I did a victory lap in collage (5th year) and the first semester was my Public Relations capstone class, while also interning for a Senator during the 2016 election.
I remember the night after the election, a good 60% of my class didn’t show up when my professor (who was previously a lobbyist in D.C.) told students that attending class was optional, so that we could grieve. About 40% of us showed up to class, and over half of those ones were crying and saying how afraid they were.
I didn’t stay the whole class, but I remember looking around at each of my classmates, and was just utterly terrified at how they had been duped into being so scared. PR Students...unable to see how they had been played by the powers that be, and so quickly coerced into being terrified. I guess we were busy learning about the old methods in the curriculum while failing to see how the new tactics were being deployed.
What you’re writing is exactly what had gone though my brain during those years being observed, and I commend you for piecing it all together and for having the cajones for speaking the whole truth from every angle without it being overwhelming, like every time I’ve tried to write or state it myself.
If your thesis is true that large corporations and banks want to create a global class of “consumer nationals” more loyal to them than to governments, then why would they do so with universally-maligned woke ad propaganda? Doesn’t make much sense to me. I think a likelier explanation is that both the agencies and the marketing departments have been overrun with the same ideological fervors that have infected universities, government bureaucracies, non-profits and foundations, etc.
There’s no sizable existing constituency for this shlock, and the addressable market is paltry. Just because it’s dominant doesn’t mean it has legitimacy or will attract loyalty.
Good question Jordan. My point here is not that work ads are an effective lure—if they were then there would be a capitalist justification for them, which there isn’t. The fact that they are so politically extreme and unpopular, yet ubiquitous, shows that the relationship between corporations and consumers has changed. Selling products is no longer the primary goal. What is the primary goal? To replace governments or at least control them towards a unified global community with neoliberal values.
Seems to me the world’s most effective propagandists would be able to produce better propaganda than this; why can’t they smuggle their beliefs through more palatable content?
maybe they don't feel it needs to be more palatable? Rubbing people's faces in unpopular stuff, followed by demonstrating to them how powerless they are to do anything about it, is pretty powerful propaganda of its own. Eventually, most people just want to be on the side of the strongest horse.
As a minimalist, I have never been much of a consumer. I have a jaded view of TV advertising. I watch ads with the sound muted. The change I noticed years ago was that MTV-style flash cuts are now standard in all vehicle ads. Then a few years ago, a huge change occurred: more Black people in ads, then more mixed race couples and mixed race families, including Whites, Blacks, Asians, Middle East Arabs, gay men, gay women, tattoos, purple hair... It was as if the corporations were modeling a future of peace among all races and types. The shock was two affluent Black gay men kissing in a Biktarvy ad. One thing I haven't seen on prime time TV are ads aimed specifically at under-educated racist rednecks. There are cable shows aimed at this demographic, but few ads... maybe the tactical sunglasses would appeal to the "dueling banjos" crowd.
I found it particularly startling when you described the argument. "Due to the internet, Someone is going to rule the whole world. So if we're not in charge someone else will be." I'd never heard that before and It scared the crap out of me.
Great writing and insight! Your perspective on these issues, combined with your understanding of the advertising world, is really original and profoundly interesting!
Are you familiar with the writing of John Robb ("Global Guerillas")? He's a retired Air Force officer and military theorist. Made his mark writing about "open source insurgencies." He's writing a lot these days of what he calls the "swarm" who work through "networked tyranny" - very much in this vein.
I did a victory lap in collage (5th year) and the first semester was my Public Relations capstone class, while also interning for a Senator during the 2016 election.
I remember the night after the election, a good 60% of my class didn’t show up when my professor (who was previously a lobbyist in D.C.) told students that attending class was optional, so that we could grieve. About 40% of us showed up to class, and over half of those ones were crying and saying how afraid they were.
I didn’t stay the whole class, but I remember looking around at each of my classmates, and was just utterly terrified at how they had been duped into being so scared. PR Students...unable to see how they had been played by the powers that be, and so quickly coerced into being terrified. I guess we were busy learning about the old methods in the curriculum while failing to see how the new tactics were being deployed.
What you’re writing is exactly what had gone though my brain during those years being observed, and I commend you for piecing it all together and for having the cajones for speaking the whole truth from every angle without it being overwhelming, like every time I’ve tried to write or state it myself.
If your thesis is true that large corporations and banks want to create a global class of “consumer nationals” more loyal to them than to governments, then why would they do so with universally-maligned woke ad propaganda? Doesn’t make much sense to me. I think a likelier explanation is that both the agencies and the marketing departments have been overrun with the same ideological fervors that have infected universities, government bureaucracies, non-profits and foundations, etc.
There’s no sizable existing constituency for this shlock, and the addressable market is paltry. Just because it’s dominant doesn’t mean it has legitimacy or will attract loyalty.
Good question Jordan. My point here is not that work ads are an effective lure—if they were then there would be a capitalist justification for them, which there isn’t. The fact that they are so politically extreme and unpopular, yet ubiquitous, shows that the relationship between corporations and consumers has changed. Selling products is no longer the primary goal. What is the primary goal? To replace governments or at least control them towards a unified global community with neoliberal values.
Seems to me the world’s most effective propagandists would be able to produce better propaganda than this; why can’t they smuggle their beliefs through more palatable content?
maybe they don't feel it needs to be more palatable? Rubbing people's faces in unpopular stuff, followed by demonstrating to them how powerless they are to do anything about it, is pretty powerful propaganda of its own. Eventually, most people just want to be on the side of the strongest horse.
As a minimalist, I have never been much of a consumer. I have a jaded view of TV advertising. I watch ads with the sound muted. The change I noticed years ago was that MTV-style flash cuts are now standard in all vehicle ads. Then a few years ago, a huge change occurred: more Black people in ads, then more mixed race couples and mixed race families, including Whites, Blacks, Asians, Middle East Arabs, gay men, gay women, tattoos, purple hair... It was as if the corporations were modeling a future of peace among all races and types. The shock was two affluent Black gay men kissing in a Biktarvy ad. One thing I haven't seen on prime time TV are ads aimed specifically at under-educated racist rednecks. There are cable shows aimed at this demographic, but few ads... maybe the tactical sunglasses would appeal to the "dueling banjos" crowd.
This is very informative.
May I ask; does reality matter?
Great nuts and bolts annalisis of woke branding.
I found it particularly startling when you described the argument. "Due to the internet, Someone is going to rule the whole world. So if we're not in charge someone else will be." I'd never heard that before and It scared the crap out of me.
Great writing and insight! Your perspective on these issues, combined with your understanding of the advertising world, is really original and profoundly interesting!
Great piece.
Are you familiar with the writing of John Robb ("Global Guerillas")? He's a retired Air Force officer and military theorist. Made his mark writing about "open source insurgencies." He's writing a lot these days of what he calls the "swarm" who work through "networked tyranny" - very much in this vein.
Burgers?