The Miracle Whip advertisement campaign “Don’t Be so Mayo” draws on my overall topic of how the “indie” music industry creates an imagined community by using youth and the commodification of rebellion to sell products. This advertisements shows a group of young adults enjoying themselves (partying) while bonding over Miracle Whip. The song in the background is from the rock genre and the people used are wearing “hip” clothing, mimicking the hipster subculture. The copy in this advertisement says “don’t’ blend in” and “don’t be ordinary” which is what the hipster culture prides itself in doing because it is rebelling against the mainstream. The two readings from class that relate to this idea are Frank’s “Why Can’t Johnny Dissent” and Baudrillard’s “Simulacra and Simulations”. In Franks article, he discusses dissent, or rebellion, and how everyone dissents in some shape or form. He says that “Consumerism is no longer about ‘conformity’ but about ‘difference’” In this case, by purchasing Miracle Whip, you are rebellion against the rest of mainstream society. The advertisement then uses young adults to portray this message because they are the ones most commonly linked with rebellion. Baudrillard’s article discusses the real, the imaginary, and the hyperreal. Basically I argue that an imagined community is created to sell products by creating a desire to be a part of that community. The article says that the real “no longer has to be rational, since it is no longer measured against some ideal or negative instance”, however the imaginary no longer exists as well, which creates the hyperreal. Everything in the advertisement is real, however everything that it is displaying (the relationships between the people) is imaginary, which is what makes up the hyperreal imagined community.
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