Relationship Between Culture Jamming and Advertising

With respect to the second main question on the relationship between culture jamming and advertising, there are more interesting answers to the same. The link between culture jamming and advertising is apparent in the activities of the people nowadays. Culture jamming is an interesting variety of political communication that has developed in retort to the commercial seclusion of public life (Center for Communication and Civic Engagement 1). On the other hand, advertising is a strategy that attracts more clients or consumers of products and services owned by companies. For so many years, the dominant public role has been considered as concerns of a citizen in a given country. But this fact is no longer true nowadays since dominant public role has shifted from citizen to consumer (Center for Communication and Civic Engagement 1). In other words, there is an intimate link between commercial activities and being a participant in various social issues.

According to the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, participants of culture jamming dispute that civilization, political affairs, and social values have been twisted by drenched commercial environments, from commercial logos on sports amenities, to television substance intended exclusively to convey targeted fanatics to producers and sponsors (Center for Communication and Civic Engagement 1). Numerous community issues and societal voices are pressed to the limits of society by advertisement values and profitable messages, making it complicated to attract the awareness of those existing in the restricted thinking that equals to consumerism. Essentially, culture jamming provides kinds of motivating communication channels that correspond with the branded imagery and icons of buyer culture to make customers conscious of contiguous troubles and varied cultural circumstances that merit their scrutiny. Thus, the role of advertising in culture jamming is quiet relevant in the sense that consumerism is directly linked to it.

The age of YouTube, web media, parody, and postmodern advertising apparently signified the relationship between culture jamming and advertising. In YouTube, videos of different products are being uploaded for the free access of individuals who would decide on what products to buy. It is admitted that millions of people are using YoutTube in order to search for quality products that they could acquire for themselves. The way YouTube videos are presented in the Internet reflects much of the definition of culture jamming. Public awareness of societal issues that are vital to every individual is included in YouTube video sharing.

In the web media, weblogging is the well-known channel of communication for consumers and advertisers meet with respect to the quality and availability of certain products. People who participated in this activity exercises more freedom in expressing their views about social issues in relation to the products that they endorsed. That is the reason that advertisers are willing to pay bloggers linked to the web media in exchange of useful content with a touch of culture jamming for their products to be known to consumers. It also includes parodies which advertisers exploit in order to attract more buyers and consumers for the products they endorsed. For instance, the Nike parody was presented to public through subversive affirmation wherein the branding of Nike campaign was exaggerated (Center for Communication and Civic Engagement 1). As a result, the said parody catapulted various citizen protests because the people were getting concerned of the real issue behind the parody.

Apparently, postmodern advertising are getting synonymous with social awareness. Going back to the way Reebok presented is stance in the market, it used the fall of Nike due to its unethical activities just to promote respect to human rights when in fact the company is also committing human rights violations the same way with Nike. There are instances that the people are lulled by defective advertising techniques that to get their attention. Gone are the days when unpretentious and tiresome advertising processes are being done by marketers, advertisers and product owners or companies.

In connection, culture jamming is not a new movement in the society. Culture jamming is just a refection of the long time opposition to unethical standards of companies and failure of governments to cater the needs of the people (Lasn 415). There are times when the life of a person becomes monotonous and it is more appealing to emerge into a more renewed personality transformation or emulation through the use of some products available in the market. In other words, some people nowadays prefers sudden changes in their lives which points out to the bloated, self-absorbed consumer culture needs. The way advertising strategies were used and how it shaped cultural perspective of individuals is what linked culture jamming and advertising. The philosophy and strategy of culture jams is obvious in the advertisements that we see nowadays through television, radio, and print media. The focus of advertisers is to provide a virtual world for people to emulate and depart from their old personalities without losing their identities through the introduction of various products that makes it all possible like credit cards, extreme sports, spectacular movies, famous clothing brands and other products and services.

Since culture jammers are useful in product endorsements, advertisers utilized their services for making products available to the public scene. There are also instances when advertisers used the techniques of culture jammers to develop a brand for endorsement. The tactic used by advertisers is to shun the American dream and teach the public through their product endorsements that there are more important than being rich which are being spontaneous, authentic, and living well (Lasn 424). The strategy is in line with allowing individuals to express themselves without following old habits and applying novel ideas that are highly personal. For example, advertisers are sending messages to the people that it is cooler to ride a bike than traveling around in an expensive car. The culture shock was made more surprising and people loved it as shown in their direct consumption and attraction of culture jamming activities presented in television, radio, and print media. Finally, if I were a culture jammer, I would choose to represent the importance of wearing clothes from clothing companies that participates in social activities that eradicates inequalities, poverty, and chaos in the society.

References

“Culture Jamming”. 2009.Center for Communication and Civic Engagement. 6 May 2009 <>

Jamming.htm >.

Klein, Naomi. “Taking Aim At The Brand Bullies”.

Lasn, Kalle. “Culture Jamming”. The Consumer and Society Reader. 1999.

Panda, Tapan. “Taking A Brand Global”. 2009. Indian Institute of Management. 6 May 2009 <>

+%5B+The+Hindu+Business+Line+-+Catalyst-+September+19-2002%5D.pdf >.

Tactics of Marketing Products

However, there are changes on the tactics of marketing products as socially aware. Since many companies are already using the said strategy, competition is stiff in the market. Customers and clients are getting knowledgeable that social issues were used as channels of brand endorsement. With that, clients and customers usually choose products from companies who sponsored activities that improve the environment and the society. For example, when Jet Blue Airways sponsored activities for caring the environment, many travelers bought airline tickets from them. Hence, product endorsement through social awareness is no longer a shallow strategy used by companies but are taken seriously in developing a brand.

In this juncture, we would examine few campaigns relating to the said changes and analyze how advertisers and marketers think about and address consumers. Considering the way Nike endorsed its shoe products, there were many implications understood by some researchers. Nike shoes are endorsed through glamorous images of superstar athletes hiding real brutalities in the society. On the other hand, the government failed to place some trade barriers that would prevent companies that impliedly promote inequalities from trading within the economic system. In other words, the image of Nike is affected by the way the government allows various companies to sell their products under the pretense of quality and popularity but would eventually results to chaos and inequality in the society. For instance, the lack of trade barrier within the economic system would invite more transnational companies that pay low wages through business outsourcing. While it is true that Nike products are heaped with quality and popularity, but it actually exemplifies brutality linked to the way the government controlled the whole economic system.

In addition, the growth of Wal-Mart was viewed in its business prominence, nasty strategies, and aggressiveness in the market (Klein 422). In case of Reebok, it has hurried to benefit from the controversies of Nike by positioning itself as the principled shoe option (Klein 422). What Reebok did was that it gives high profile Reebok Human Rights Awards to activists who struggle against child labor and oppressive dictatorships. The problem is that Reebok produced its products the same way as Nike did and exercise unethical standards like paying less to its employees without the knowledge of the public. The public are keener in their observations of the activities of transnational companies which affected product advertising. Changes of advertising through social awareness were geared towards protecting company profile in terms of ethical and moral standards from the scrutiny of the public. Therefore, advertisers and marketers think about and address consumers by means of strengthening the moral and ethical profile of product owners or companies to make sure that it would not be tarnished with the publicity of unethical principles like human rights violations within company operations. This idea is in consonance to the reality that consumers or clients are looking for what a company fights for. Hence, advertisers and marketers are more concerned of developing brands that promotes solutions to social issues and eradication of inequalities in the society for the benefit of companies that hired them. The idea of advertising through social awareness is no longer performed without tangible results and intentional application in the society as a whole.