Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Reverse psychology in the desert of the real

Dear Hipster:

Every time I see a commercial for Sailor Jerry rum, all I see is a big business using hipsters’ ideals of nonconformance to exploit them. Are hipsters really this blind to such an obvious marketing technique?

— Mike

Sponsored
Sponsored

DJ:

Does the hip community lean right or left politically? Or does their independent spirit require them to put (I) next to their printed names?

— Leon, Encanto

The Sailor Jerry ads — part of the rum company’s “Outside the Lines” ad campaign — would make a sincere appeal to hipster values of originality and nonconformity. Take the example of the punk-rocker chick, the one teaching herself the mandolin so she can write country music, and whose husband sports a matching finger-tat (“I’ll keep you wild” to her “Keep me wild”). They’re everything a neo-twee hipster couple ought to be!

Of course, no real hipster would ever consciously identify with an advertisement, because ideals of individuality. They’re hardly blind to this “obvious marketing technique,” but they’re also not inured to the effects of clever advertising. Older generations adopted the sound bite and the 30-second advert, but millennial-aged hipsters were born to it, molded by it. For many, advertising is the common tongue. In the ’80s, when many of today’s hipsters were born, a guy you’ve prolly never heard of said, “All original cultural forms, all determined languages are absorbed in advertising because it has no depth, it is instantaneous and instantaneously forgotten.” He prophesied a “Triumph of superficial form, of the smallest common denominator of all signification, degree zero of meaning, triumph of entropy over all possible tropes.”

To wit, the shallow language of advertising, which grabs meaning indiscriminately wherever it finds it (in the same way that hipsters are said to pilfer style from other cultures), dominates and subsumes all forms of communication.

Melodramatic, yes. But also accurate. Many hipsters share the lingua franca of advertisement and commodification, and the constant commercialization of their fresh ideas both comforts and disconcerts them.

The best ads that target hipsters do so with a kind of reverse, hipster-hating approach. Garagista Brewing, a South African beer company, launched an ad campaign that claims its craft beer is totally unsuited for hipster consumption. If you haven’t yet seen the Denham jeans ad that parodies American Psycho, watch it.

Hipsters can laugh at themselves, and making them do so can be a great way to sell beer, pants, or whatever.

On the other side of advertising (to touch on hipster politics), America’s parties both want the hipster vote. A recent GOP campaign featured Scott Greenberg, DC resident, self-proclaimed Republican, and tortoise-shell-glasses-wearing hipster. The series of vignettes features Greenberg explaining why he identifies with the Republican party and why his fellow Millennial citizens ought to do the same. Counter that with Oregon’s campaign to familiarize people with the benefits of the Cover Oregon ACA health-insurance market, a TV ad for which features a flannel-clad hipster strumming his guitar, singing of bonhomie, buying insurance, and locally harvested produce.

Pollsters don’t have a category for hipster. They mark age, race, gender, religion, income, and ethnicity, but since hipsters encompass all those categories, many think there’s no point in trying to court “the hipster vote.” For the most part, trying to coerce hipsters into identifying with a cause will be a great way to alienate them.

The strongest voices in hipster politics these days belong to Russell Brand and Gavin McInnes, both of whom have come out against voting and playing politics, which are the ultimate mainstream, after all.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance

Dear Hipster:

Every time I see a commercial for Sailor Jerry rum, all I see is a big business using hipsters’ ideals of nonconformance to exploit them. Are hipsters really this blind to such an obvious marketing technique?

— Mike

Sponsored
Sponsored

DJ:

Does the hip community lean right or left politically? Or does their independent spirit require them to put (I) next to their printed names?

— Leon, Encanto

The Sailor Jerry ads — part of the rum company’s “Outside the Lines” ad campaign — would make a sincere appeal to hipster values of originality and nonconformity. Take the example of the punk-rocker chick, the one teaching herself the mandolin so she can write country music, and whose husband sports a matching finger-tat (“I’ll keep you wild” to her “Keep me wild”). They’re everything a neo-twee hipster couple ought to be!

Of course, no real hipster would ever consciously identify with an advertisement, because ideals of individuality. They’re hardly blind to this “obvious marketing technique,” but they’re also not inured to the effects of clever advertising. Older generations adopted the sound bite and the 30-second advert, but millennial-aged hipsters were born to it, molded by it. For many, advertising is the common tongue. In the ’80s, when many of today’s hipsters were born, a guy you’ve prolly never heard of said, “All original cultural forms, all determined languages are absorbed in advertising because it has no depth, it is instantaneous and instantaneously forgotten.” He prophesied a “Triumph of superficial form, of the smallest common denominator of all signification, degree zero of meaning, triumph of entropy over all possible tropes.”

To wit, the shallow language of advertising, which grabs meaning indiscriminately wherever it finds it (in the same way that hipsters are said to pilfer style from other cultures), dominates and subsumes all forms of communication.

Melodramatic, yes. But also accurate. Many hipsters share the lingua franca of advertisement and commodification, and the constant commercialization of their fresh ideas both comforts and disconcerts them.

The best ads that target hipsters do so with a kind of reverse, hipster-hating approach. Garagista Brewing, a South African beer company, launched an ad campaign that claims its craft beer is totally unsuited for hipster consumption. If you haven’t yet seen the Denham jeans ad that parodies American Psycho, watch it.

Hipsters can laugh at themselves, and making them do so can be a great way to sell beer, pants, or whatever.

On the other side of advertising (to touch on hipster politics), America’s parties both want the hipster vote. A recent GOP campaign featured Scott Greenberg, DC resident, self-proclaimed Republican, and tortoise-shell-glasses-wearing hipster. The series of vignettes features Greenberg explaining why he identifies with the Republican party and why his fellow Millennial citizens ought to do the same. Counter that with Oregon’s campaign to familiarize people with the benefits of the Cover Oregon ACA health-insurance market, a TV ad for which features a flannel-clad hipster strumming his guitar, singing of bonhomie, buying insurance, and locally harvested produce.

Pollsters don’t have a category for hipster. They mark age, race, gender, religion, income, and ethnicity, but since hipsters encompass all those categories, many think there’s no point in trying to court “the hipster vote.” For the most part, trying to coerce hipsters into identifying with a cause will be a great way to alienate them.

The strongest voices in hipster politics these days belong to Russell Brand and Gavin McInnes, both of whom have come out against voting and playing politics, which are the ultimate mainstream, after all.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.