Alright. It probably doesn’t bear discussion. But this “Punk Advertising” thing got me all riled up on my commute this morning. Mainly because I was listening to the MC5, and feeling particularly earnest… which is kind of my point - which I’ll get to, so hold on.
Punk is earnest as hell. Its gobs of mucous covered, vomited forth earnestness, despite everything that came after, despite the fact that the signifier “PUNK” isn’t, that it’s appropriated, that it’s loosely typed, that it has served in the army of marketing since 1977 anyhow, that since McLaren crapped forth the Sex Pistols, it’s been nothing but a shibboleth, despite this and more, the SIGNIFIED, the thing itself is EARNEST.
And advertising isn’t. Full stop. If you’re in advertising to create a thing of beauty, or of meaning, or to change the world, you’ve come to the party in a chicken suit and you’re going to get laughed at… except there’s probably about 80% of the people already there in bunny, bear and duck suits, so now everyone’s beginning to think it’s a frikin’ furry convention and getting all freaky. Basically, this no-thing sounds like a way for people in advertising to feel better, edgy, radical — which is wonderful, wear your detourned logo tshirt, don’t worry about your hair, or worry about your hair too much. Say things like “game changing” or “fuck that”… but that’s got NOTHING to do with your advertising. That’s about you.
Punk is about not giving much of a crap about what anyone thinks. Advertising is ALL about what people think. Advertising is about manipulation. It’s about putting the most pragmatic argument forward to get someone to buy something. SOMETIMES the most effective argument may be beautiful. It may have style and grace and change someone’s life. Nike’s “Just do it.” — that’s a joy forever, right? Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, that’s a great message. But if Dove decide that it’s more important to them in the long game to just sell the hell out of their unguents and lotions, if they decide that the better strategy is to make people feel like crap about themselves… the resulting campaign is left as an exercise to the reader.
So, why’s this cheese me so much? Because it’s another buzz word, but it’s the WRONG buzz word. Look at the self promotion these guys generate - strippers quoting from their books. That’s so bougie, straight up ’sex sells’ I can’t stand it. Oh, wait, did I miss the point? Is it the IRONY that their subverting the conventional, pushing it to it’s little limit and forcing the target (I’m guessing agency folk) to eat their own dog food? Or is it little kids under the gym bleachers peeking up the cheerleaders skirts? Either way, punk it isn’t. Punk’s got so little IRONY it’s anemic. Look at Sid. He was way pale.
So - it’s a lot of self promotion, a lot of sound and not much substance YET, and maybe, just maybe, that’s the point. If so, I haven’t missed the point, I just won’t concede it, because the LAST thing this industry needs right now is another buzz term, empty catch phrase fuzzy thinking bit of doggrel. We need to wake the frik up, kick out the Jams and do what we are SUPPOSED to do. Maybe that’s their point.
I’da know, but to quote the ur-punk: “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”
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