Brands are the moral benchmark of the future, and we’re all cool with it
What an interesting time we live in.
Although free market, open borders capitalism may arguably be in decline, the cultural impact of corporations is stronger than ever. In fact I believe we are witnessing a new form of capitalism in the making, with corporate actors exerting a stronger cultural hegemony than Antonio Gramsci would have imagined in his worst nightmares. Once the old ideologies are shattered, once the moral integrity of institutions is more than ever called into question, it is really left to the private sector now to act as a driver of social change.
Facebook’s shift from an agnostic content sharing platform to a supposedly socially responsible, active social player may be the strongest indicator of change to come. If you haven’t yet, read Mark Zuckerberg’s post on Facebook’s vision and mission change. It should be mandatory reading to those who want understand what the future has in store.
Companies of course have always tried to leverage culture to sell people stuff, that’s no news. Yet the pervasiveness of branded content afforded by the internet, together with precise segment targeting, mean that companies the world over are moving in to fill the chair left empty by ideologies and religions, hard at work as they are to give humanity values and meaning while of course selling them stuff.
Want to be vegetarian? Here’s a great online store for you. Our persuasive, a/b tested content will turn you into a vegan, if it’s in our interest to do so.
Want to feel spiritual? Wear our pants for your yoga session. Our branded and slightly click-baity blog posts will make you discover the latest trends in sustainability and clean energy.
Believe in LGBT rights? Here’s a listicle of 10 other causes you may be interested in supporting
And now this.
Western civilization has always liked to see itself as an ambassador of values that now it seems to have itself forgotten. With an isolationist and socially conservative US, with a weak Europe lost to populism, it is now left to no less than Nike, the arch-enemy of the left around the world in the ’90s, to represent liberal values around the world. Just watch this series of ads: a powerful message of women empowerment carefully articulated in culturally-sensitive videos, to fit each of Nike’s major markets around the world.
This incredible campaign is really the story of the West trying to spread its values across the world all over again, together with the customary misunderstandings and misrepresentations of foreign cultures (read the article to understand what I mean). Yet this time it is not done by a state with its soft power, nor with its tanks. A large swathe of western states does not even stand for these values anymore. It is done by a private company, with the ultimate goal of selling shoes.
This trend could of course be seen as wholly positive. Its implications include the fact that we got a long way from companies getting away with slave child labor and Mad Man-style tobacco ads. Corporations of the future will HAVE to not only to be transparent and ethical, but to actually make themselves the embodiment of values, the harbingers of change.
The question is: will they be up to the challenge? Are brands just mirroring the values we already share or are they shaping society in their own image? Does the tail wag the dog?
