Pecking into Popular Culture

Do we have the Power?

Yes! Yes, we do have the power to control corporations. Nike’s sweatshop controversy is the perfect example of this. Graham Knight and Josh Greenberg’s article, Promotionalism and Subpolitics goes into great detail to explain why and how Nike was under so much pressure by the public to adjust the working conditions of its contract factories.

Knight and Greenberg state that “Nike is the principal target of antisweatshop activism because of its symbolic as well as economic prominence”. Consumers view Nike as a company which creates quality products and is built on positive social values such as athleticism and fitness, social and environmental responsibility, and patriotism. The consumers become deeply emotionally involved with this brand and therefore, have expectations for the company ethics and its social responsibility.

Because Nike is, as Knight and Greenberg state, a “buyer-driven commodity chain,” they are “dependent on publicity” as well as, “vulnerable to counter publicity”. Therefore, Nike needs the public to continue viewing them as a company which creates quality products and is built on positive social values, in order for the company to be successful.

When it was brought to the attention of the public that the conditions of Nike’s contract factories were below par, Nike was bombarded with negative attention and forced to improve their working conditions.

The consumers have the power to make Nike improve the working conditions of their factories because corporations like Nike need to be in the public eye to be successful and when in the public eye they must work by certain standards, which the consumers set, in order to maintain a positive image and continue to be profitable.

Capitalism as a Belief System.

Capitalism is defined by Dictionary.com as “an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations”. This definition describes the kind of society we live in in North America. Capitalism is easily reinforced into society through the media, especially advertising. During the CMN 2180b class lecture on January 9th, Dr. Strangelove mentioned that Capitalism can be argued as a belief system. This was intriguing to me. In order to get more information on capitalism as a belief system I read Janice Peck’s article Selling goods and selling God: Advertising, Televangelism, and the Commodity Form. Peck offers several connections between capitalism and a religion.

In religion, a vision of the kind of person we should be is preached to us. The 10 commandments are a good example. They tell you the kind of person you should be is one who does not murder, steal, commit adultery, and one who honours their father and their mother. Advertisements as well, as Peck states, not only sell products but also visions of our selves. For example a Mercedes Benz is selling the image of success.

Peck presents the idea that advertisements offer suggestions about who we should want to be by posing questions and presenting solutions in terms of our relationships with goods. The God of Capitalism, according to Peck is money, which enables us to purchase good and therefore experience these forms of relatedness. Peck compares advertising with religion, which poses questions and offers answers in terms of our relationships with nature, our selves and fellow humans and a transcendent being. God in this system is that which enables us to experience these forms of relatedness.

Those examples are only two of many in the 20 paged article. The general idea is that both religion and capitalism describe to us who we should be (or at least appear to be) and supply us with the means to do so.