness of corporate alliances between organizations directly involved in the war and those providing consumer goods, linking drawing support for the latter in protest of the former - John + Yoko's Montreal Bed-In o reducing participation in producing + consuming in capitalist economies was seen as a political strategy, to advance the peace movement + ecological concerns o staying in bed to avoid consumption was seen as an anti-war strategy § could reduce funds needed to wage war § a particularly front burner issue with America's involvement in Vietnam - the whole Earth Catalog catered to do-it-yourselfers eager to make their own stuff o a huge inspiration for Steve Jobs o Fred Turner has suggested it was a precursor to the internet in offering peer advice + mail-in orders to empower people to be creative + self-reliant

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o facilitated back-to-the- landers, basically could order everything you needed to run your own commune o many fans of it went on to become baby boomer capitalists Civil Rights + Black Power Movements - boycotts of segregated commercial spaces (Montgomery bus boycott) - MLK Jr was deeply critical of the deep inequality prevalent in consumer capitalist societies, concerned with class inequality - Black Power Movement asserted the beauty of Black people + culture o celebrated the afro and critiqued how advertising + consumer products celebrated white people while stigmatizing + excluding people of color o greater militancy o created its own aesthetic, very stylized, became popular as a way to move away from Euro-centric beauty standards o calling out marketing of skin whiteners, hair straighteners § black-owned business aiming to reorient marketing around haircare to self care rather than the existing racist language Women's liberation: the second wave of Feminism - in the 60s + 70s, western societies entered a second wave of feminism o prominent issues were questions of access: to education, to better jobs and equal pay, to reproductive rights - there was also a strong critique of consumer culture + advertising, which had long objectified women and sold products by creating anxieties + insecurities - Lysol (the same product) used to be marketed as a vaginal douche (don’t) o advertising telling women they are dirty + unclean o both objectifying + targeting women in insidious ways - The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan o a watershed event in the movement o heavily critiqued how market research was used to exploit women's insecurities to sell more products Creative Revolution in Advertising - to mitigate some of the impact of anti-consumerism in the 1960s, advertising needed to reinvent itself - the ad industry’s “Creative Revolution" was able to appropriate the outrage of mass society and use it to market a hip consumerism distinct from the

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authoritarian advertising that dominated prior to the 1960s (great parable, talking down) o salvaged the consumer economy as the engine of America by appropriating these ideas o new style more irreverent, more self-deprecating, including about the product o a clever way of getting around the skepticism - post 1950s: managerial order + testimonials from authority figures increasingly became displaced by the valorization of the creative, collaboration of art + copy, irreverent, self-referential pitches o recognition + incorporation of public distrust of advertising is called upon in "anti-advertising" of Doyle Dane Bernbach agency o ads where the authority figure looks down disparagingly at youth became increasingly unpopular in the 1960s - Doyle Dave Bernbach: Volkswagen campaign o skepticism tuned into brand loyalty, extending consumerism indefinitely using the discontent produced by the product o stood out for their use of inventive designs + irony + self deprecation o art director + copy editor put in the same room at the same time, resulting in a much stronger creative result that transformed the VW brand - Hilltop coke ad, 1971 o appealing to the counterculture became widespread o worked to whitewash + greenwash the questionable practices of famous bands § and reintegrate young skeptical consumers o this iconic Coke ad was created at McCann Eriksen ad agency (another big Madison Avenue agency)

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_Notes (1)

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