Consumer Politics MIT 3214 3 18 2018 1 Consumer

Consumer Politics MIT 3214 3/18/2018 1

Consumer Politics p Consumer Boycotts n colonial-era boycotts p n n p British/vs. homespun California Grapes Civil Rights Women as Politicized Consumers n n 3/18/2018 boycotts consumer groups 2

Moderate Consumerists Canadian Association of Consumers p p Middle-class female 3/18/2018 3

Canadian Association of Consumers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. http: //www. consumer. ca/ Declining importance Victim of Own Success General Public Interest Advocacy vs. Constituency Group advocacy Dairy Farmers of CDA vs. consumer general interest (cheaper milk) ‘Free-rider’ problem 3/18/2018 4

Radical Consumerists p p p Social Progressivism during 1960 s Ralph Nader (Unsafe at Any Speed) Center for the Study of Responsive Law Critique of capitalism Today: Center for Science in the Public Interest 3/18/2018 5

Radical Consumerists p p Producers more powerful than consumers Broad social action to level playing field Consumer Action for equity, fairness, ‘rights’ Situate consumer issues in broader ‘citizen’ problems (pollution, poor working conditions) 3/18/2018 6

Consumption as Politics 1. 2. Environmental Damage Cultural/Social Damage 3/18/2018 7

Origins of Culture Jamming 1. 2. 3. Ballyhoo Magazine (1930 s) Mad Magazine, 1952 Negativland (1970 s/80 s) 3/18/2018 8

Culture Jamming p p p Adbusting, subvertising Re-configure ad meanings for social ends “semiotic Robin Hoodism” Turn Madison Ave aesthetics against itself N. Klein’s “No Logo” 3/18/2018 9

Culture Jamming (Carducci) Expressivism p authenticity, the natural, truthful p Rousseau origins of 18 th c. /Romanticism of 19 thc p reject instrumental rationality, scientific objectivism of enlightenment p 3/18/2018 10

Media Foundation p p p Adbusters Magazine ad spoofs: “Hitler Wore Khakis” Pollution of mental environment TV ‘uncommercials’ “Buy Nothing Day”; “TV Turn-off Week” 3/18/2018 11

Critiques of Culture Jamming/ Adbusters 1. 2. 3. 4. Puritanical/Patronizing Commercializing anticonsumerism? Ethical Consumption as Market Segment Blackspot sneaker 1. 3/18/2018 Reader: “It’s advertised in Adbusters, what am I supposed to make of that. ” 12

Culture Jamming as Consumer Avant-garde p p p rejuvenate consumerism which purports to transcend form of social marketing countercultural ideology fuels consumerism (more than conformity) n n n 3/18/2018 cultural rebellion not threat to system; it is the system extend marketing to peripheral, “alienated” citizens/consumers “The Rebel Sell” (Heath/Potter) 13

Homegrown Culture Jamming p p Dove Campaign for Real Beauty Dove Evolution n p Dove Onslaught n p 1. 3 mil views Unilever/Axe Parody (Clifton) n p 6. 3 mil You. Tube views 117, 000 views CJ as “technique” for oppositional art 3/18/2018 14