Why in America and not Australia?

My ongoing question is the difference between the consumerist culture of North America and Australia, as well as why the term ‘culture jam’ is not commonly used here (in Australia). This blog will be in two parts. The next to follow shortly.

The term ‘culture jamming’ was coined in 1984 by American West Coast-based performance/activist group Negativland to describe a variety of activities. These include communication tactics as the alteration of corporate advertisements by the Billboard Liberation Front, the parody of corporate and nongovernmental organization (NGO) websites by the Yes Men, and the appropriation of consumer goods through shoplifting and rebranding by Yomano. Most of these activities are chronicled in the magazine, Adbusters.

For a term that has existed for nearly 30 years, it’s only something I’ve (an Australian) learnt about in the past 12 months! Interesting enough, I learnt about this term whilst studying an advertising course in North America. It shows that in today’s society, terms like these are embedded into North American curriculums as an everyday topic, acknowledging the negative impacts of advertising that American consumers seem to be aware of. Whilst my experience at an Australian university has only taught me the positive sides of advertising (to an agency/company) – increasing sales, product awareness/market share etc. But why is this?

Are Australians narrow-minded to think about what advertising does to us? Or is it that there is no need to respond?  (We realise what advertisements to listen to and not) and have control to what we believe. Of course I may be a bit biased, as deep down I’ll always picture North America as a consumer culture where products and brands heavily define how people identify themselves.

But again, this brings me to the point that why teach courses about culture jamming in North America (disguised as an innocent advertising class)? I’ll admit my professor was a bit, okay well, very anti-capitalist and ‘out there’. But she helped us all (the class) open our minds and think about what advertising meant to us, and to question everything we see. We shouldn’t take in every single message that comes our way as they’re one-sided and leave no room for information processing.

It wasn’t until this class, where I myself was enlightened and realised “wow, so what I’ve been taught back home doesn’t take into consideration how it affects consumer culture and influences peoples’ identities”. It was almost disheartening to learn as well, after 2.5yrs of learning how to plan/create an ad/campaign can ultimately mean nothing to culture jamming. I don’t think it’s a waste of time to learn one side or the other of advertising, but find it intriguing that Australia was pro, and this particular North American class was anti advertising in the classroom. This itself can appear as influencing how these cultures look at ads and the power they hold. As well as teaching vital tools (of both sides to ads) that us, as communicators should be aware of.

As previously referenced, Carly Stasko, a culture jammer said “I don’t condone this [jamming], but kids should know about it… not necessarily be encouraged to do it, but knowledge is power”.

Informed or idiot consumer?

One of the very first things I questioned about this topic is how strongly consumer driven American Society is, compared to Australian Society?. This is one of the reasons culture jamming appeals to me so much, as to my experience I believe both cultures are incredibly unique and react (or do not) in different ways. I find it fascinating how people from both countries position themselves and (depending on their own ignorance) how they see an advertisement.

In my first post, I stated American culture has a stronger desire to seek perfection, with brands and products having influence on what people construct as their identities. Note the word ‘stronger’. I do believe Australian Society still seeks the same perfection, but are a lot more aware of what advertisers throw their way. Perhaps this is due to less impact of ad space in consumer ‘mind share’. It could even be less frequency of the ad to an affected consumer, or something which I believe in as celebrity power where actors/musicians align their images to a particular brand product.

I thought it would be quite ironic displaying a culture jam highlighting idiocy

Leading Advertising expert, David Oglivy stated “the consumer is not an idiot. The consumer is you and me”. Well, Mr. Oglivy, I guess your statement can be somewhat true – consumers won’t purchase just anything without (usually) an informed decision. But I still think that there are a lot of consumers out there who only listen and purchase from what the masses do (i.e. copy a friend), instead of acquiring their own knowledge about a product/service. I don’t think there are a lot of people in the world, who have the time, or resources, to independently research about each individual product we are told to buy. Consumers only hear the messages (and product features and benefits) that advertisers are selling to them, so although consumers may not be a ‘complete idiot’, I still think they rely on fancy packaging and selling points, rather than knowing about where that product came from, or how it was made, god knows – even how many people died to make it! This was actually publicized recently after Apple INC CEO was made aware of ten suicides sparked by stressful working conditions at the company’s Chinese Factory, Foxconn (who manufacture Iphones and iPads) in lead up to the iPad launch. Do you think consumers of these products care or even acknowledge what went on behind the scenes in order for them to happily own one of these? Most likely not.

The advertising industry alone spends a US$400 billion on advertising each year in the world (with over US$200 billion in the USA alone). That is more than half of the world’s total! A clear indication how consumerism is pushed down the throats of society who are bombarded with messages they can’t help but take it in. It also explains a stronger desire to seek advertised perfection, as this ideal is constantly enticing them to reward their happiness with products.

Compare this to Australian figures recorded that traditional media advertising spending had fallen 10.5 per cent compared to a year earlier. I couldn’t find the exact spending figure, but this itself supports my idea/experience anyway, that Australian consumers may be more aware of advertising persuasion, as they have more space and time to read their environment and decide what and where they want to listen.

Of course how I decipher these hard figures is my interpretation but at the end of the day, it all draws down to the consumer, and how that product/brand fits into their needs and wants. It’s just a different pathway to how that consumer decides to purchase it. Be either they are an informed or idiot consumer. You be the judge.