3 Comments
Apr 6, 2023Liked by Oliver Bateman Does the Work

I agree with her remarks that people were able to fly under the radar of advertisers and marketers, at least in some measure, and at least for some time. There seemed to be an anti-commercialism in the culture, and I think this was most evident in some of the music of the time. For instance, I recently listened to portions of an interview with the late Chris Cornell. He said that after the success of their album Superunknown, the band decided to call it quits because they didn’t enjoy the large arenas, and commercial gigs more generally.

She was cool guest and this was a cool topic. “Look At Me!” was good. Tons of explanatory power on changes in journalism, and the “nothing-based economy.”

“Self-actualization through shopping,” has deeper roots than I would’ve guessed. And of course, you’re right. Counter-cultural movements which are new (or at least, new-ish) are essentially powerless against the power of the market. It might take a minute for strategies to develop, but at a certain point the market will come out on top. The situation is much more advanced now.

Expand full comment