CULTURE JAMMNG CORPORATE CONSCIOUS AMERICA

In Naomi Klein’s book entitled No Logo she concentrates on expressing the negative behaviors of major corporations, the workings of their tricky add campaigns, and the public’s reaction to their media. Naomi describes her own personal accounts of unfolding the truths behind some major marketing schemes, and interviews with people who bring awareness to the dangers of “high name-brand recognition” companies.

In the early twenty’s legendary advertising agent Bruce Barton altered the face of General Motors Corporation to promote something “personal warm and human”. As Naomi writes, he turned GM into a metaphor for the American Family. Barton wanted the public to feel a special personal connection with the company. He explained that advertising was more than just a label or a catchphrase but a “corporate consciousness”, and its role was to help companies find their “soul”.

I the chapter entitled “culture Jamming” Naomi explains the principals of culture jamming through a story. Jorge Rodriguez de Gerada, an active culture jammer, began manipulating tobacco and alcohol billboards in his neighborhood to stop their harmful messages from reaching the kids. Usually manipulating the billboards to portray a mocking of the company’s advertisement, Rodriguez does his work during the day to attract attention to the message he is sending. This is not the first cultural jam against the advertising industry; popular magazines depicting the “ideal woman” fueled the feminist strike against the potentially dangerous imagery. Soon the covers of these magazines were being defaced (or as I prefer culturally jammed) by women, writing things like “feed me” over the pictures of skinny models.

No Logo in my opinion is a good representation of the many problems we have with corporations and advertising. She identifies the major hazards of corporate advertising and production scandals, giving us the knowledge we need to construct better choices in the future.