Culture Peanut Butter and Jam

I agree with Torie that this book does make you wonder about who you really are. I've been aware for some time that "rebel" is a label in itself. The quote "... and youth rebellion was looking more and more like an empty gesture inspired by Nike." kind of hits a nerve. That's why I've always hated the phrase "hippie". "Hippie" is misused massively today. There are lots of students at UVM who call themselves hippies, but do not vote- it is a reference to fashion and drug preference. As an Environmental Studies major, I get called a hippie a lot. I am not a hippie, my father was. He is not anymore, the Vietnam War is over. And I am not a vegetarian. Just because I'm skinny and like animals does not mean I don't eat meat. There is plenty hypocracey in my being.
This quote also bothered me, because early today I went to the sports store to buy a new pair of running shoes, and my mother bought me some other gear as a birthday present. While I was there, I noticed everything, even the sports bra she bought me, was plastered with a label. I run to clear my mind of all the other crap going on in my life (media included) and yet I am forced to wear it if I desire to be appropriately attired (which is necessary during the Vermont winter). I pride myself for never going to the gym to run on a treadmill, and always running outside no matter what weather because I enjoy being outdoors, and yet here I am still a subject of the media.
And on the topic of clothing, I have tried to avoid being judged by my attire for some time now, but have recently learned that one is judged when wearing second-hand-clothes, men's pants, and baggy sweatshirts just as much as the most styling of people. I now try to follow a happy medium, which means tighter jeans of course, just to blend in. Not that I want to be like everybody else, but I want how weird I am to be a surprise, not a fashion statement.
Another part of the introduction of this book that hit me especially was the part about belonging. I've often told people that when I ran competitively in high school, I did not enjoy running so much as I was addicted to winning. When I started running in middle school, it was a huge confidence boost because no matter how much smarter, prettier, cooler, or whatever another girl was, I could run faster (in a half mile up). Like cool, winning gives one a sense of belonging or acceptance and is short lived. I had to win every race in order to keep the high going, and when I didn't I would be devastated.
Lasn's discussion about noise was also very poignant for me. It did not remind me of myself, but more of my roommate. She literally "Can't work without background music. Can't jog without a Discman. Can't study without the TV on." I don't know how she does it. I admit I like to drive, get dressed to go out, and do household chores with music on, but doing homework with the TV on?! I do homework in dead silence. I can't read with music with lyrics playing, and I talk aloud while I type (which my roommate thinks is weird). Sometimes the TV is on in my apartment and she isn't even in the room watching it, but when I turn it off and then walk away it's magically back on. I can't run listening to music (though sometimes that does seem like it would be nice), earplugs make my inner ears sweaty and the noise makes it hard for me to control my breath. My roommate says she can't run with me because she needs to run with her ipod (this is really a made up excuse to not exercise). It's almost like she can only exercise alone because it's a chore, like homework, not an enjoyable activity. All anybody wants to do socially these days is party, and how social is that if you can't remember most of what you did last night?

Doing Homework After THE WORST DRIVE BACK FROM BOSTON EVER

1.
A. Tom Hodgkinson despises Facebook.
B. Agree- My roommate spends Saturday nights at home alone on Facebook, drinking in her bed.
- Facebook and other internet social sites promote "a kind of vanity and self-importance" in people.
Disagree- Advertising in Newspapers is not pointless, they are directed at readers to specific papers.
- Not a disagreement, but the author thinks way too much about drinking.
2. After reading this article, the idea that the media is hypocritical stood out to me. I didn't know that the average household owns three televisions- but I guess I could have guessed that...
3.
- Sex sells
- Vulnerability sells- it makes the consumer feel powerful
- Some women have wider shoulders than hips and are tall and thin... they just don't have any boobs...
- The "ideal" of womanhood has not changed that much in the last forty years
- I am a subject of the media
I felt kind of numb after viewing this clip.
Kilborune uses humor in presenting her research to better sell it to her audience.

Ad Nauseam (It's Over)

Three themes I noticed throughout the book Ad Nauseam were how lonely most people are, how we try to solve this loneliness by conformity and purchasing instead of forming deep and meaningful relationships, often with little alteration of our feelings and then do it again and again (we are insane!), and that most people are very easily convinced and manipulated (we take a lot for granted and don't bother to question).
My question for section 5 is there any research done about the indirect effects of this subliminal messaging? How does it effect behavior, when a consumer chooses not to purchase?
My question for section 6 is it worth fighting the media so aggressively and openly? Don't you have to work through the system to beat the system? If you're fighting all your life, will you have time to be happy? Maybe it's just about be selective... or buying everything in sight! (kidding)

Twitter and Merchants of Cool

Twitter:
1. Twitter is not as bad as first impression would suggest.
2. I have never used twitter myself, so it is difficult to think about it personally. I don't agree or disagree with anything the writer mentions about twitter, because I have no experience with it. I also do not believe I have any friends or family members who use it (or at least none have mentioned it to me) so it has never really come up in conversation. There was one quote in the article though, that really struck me: "We don't think it at all moronic to start a phone call with a friend by asking how her day is going. Twitter gives you the same information without your even having to ask." Isn't that part of being a friend? Caring? If somebody is curious about my life and bothers to ask me what I have been doing, it is an indicator that they care about me, if not, otherwise. I kind of like the subtle social indicator of interest.
3. As I mentioned before, I do not use twitter and have never in the past either. I have no relationship with twitter, social or professional.
Merchants of Cool:
1. There is actually a job position called "cool hunter".
2. Sprite is still a popular soft drink and has a relationship with hip-hop... I haven't seen anyone drink Sprite is years.
3. TRL stands for Total Request Live- have never seen that show and knew nothing of what it is about.
4. 13-year-old girls "party" and grind with boys.
5. How few record labels there are- makes me wonder about some of the "under ground" hip-hop I listen to like Binary Star, who are openly opposed to main stream hip/hop society.

Ad Nauseam

After reading sections three and four of Ad Nauseam, two things stuck out in my mind particularly. First in section three “Consumer Culture and Society”, the mention of the film “Idiocracy” and its dystopian society revolving around our most primitive animal drives: sex, food, and crapping. I myself have seen this movie and am fully aware of how disgusting the portrayed futuristic society is, but at the same time am also fully aware of how sexy Luke Wilson is too. I don’t claim to be above and beyond the media, but reading this makes me ashamed of how much sex, food, and yes crapping (let’s be honest) take up time in my thoughts. I know no person can avoid any of these three activities (or at least the thought of these activities) but it makes one a little depressed when you realize they are time consuming for you too.
The little section “Coked Out of Your Magazine” reminded me of the section of the film “The Persuaders” when it is said that the airline was trying to build a spirit and emotional connection with consumers that cannot be copied by other brands, because the actual product could be mimicked. Coke does not want its advertisements near certain articles, because the content of the articles could interfere with the emotions they want summoned in association with their brand. This would not be as important if Pepsi did not exist and it was actually soda they wanted to sell.

Response to "Get Smarter"

1. As our technology evolves, so will our human brains- both in the direction of improvement.
2. Agree- “We shouldn’t let the stresses associated with a transition to a new era blind us to that era’s astonishing potential.” Change is good, but takes adjustment.

Agree- “In any case, there’s no going back. Strengthening our fluid intelligence is the only viable approach to navigating the age of constant connectivity.” In order to beat the system, you have to work within the system.

Disagree- Drugs better our ability to learn and focus. I have witnessed many who use/abuse these sorts of drugs. Biology should never be overlooked; tolerance to drugs will be developed, just like tolerance to distraction, which might happen more effectively if it happens naturally.

Disagree- I agree with the statement about becoming so accustomed to distraction that we find it difficult to focus even when we are not being directly and/or aggressively distracted. I know a lot of people who have to disconnect their access to the internet in order to work at their computers- just the option/temptation of distraction without any tangible form is distracting enough.

Some Things I've Been Persuaded About

1. Advertisers want consumers to feel “cult like devotion” for brands, not just loyalty
2. Advertisers take advantage of people’s fear of loneliness, and so imply that purchasing a product will enable consumers to achieve a desired lifestyle involving community
3. Advertiser take advantage of people’s need for meaning in their lives, and so imply that purchasing a product will enable consumers to achieve a desired lifestyle involving narrative and transcendence
4. Brands seek to set up emotional connections with consumers, because this connection cannot be mimicked unlike the actual products… but can it?
5. It is an actual concern these days in marketing that consumers will get lost in the brand experience and will be confused about the actual product trying to be sold

P.S. "The Art of Loving" should be read, by all that are ready for different results and are tired of the same old crap...