COMM 2360 1nd Edition Lecture 13Outline of Last Lecture I. Merchants of Cool II. Cool and Hip a. Rushkoff Feedback Loop Outline of Current Lecture I. Rushkoff’s Feedback Loop II. Thomas FrankIII. How to stay cool? IV. Punk vs. GrungeCurrent LectureSeptember 19, 2014Douglas Rushkoff’s Feedback Loop - control/resistance - Professor at NYU- media studies prof - consumer inundated with ads-oversaturation- we tend to resist them- o authentic subculture that resists consumerism- authentic subculture - cool hunters- mass marketing: “selling out” - uncooling o has to do with popularization of some product/culture o not just because it’s popular- it’s because it’s popular on mass consumption levelo mass commodification - moving into deeper recesses of authenticity o something off kilter- brought into mainstream- intensification of the cycle o deertick-  sponsored by Charter/Pandora corporate band now- never thought that they would have been Thomas Frank These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- what to do about advertising cynicism - advertisers begin to sell rebellion (as reaction) o frame through with advertising viewed - Frank is giving us historical account of this - 1960s- a starting point - protest generation becomes yuppie generation o people that were anti-capitalists- transitional point in culture - rebelliousness becomes the currency of advertising - subversiveness, hip, irreverence and ironyo use cynicism against - rebel is the ultimate symbol of a system he is supposedly subverting o consumer still wants to buy into what ad is saying How to stay cool?- cooptation o borrowing that’s strategic- adoption would be a difficult metaphor for cooptation- NOT JUST ADOPTION because in adoption both party’s benefit o convert something from subculture/authentic into mainstream - development of anti-adso sprite example- Grant Hill/bags of money - brand becomes evolving relationship o how can the brand continue to stay relevant? - must continually reinvent itself as a site of rebellion o use diff strategies for diff TAo diff rebel for run than for skateboarders- everything but brand is target for rebellion - in the end: hip consumerismo not just brand speaks for me- it’s hipness linked up with purchasing advertising cynicism is context in which all of this is working watchwords - revolution - underground - freedom - liberation - empowerment- real, genuine, authentic - ETC Case study: Marketing nike to skateboarders - mine for authenticity - manufacture enemies with brand as a firend - turn nike from “the man” into “the people’- adopt message of social change—stories of class, gender, revolution, redemption o think of school, government, parents as intuitions that are passed off as enemy o brand is something that can overcome those relationships outside of yourselfCola - soft drinks are advertising o 2 cents of cost of cola goes into production- the rest of it goes back to advertising - main task- to differentiate users o ex. means something if you’re GNC or Ford drivero same with Pepsi drinker vs. Cola drinker  coke traditional; pepsi- modern  60s- pepsi generation- youth movement - age = ID- but can’t put all their money there - from 50s-80so pepsi’s young social conscious - slogans from pepsi- 60so 1960s- Pepsi invented pepsi generation as youth movement o 50s-80s- pepsi: young, socially conscious, rebellious – surf bums psychedelia  60s- stoner aesthetic- yellow filter  set themselves apart from coke o Frank- this is what sets the standard- pepsi- first company to insert and sell rebellion o X-treme Jello, Xtreme peanut butter, corn nuts- xtremeo ex. selling xtreme- women of world raise your right hand o we demand equal air – AC UNIT o save the teeth! o started as a lovely revolution 60s-70s- leftist/progressive politics- envi movement  using what’s popular in pop culture to see- o what the world needs now is sweet sweet love. it will help our business Punk: A Case Study - 1976 Sex Pistols swore on the UK talk shows o out there acts of decades- still influential on bands with interest - from small subculture to media phenomo god save the queen  argument about where punk rock- US, Canada, UK in England- came to US - is there a way to keep the sex pistols out - NBC airs a report on dangers of punk in US - “Hardcore” shows up in Souther CA ex-urbs - anti-authority, anti mass culture- PacMan and shopping malls o ex. in from LA, black flag- do it yourself- start their own label  don’t want to be commodified- don’t want major distribution o against shopping mall/pacman culture o think about context- Reagan- punk a popular culture signifier of disorder/decay- the slam, piercing, and mohawks—the exotic danger within Punk and Rebellion - 1980- LA Times writes about war zone of punk culture - height of moral panic and police repression - hardcore- zine culture’s main themes was victimehood by mainstream misrepresentation o people would handwrite reviews about records/events o focus on victimhood by mainstream culture- punks- targeted by police and others- representations drew a violent element to the punk scene o police would call up media- document fights - the struggle between real punks and the posers o diff self from other mainstream culture o be more authentic o punk is commoditized- resisting commodification - Fashion retreats to more distant places- eventually the culture, watered down, moves on - authenticity and rebellion persists as a markero now bands don’t care as much about authenticity as in 80s- Subculture vs. moral panic dynamic o mainstream culture finds punk dangerous o cast as dangerous our band could be your life book by Oslaf??- clashes between The Police/punks- Thomas Frank: Grunge - grunge as a case study - the theater of counterculture = $ - language of alternative has colonized mainstream radio o see lang of alt being used in mainstream radio o stone temple pilots- called alternative - the “local scene” – geography o Seattle- authenticity  if something is more local- more credibility- idea that band is from somewhere specific- gives it cred that transcends – more value than national impact - independent outlets