We’ve been talking in class about the relationship between countercultures and consumer culture, but what is “counterculture”? What does counterculture “counter”? And before defining “counterculture,” it seems that we need to first define “culture.” Some people get very upset when they hear the music of Iggy Pop or The Flaming Lips used to sell cruises and cars in TV commercials. According to some people, these artists have "sold out." But is counterculture necessarily counter to the culture of consumption? If culture involves consuming, and if counterculture is a kind of culture, then isn’t counterculture also a kind of consumer culture? Is there even such a thing as a culture--counter or otherwise--that exists outside the economics of buying and selling? Is it simply nostalgia masquerading as concern for a genuinely "counter" culture that no longer seems to counter anything? At the very least, there's something ironic in the proprietary rhetoric of the counterculture consumer who states that artist such-and-such has "sold out."
As an example of countercultural signs used in consumer advertising, here’s a Pepsi commercial that aired during the inauguration. The commercial is part of Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything” campaign, which seems to be an extension of the older “Pepsi Generation” (viz "My Generation") campaign.
Notice how iconic images of youth culture/counterculture/rebellion are used to sell the product, the narrative cleverly moving from one historical era to another. So for example the man with Pepsi in hand who steps through space (from Berlin to some grunge stage, maybe Seattle?) AND time (from fall of Berlin Wall, 1989, to 1990s grunge scene). What connects the flapper to the hippie to the grunge audience isn’t a countercultural ideology but a consumer product: Pepsi. On a denotative level, Pepsi has but a small part, a cameo in each historical moment. On a connotative level, it’s the one thing connecting all people, all places, all times; and it's what "refreshes everything," from one generation to the next. Of course, there’s an acoustic corollary in the Who song, “My Generation,” which ties together the images into a single narrative, albeit changing musical genres to fit the “sound” of each generation (Big Band, Disco, Grunge, Rap, and so on). It’s Heraclitus the Ad Man: Pepsi is change, change is constant.
To help prepare everyone for secondary research, please submit a comment to this post that includes a hyperlink to one website that focuses on analysis of counterculture or the use of countercultural signs in advertising. Below the hyperlink, type a sentence or two in your comment that summarizes the website (name of website, what is found there, useful resources, and so on). Suggestion: try to post a link to an edu (“education”) or org (“organization) site versus com (“commercial”) site.
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I thought that this ad was a good example of counter-culture in advertising. When the teenagers were racing each other in their cars, it was definitely an example of the rebellious teens in the 20th century.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG01/morgan/adrevhome.html
This website, I believe, particulary relates to the pepsi ad. It recognizes the development of counter-culture in advertising in the 1950's and 1960's. It talks about how, at first, a scientific, orderly method was used in advertising, but soon it was replaced by the creativity of counter-culture. It attracted consumers more than their first approach.
Here is an article from nytimes.com called "Consumer Counterculture". This article talks about a chief editor of a "small zine-like journal called the Baffler" named Thomas Frank and his abhorrence of the new youthful consumer counter-culturalistsof today.
The New York Times is a good place to find articles about particular topics. I've provided the URL to this article below:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05EFD8143BF933A05752C1A961958260&scp=7&sq=counter-culture&st=cse
I found this website to be very interesting and vital in discussing counterculture; primarily in the 1960's where drugs, music, hippies, and aspiration for worldwide peace took over the young hip scene.
The website also artisticly displays the 1960's.
http://www.avongrove.org/aghs/Teachers/cgallagher/Lauren%20Martin-%20Final%20Exam%20(Web%20Design)/framesetindex.htm
Let’s start by defining culture. As stated in “Signs of Life in the USA”, by Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, culture is the overall system of values and traditions share by a group of people, customs that might include food, clothing, religion, arts, beliefs and in general all type of products of human work and thought (Glossary page 796). Talking about culture is a wide subject; however, analyzing one of its minor, but controversial subgroups can result effective to learn more about the term culture itself. This polemic and well-known group is what we call counterculture.
Counterculture first appeared as a group of people who were against the mainstream culture or particular elements of it. They were people opposed to capitalism, conformity and consumption, yet they claimed for liberty and authenticity. But the influence of globalization and technology soon changed their countercultural principles. The Internet, Ipods, TV and cars -to name a few- transformed their lives. Nowadays, there is no distinction between this counterculture and the consumer or business culture; they are practically the same. Companies and enterprises have discovered the way to sell their products by creating advertisements with slogans and images that identified the counterculture of the early 60’s. Young people attracted by what seems “new” or “different” get into this market without noticing that this is just a fake counterculture.
Here is an interesting article by Thomas Frank named “The Conquest of Cool” where he talks about the “business culture, counterculture and the rise of hip consumerism."
Paola Beltran
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/259919.html
Here's an article I found to be interesting. It discusses technology in counterculture and its development because of communication. I found it interesting because of course in the world we live in today we use computer technology as a means of communication to help spread our ideas and get them out there in the world today.
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/matei.html
I have no reason to believer that there really is such a thing as a counter culture, beyond its use as a way to hook in the youth and young at heart to buy things. I say this because I ahve never met a person that defined themselves as being part of this previously mentioned "counter culture". It's a silly concept really. How can someone be apart of something that is only there to counter act something else? Seems kind of like just another way to be a part of a group (being a "hater").
Pepsi and many other companies are constantly trying to get a hip, different image, and the rich and stupid youth will always buy into this, that's what they are here for. But don't worry, I'm still here to call them out for it.
http://hiphopspill.blogspot.com/
This is not a website about counter culture as much as it is a a website for kids that want to be apart of that different counter crowd. This is a hip hop blog that says it is about the "other side" of hip hop. But wait...the main articles are about main stream rappers....whaaa???
This article talks about starbucks using counter-culture to advertise. Starbucks use commericals that have send viewers deep connotations. For example, in one commerical, shows a women ignoring her boss while she drinks her coffee. It suggests about work in our culture. They also use movies to advertise.
here is the link
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/hoover270705.html
In some cases, I do believe that counterculture can be counter to the culture of consumption. I look at the music industry as an example. Some artist may want to market themselves the right way, in doing so, they are perhaps labeled as "sell outs". I don't look at it as a bad thing, but as long as they stay true and honest to the music they write.
http://www.byroncrawford.com/2005/11/mobb_deep_are_n.html
The link above takes you to a hip hop blog, written by Byron Crawford, where he blogs about the signing of rap group, "Mobb Deep" to 50 cent's music label. He apparently bought them porches to sign to his label, and this was after he "dissed" them on a track.
In my opinion, this Pepsi advertisement provided a good example about the rebellion of youth culture. The used of counter-culture in advertising helped Pepsi to send the message that implied both connotation and denotation meanings.
This article “Multinational Corporations' Controversial Ad Campaigns in China—
Lessons from Nike and Toyota,” I believe, similar to the counter-culture idea, which mentions in the Pepsi ad. It referred to the American Companies, and the strategies those companies used in their ad in order to attract customer from china and several other Asian countries. “Advertising executives have even co-opted the counter-culture, trying to capitalize on the spirit of the rebel and the nonconformist in their bid to sell products.” The article also gave several examples of companies such as Nike, Toyota, etc… used controversial images, or translate their branch names into local languages to earn customer’s recognition.
Here is the link to the article:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v008/8.1li_shooshtari.html
The Pepsi commercial is a perfect example use of counterculture in advertising. It promotes a sense of nostalgia in today’s counterculture, showing them their supposed roots. This misleads a consumer to believe that their connections with the rebels from the past are merely determined by a soft drink. As for artists “selling out”, there is a frustration for a fan that has unlimited access to his favorite band or musician, and then once they sign a record deal they have to pay 50 dollars for a ticket they once paid 10 for. This frustration comes from the fan’s relationship with the artist not the artist’s relationship with advertising. Though it is somewhat hypocritical for a fan to say that their favorite artist has ‘sold out’ because regardless, they will most likely buy the product being advertised, they buy into the same system that they criticize.
http://www.articlearchives.com/company-activities-management/management-theory-practice/1495452-1.html
This article discusses the development of counterculture post-war. Also it discusses its roots are in simplicity and a different way of life, but that their ideals have been warped into consumerism.
On this site some of the first words you read are popular slogans in ads. I am going to elaborate on one specific ad that one would see everyday if they watch television. Indeed the Gieco commercial everyone knows it "so easy a caveman can do it." This is counter cultural mainly because cavemen had the first inventions for mankind but, when it comes to technology they would not know what to do.
Website:
http://www.lpts.edu/About_Us/Chapel_Sermons_Text/MumfordCaldwell3-3-08.pdf
I thought that this essay was a good example of counter-culture. Football or other sport players do not usually drink soda to regain their strength, however, in this ad Troy Polamalu used it and it helped his team win the Superbowl. This add goes against what is known by athletes to be the norm of consumption.
http://www.i4u.com/article23018.html
http://www.jagermeistermusictour.com/index.cfm?&fromsplashpage=1
If you drink Jagermeister...You are a rock star!
In my opinoin this was a pretty good counter-cultural ad beacuse the way it switched between different eras and we saw change in everything except for the love of pepsi. Another pepsi ad which had me think it wasn't really much of a countercultural ad but it used the Haddaway song "What is Love". They used the song as a metaphor essentially to say pepsi is love.
http://www.lpts.edu/About_Us/Chapel_Sermons_Text/MumfordCaldwell3-3-08.pdf
This website not only relates to the pepsi ad but it gives slogans from other companies. It also gave me an example of how commercials fool us on the daily.
I found an article on time.com called "The New Counterculture" by R.U. Sirius. It explains how the current rebellious youth are more sophisticated than the hippies of Woodstock. The article states today people write angry counterculture blogs instead of underground newspapers in the sixties. The article also mentions how the new counterculture is more diverse in race and equal in gender than it was back then.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989519-1,00.html
I think this was the absolute best example of advertisements displaying the various counter-cultures throughout American history. From the greasers of the 50s and 60s, to the grunge era of the early 90s, the commercial covered just about everything from a to z.
I found this link to a book written by Thomas Frank titled "The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism". Frank's book touches on the various countercultures throughout American history and how they affected consumers and the advertising business. Enjoy!
http://books.google.com/books?id=KHyIY2cctQIC
This page gives the definition of counter culture and the analysis of it pertaining to technology. The significance of counter cultures part in technology has led to the development of technologies that "promote freedom and anti-establishment." The Internet is the biggest leader in counter cultural technology shown through blogs, social networks, file-sharing, and email. Advertising on the Internet to the young demographic shows its movement towards the popular idea of being a part of the counter culture.
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~smatei/435/techwiki/index.php?title=The_Counterculture's_Effect_upon_Technology
This article discusses how a new Sony add campagin for the PSP hired a graffiti artists to do the artwork inorder to appeal to the youth hip culture, but the add back fired and instead of inspiring the youth to purchase, it offended them.
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69741
I thought both of these articles were very interesting. The first, Counterculture in 1950's and 16960's advertising (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG01/morgan/adrevhome.html) explains for "Theory X" dominated consumer culture:
"It was a shrine of 'Theory X' conformity, the seat of all that was wrong with American culture.
This is an explanation of how the counterculture was flipped on it's backside to represent the ideology it hated. The second link I thought was quite entertaining to read; the consumer culture of hipsters:
http://www.gauravonomics.com/blog/hipsters-counter-culture-or-consumer-group/
I found this article from wired.com to be rather interesting. it talks about an attempt that Sony made at advertising to a counterculture that did not turn out so well. Sony's advertisement involved going into some of the larger cities in the U.S. and using graffiti as there advertisement. The article also contains the responses left by people in these cities with graffiti of there own.
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69741
In a consumer economy, there is a market for all types of consumers. Whether we openly admit it or not, even the most faithful counterculturalist is a consumer. There are stores geared to the punk rock audience, the slightly risque audience, the hip hop audience, and more. No matter how individual you think you are, you could never be completely countercutural. Even though one might think that they are being a rebel, speaking out against society, they are still going and buying a certain style of clothing or using the same ipod to play their music, and we are all victims of the cell phone. Counterculture is what sells. Consumers believe they are submitting to counterculture when really, they are abiding by America's culture of consumption.
This link below is an article that describes counterculture in the 1960s and what that meant.
http://www.artsandmusicpa.com/popculture/60'scountercult.htm
According to the Pepsi commercial from my understanding there is an comparison between the first Pepsi commercial and the commercial today . As the time period changes the commercial also change . Which makes these commercials counterculture because they focus more on how to draw peoples attention then to what the product is . I analyzed the BMW car commercial and I found it interesting how there commercial changed from the first commercial they had. In this commercial they us women as there key to draw attention which makes the commercial countercultural which is interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mqAK3g3UZQ&feature=related
I used the website you tube and I find it interesting because you can see many different things that are interesting .
I think the key word here is "refresh." In each time period the people were doing something accepted of their time, and pepsi was there. The pepsi company is trying to associate their product with all things good, fun, and exciting. What could make all that better? Refreshment. Refresh is a very positive, comfortable word, but when i pondered it, it has little meaning to that commercial except a positive association. How do you refresh a grunge concert? I'm not familiar with refreshing anything but my breath and my web pages.
I listed a web article that briefly discusses how computers went from something that hipsters shunned to their new favorite toy. Much like the way that the character in the commercial changed with the times, it's just inevitable. The only way to be truly counter-culture is to practice complete anarchy, and most of the "anarchists" still pay taxes one way or another.
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mediaberkman/2006/12/01/from-counterculture-to-cyberculture-the-rise-of-digital-utopianism/
This article brings up the idea that people who tend to identify with the various different countercultures are guilty of spreading their often baseless opinions about a plethora of social problems that are in need of crusading. In addition to this, the author also accuses these false prophets of hurting legitimate, positive movements and groups who do work to increase rights, social, environmental, or otherwise. This occurs because of the overly welcoming nature of many countercultures.
http://www.actnow.com.au/Opinion/The_Counter_culture__counter_productive.aspx
As long as you wear certain ironic shirts, regurgitate other people's social and political views, and are cynical of just about everything but your own murky views, you are a revolutionary! This way of thinking becoming more accessible and popular then actual progressive and positive thinking. I think that the current "GO GREEN" fad that is sweeping our nation is a perfect example of this.
This pepsi ad features the latest of 34 pepsi slogans to be used in America. This plus the ad's enormous budget and scope shows us that the company puts a lot of effort into marketing and doesn't care who knows it. The idea is that it is a large, expensive, global soda company, but with your help it can change the world, just like all these generations before it have. All you need to do is drink pepsi.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=avjOMdl70MA
Here is another pepsi ad, this time featured on Sunday during the superbowl, taking a more cynical look at pepsi's omnipresent marketing (paid for and produced by pepsi).
This article talks about sony's use of counterculture to promote their sales. The article talks about how sony has hired graffiti artists to spray simple pictures of kids playing with play station portables (PSPs) on city walls in urban areas. Sony has used the counter cultural idea rebel teens do graffiti to be cool, and if there is a picture of a kid playing a PSP on the wall of a city building, kids are going to react by buying the PSPs to be part of the rebellious "cool" crowd. This article is on the same plane as the pepsi commercial in the sense that they both use the ideas of change to promote their products.
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69741
The site I found gave a good description of the era that basically gave birth to the whole "counterculture" movement, the sixties. It describes the era through the appearance of hippies and their attitudes, the blatant drug use, and rebellious music of the time.
http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/14_flower_children.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYnydYrZPp8
This shows a long standing counter-culture icon as a "poster boy" for a website that is based in paperwork and finance. How crazy is it that people who originally seemed so against the "system" can go out and try to improve it. Sometimes, famous people loose their finances over time and are left with nothing but there name to put on items for money... It is arguably easier to sell a product, then to go and work again.
Iggy Pop is actually the one acting in the commercial. How crazy is that. I TOUCHED IGGY POP's head at a concert. Bad idea... he's really quite sweaty.
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