Now many people reading this blog will remember the jingle "The Choice for a New Generation"'. Every child of the 80's worth his salt can tell you that it was once a Pepsi slogan.
Theoretically at least, we were that new generation and it was considered clear to the pundits of the time, be it gloatingly from the right or ruefully from the left, that our choices were more or less a foregone conclusion. Basically it was assumed to be a foregone conclusion that we would grow up to be "Reagan's kids", summoned from our parents by the Pied Piper of Conservatism, with his films like "Rambo", "Iron Eagle" and "Red Dawn". A true generation of little Alex P. Keatings we were said to be. With our sobbing liberal parents would stand by helplessly as they "paid the Piper" for supposedly treating us so horribly with their "self-indulgent sixties values", and all the child hating working mothers among them.
Of course, little attention was paid to voices who suggested waiting until we grew up and started voting to draw any firm conclusions, or even more radically actually asking large numbers of children and teenagers what they thought about all this. After all, who had time for the prosaic and boring business of fact finding, when you have such a sensational tale to tell? Especially one that had such sweet poetic justice in it, to more than a few conservatives.
Theories about the children of the baby boomers, who grew up in in the Reagan era began when the boomers first started catching their parents' criticism (which is to say long before the sixties began!!). After many long decades of trying to guess whether we'd become dope fiends or ultra-conservative investment bankers, the age breakdowns of election 2008 can provide some answers. Namely that most of us choose Obama over McCain.
Now after this "unexpected" series of historical events, I couldn't help but notice the irony when I saw the new Pepsi logo. Is it possible to deny that the new Pepsi logo looks a lot like the Obama campaign logo?
Some right wing bloggers and commentators have suggested that Pepsi "covertly" trying to advertise for the Obama administration. But realistically the company has donated much more money to the Republicans than to the Democrats, as do most bottling and beverage companies. Pepsi's official spokesmen claim that the resemblance is purely coincidental. The most likely answer however, is that Pepsi is trying to "ride the tide" and perhaps capitalize on the association between their logo and the 2008 campaign logo. As the older Pepsi "choice for a new generation" slogan indicates there is nothing new about advertisers trying to capture the "spirit of the times".
But what does it mean for society when the same beverage company tries to capitalize on two totally different eras? What would they have tried when Lincoln or Washington were President? Or FDR? Or Kennedy? And if the soda industry was gone tomorrow would somebody else try to imitate political logos?
Is there a difference between a soda company trying to capitalize on the "spirit" of a political change that they by and large did seem to support at the donation level (as with Reagan), as opposed to doing so with one where they by and large did not support it?
In the larger sense does this mean that corporate marketing machines are effectively deciding what the conventional wisdom (accurate or not) about a particular generation or age group, will be? And are these "decisions" being made about young adults, teens, or even children? By labeling a certain generation in a certain way, can it create a self fulfilling prophecy for at least the more conforming individuals?
Is it even ethical to create a situation where the psychologists at the advertising and marketing departments, often end up deciding how a particular age cohort will defined, what it will be called, and what sort of people they are expected to become long before most of them have any real chance find out who they are based on their own experiences? And is accepting this situation blindly as "just common sense" a way of allowing advertising to colonize the common understanding of history and political imagination? And could it make rebels out of the most prosaic of fact finders?
That's all for tonight, and remember that sometimes a beverage is just a beverage.
Say Goodnight Readers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment