"Advertising signs that con you into thinking
you're the one,
That can do what's never been done, that can
win what's never been won,
Meantime life outside goes on all around you...."
Bob Dylan.
When Dylan sang those lines, back in 1965, young people all over the world punched the air in agreement. The alternative youth culture that spread across the globe like wildfire in the last five years of the Sixties was nothing, if not anti-materialist. We knew we were being sold an empty dream by the money men and we were not going to buy into it.
A few of us "ex-hippies" saw that money was corrupting the rock stars we worshipped.... we even foresaw that circumstances might eventually force us into the jobs we dreaded... but I wonder how many of us "Ban the Bomb" button wearers could ever have guessed that the youth culture of our children would revolve so firmly around declarations of allegiance to multi-national sports goods manufacturers?
It is a rare sight indeed today to see a teenager who is not wearing jeans and a T-shirt, or a track suit and trainers, whose sole decoration consists of a brand name emblazoned in huge letters across the item. What has possessed an entire generation to turn themselves into walking unpaid advertising bill boards?
Our hippy "buttons" announced to the world that
we shared common values and ideals. (I still have some tucked away in a
drawer). Among those I remember wearing with pride are ones saying:
"End the Vietnam War Now!" "We don't just want more cake, we want
the whole bakery!" "End sexual discrimination now!" etc... etc...
All high minded slogans that demonstrated our naive faith that the world
could be changed.... And changed it was....
But what are my young students proclaiming when
they walk into class with Adidas & Nike in huge letters across their
chests and up their legs?
I started this page with a quote from Dylan. Music was part of our movement and an essential revolutionary tool... even if it was true that "The Only Real Revolution is in Your Head". The other day one of my students came round with a CD containing a stack of MP3 files. I was pleased that he was taking an interest in music and wanted to share it with me. Then I glanced at the names of the files... "Nike" "Coca-Cola" "McDonald's" etc.... Clicking at random on one of those brand names the bitter sweet tones of Otis Redding singing "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" flowed out of my desktop speakers. "Why the brand name?" I asked. My student looked at me as if I were from another planet and not just another country. Shaking his head he stated: "That's the music they use on the advert. You know the one where............"
I once read an S.F. story in which the world of 2020 was divided along company lines with people owing their allegiance to three great companies. It made some sort of sense because in the story these companies provided individuals with their every want in return for that loyalty. I am left wondering what spiritual or physical benefit my students derive from the companies they so avidly support. Anybody out there got a handle on this?????
Capellades 10th November 1999.