DownerMan Revival
This Note's For You
by Alek Grabinski - alek@best.com
Ain't singin' for Pepsi
Ain't singin' for Coke
I don't sing for nobody
Makes me look like a joke
This note's for you
Neil Young
America seems like an increasingly confusing place. Not so much for
all the excessively publicized craziness that goes on - school shootings, senseless violence, bizarre Springeresque behavior that ought to be
confined to the toolshed, where it belongs - but rather, for the things
that once would have been considered lunatic but today pass for normal.
Fifteen years ago, for instance, it was inconceivable that anyone would
pay two (or more) dollars for a pint of tap water, and our culture mocked
those pretty-boys who paid cold cash for a bottle of imported frou-frou
juice (vanity, thy name is "Perrier!" "Hey, did you know that Evian
spelled backwards is 'naive'?" snort) Clothing labels used to be
hidden discreetly inside the garment; the only exception I can recall was
the too-hip-to-be-happenin' Members Only stitched over the
too-small-to-be-useful breast pocket of the too-space-age-to-be-natural
synthetic blends used on those jackets (which anachronistically enough can
still be seen on the occasional retro fashion victim). Today, clothing
is advertising and consumers are willing billboards - a sad
statement, really, one that says, "Look at me, I'm the book with a really
great cover! Just don't ask me to open up. You won't like what's
inside..."
When I was in high school, the only at-school advertising was the
Coca-Cola logo (in retrospect, tastefully and mercifully small) in the
middle of the scoreboard next to the football field. How things have
changed. In the past week, the city of San Jose signed a deal with Pepsi,
whereby Pepsi would give San Jose's schools some chump change, and the
city would give Pepsi a captive market for its frenzy-inducing sugar water
- er, sorry, lifestyle-enhancing beverage products. (I don't know if it's
really true that Pepsi wanted the schools to rip out the water
fountains, but I wouldn't put it past them to at least ask...) This is
serious business - that is to say, it's all about business and commerce
and creating a consumer class, and it appears to be working to the benefit
of business, to the detriment of our kids. Any place they can find to put
in a plug for their products, they'll do it. At least our bland governor
recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed corporate advertising in
school textbooks, so California schoolkids won't have to solve problems
which read, "The Oreo[tm] cookie is the world's most popular cookie. Each
Oreo[tm] cookie has 4 grams of saturated fat in its yummy creamy center.
How many grams of fat will Darren load into his veins when he snarfs down
an entire bag of 60 cookies as he plays Nintendo64[tm]?" Other schoolkids
in other states are not so lucky.
Now I don't have a problem with going down to the mall and being
assaulted by advertising messages. That's the risk I take, after all,
assuming the role of consumer and wandering off to do battle with the
merchants of, um, mercantilism. But I do have a problem with going
places where these messages just shouldn't be - places like schools, and
universities, and hospitals, and other public places. For starters, it's
not the purpose of any of these public institutions to shill for a
money-making enterprise. The schools ought to be teaching children how to
be more viligant against, not more susceptible to, the evils of insidious
advertising. Public schools are just that - public - and
public means "of the people." All the people. Public
spaces are for all the people too.
The disease has spread everywhere. When Shoreline Amphitheatre first
opened, you had to look pretty hard to find an indication that the city of
Mountain View, or Bill Graham, had sold out to moneyed interests. The
place looked like a general-purpose civic event locale. As laughable as
it seems today, rock'n'roll used to pride itself on its independence from
the forces of greed and advertising. Neil Young had a hit with "This
Note's For You", decrying the then-new trend of linking big-name bands
with bad-taste beers like Miller and Budweiser. A month from now, Neil
will take the stage for his 13th annual Bridge School Benefit, and I
wonder whether he'll take note of the chip-company flag that flies from
one of the tent's teats, or the clothing-company ads that flank the sides
of the seated area, or the networking-company ads that fill space in the
program - and ask himself, "Now who is this note for?"
Our public spaces, it seems, have been sold. Any flat surface can act
as canvas for an advertising message. Any pair of streetlights can
support a banner exhorting us to drink this beverage and use that bank as
we enjoy this city's annual arts festival. Gone are the simple features
that used to characterize thoughtful architecture; in their place, when we
see a blank wall, we visualize the logos that could be placed in those
spaces.
More on the decline of public spaces in next month's column.
DM
DownerMan, DownerMan, does whatever a downer can.
Catches thieves just like flies, crushing them 'tween his thighs. Look
out! There goes the DownerMan...
