There is a really strange commercial that is on TV currently. The Kia motor company has marketed their new Kia Soul in a really awkward way. The commercial takes place in a futuristic wasteland that resembles the level of an XBOX 360 video game. The car then pulls up and three hamsters get out of the lime green Kia sporting all of the most up to date styling one could imagine. The music in the background music is none other than the hit song "Party Rock Anthem" by the group LMFAO, which was the number one song of the summer.
The reading that were assigned from Regina Lee Blaszczyk's "American Consumer Society, 1865-2005" informed readers about the early days of consumerism in America. These chapters are about how despite the young America being highly industrialized and garnering lots of capital, it still being influenced by its European Ancestors. Americans were seen by other developed nations as being "rough and tumble" so affluent Americans would use their resources to try and become as sophisticated as the Europeans. "Although it came from British conventions, the culture of refinement evolved into something distinctly American in the decades surrounding the civil war" (pg. 13) This meaning that it took the influence from Britain's culture and it became uniquely American. The largest part of the reading included that Victorian culture in Britain, is what was seen as the in thing to do. Americans would have to follow this modern wave in order to be considered true cultural aficionados.
A large part of advertisement and consumerism in general, is the populations way of fitting in with the in crowd, as our professor has pointed out. The commercial that i have linked my readers to is what is considered the social norm for our generation. Despite the heavy computer generated images and technicolor high tops the actual concept of making the consumer feel that he/she is not hip, is nothing new.Blaszyck states that Women of all economic backgrounds could afford the corset dress after certain advances had been made. So naturally, all women felt the need to have one so as to keep up with their friends.
Does this seem right? Do certain products make people seem more "hip" to their peers?
http://www.youtube.com/user/KiaMotorsAmerica?v=4zJWA3Vo6TU&feature=pyv&cid=sem&ppc=y
I definitely feel that certain products make people seem more hip. For example look at silly bands, everyone young person had to buy them. Why? I have no clue, I did not think they were cool but then again I am not in elementary school. The quote from Heinze's reading this week reminds me of America in this same way. It reads,
ReplyDelete"a goal that was more immediate for them than for other newcomers- the goal of fitting into American society. There was a strong desire among the peasants of eastern and southern Europe to make money quickly in the United States in order to buy land and raise their social position in the old country" (p. 197).
American culture is still to this day about elevating your status in society buy consuming. In schools the cool kids are the ones with silly bands and as an adult, The hip parents are the ones that a few years ago owned hummers. I think it is clearly an endless cycle
I agree as well, I believe this country in the past years has been about image and social status in society. Growing up and going through the school system there was always pressure from your peers to dress in similar brands, have the latest video games, etc… As you get older, the clothes and the video games escalate to different things such as cars, houses, jewelry, furniture, etc… Many families are put in financial burdens because of these pressures from society to conform to a certain level of consumption and class. In the book American Consumer Society Blaszczyk states, “Families now judged their neighbors and the strangers they encountered by their taste in cars, phonograph sets, records, and radios” (Pg. 104). The way people judged then, I feel people still judge similarly now. I don’t agree with it, but unfortunately this is how our society has been constructed.
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