This question is, or at least should be, a contradiction.
But every now and then I’ll reluctantly flip on the television. It isn’t too often I’ll do this, as I really can’t stand being force-fed the garabage the writers at cbs, nbc, fox, or whatever other network think the “modern family” is like. But then I see something else. A commercial with a talking hamburger, or that weirdo “berries & cream” guy. But I feel as if these companies aren’t just throwing truckloads of money at the advertising guy and saying “do whatever you want”. No, I feel it runs much deeper than that. What I believe is that these big business guys are talking around a nicely polished wooden table and saying “okay so, target seems like it’s a rougher alternative to wal-mart. How can we capitalize on this?” So then they put out commercials that are pretty out there with little dogs with the target logo on their face or girls with white hair. Why? Not because they want to create a more alternative society; but because they recognize that people, whether they’re a middle-aged dad or a young hipster college student, respond to things better that are different from what’s commonly found in the mainstream media.
Let me give you an example. Think of those newer iPhone commercials. Now think of the aforementioned commercials with the bizarro characters and settings. Which are people more prone to talk about? The iPhone commercial where a guy talks about reading his kid a book & sharing pictures of him and his wife, or the runaway burger king guy. Obviously it’s going the king because he’s new and fresh, and well, funny, but humor is a whole different aspect of marketing that I won’t get into. But the fact remains that people are more prone to the “rebel” or counter-corporate products even though they still are supporting big corporate business just by shopping in certain places like wal-mart. Myself, I usually will shop at the local thrift store or make my own products (I have home-made shoes that i used old strips of leather and string to make). Sure, nobody is perfect, I buy things that support big business like a PS3, but that’s just because they’re fun. It’s certainly not an attempt to rebel against a 360 or something stupid like that.
But I’m off topic again. The bottom line is that people are responding more and more to counter-culture products, and as a result, think they are rebellious or whatever other stupid idea gets in their head. I hate people.
