White Stripes and Nissan Promos

[millie]

you're right. There is no rebellion left for adolesants. Whenever I think about this I keep coming back to the same example: Hot Topic. It's a giant, soulless company whose main audiance is poor, naive kids who are trying NOT to buy in to all the corprate crap. But they CAN'T avoid it, because it has sunk into almost every aspect of our lives. So now the strange has become the norm and you can purchase rebellion at the mall.[/quote]

[Sugarcubes Forever]

I would argue that the majority of the kids shoppy Hot Topic are NOT trying to be aniti corporate. The wide-jeans-wallet-chain-thug-hoodie look is just another fashion genre. Kids today sort themselves into many of these molds. Their rebellion is not against corporations, commercialism or conservatism, as were many of the rock genres of the past. Their rebellion today is asthetic and cliquish. Feel like an outcast at school and at home? Don a Slipknot T and slouch in pride, yo! Tired of the Britney Spears too sweet to stomach scene? Choose Good Charlotte and pose like a punk!

To be sure, there are youngsters out there really rebelling. The anti war protests around the world earlier this year were filled with high school and college kids. The anit globalization movement is fueld by 18-24 year olds. These are people who are truely standing up for something. It's just that that something doesn't always coincide with an aversion to corporate rock.

Here again is a shortfall of the 30 something point of view. My generation looks back at the kids coming up and says "what's up with the kids?". We were accustomed to our rock rebels rebelling against some pretty big things. Joe Strummer liked to dis Thatcher on stage. Eddie Veder still loved to scribble protests on his forearms. Whole scenes (ala the DC punk bands of the 80s) rallied against the establishment. Today, people my age look at a kid wearing a punk T shirt and wonder why the brat couldn't think of something original.

[millie]

Its not that what the kids are doing is original. It isn't. They just don't want to sell their souls to anything that is being thrust at them, i.e. MTV. They watch MTV2, thank you very much. I'm not saying that they are really rebelling against anything except what most people just ignore anyway. What I'm saying is thay you will never, ever see jack white or karen o scribbling protests on their arms, partly because they're not political as musicians, and partly because there isn't any such thing as real protest in rock music anymore. At least, none that's acessable to all those kids wearing Good Charolette t-shirts.

[Guest]

As one of the "kids" myself, I have to agree with Scotty. So many of my peers attempt to rebel by buying a Good Charlotte record, getting their lip pierced, and styling their hair into faux-hawks. Thing is, they don't really know what they're rebelling against, or that even actually rebelling at all. For them, the rebel is just another stereotype to which one subscribes, like the jock, the nerd or the cheerleader. They see punk rock as nasal vocals, a select few chords, and a fashion statement. These same "rebels" and "punks" literally run away when you try to discuss politics with them or stay and prove to be completely ignorant. They wear Che Guevara shirts without even knowing who Che Guevara was, without even being able to spell or pronounce his name. They went to anti-war war protests because everyone was doing it, not because they oppose American imperialism and the doctrine of pre-emption. Basically, the "skaters"/"punks"/"rebels" are the new cool kids, the new cheerleaders/jocks.

That's not to say there are no kids who are aware that punk rock isn't about safety pins on your t-shirt, who are politically aware and involved, and who can recognise a well-marketed but, for lack of a better word, shitty band. I'd like to think of myself as one of them. Now, don't get me wrong; I don't claim to be a punk. But I do go protests and exercise my right to free speech and free information. I do try to buy a record because I love the music, and only for that reason. I try not to look at photographs of the artists I like that aren't in the album packaging and that aren't concert pics, because what a band looks like, especially when they're not "on," really shouldn't matter. I honestly don't give a damn what label a band is on and what stupid stunts they or their label decide to pull. If I like the music, I support it and the band. And I more than like Jack and Meg's music. I have since I first heard it, a month or two after De Stilj was released. I really don't care that Nissan sponsored their free concert, because that sponsorship didn't change their excellent music (the not at all funny "Jolene" cover included) or their performance.

the rock stars of the past were doing something NEW by having a spontanous free rock show on top of a building, and they were doing it at a time when the media and the corporate world were still reeling from being broadsided by rock and roll.

What new thing would you have them do? Last I heard, people weren't too happy with the new 'planned-out, $90 for a GA ticket through Clear Channel' thing. Better to stick with an old idea that actually pleases your fans and is accessible to all, even those who can barely afford the subway fare to the gig. And if you have to take corporate sponsorship for that to happen, then so be it. It's all in the interest of sharing the music.

I'd also like to add that the whole Nissan thing isn't quite as hypocritical as it may appear; Jack White especially loathes the Big Three auto companies (Ford, GM, & Chrysler), of which Nissan is not a part. And even if it was Ford, I'd find it hilarious. Jack and Meg know exactly how to mock and play the media, and it's wildly entertaining.

[killertomato23]

For the record, the above post was me. My confirmation e-mail just hadn't comme through yet.

[Guest]

Does no one else see the irony in this? Jack dealing with a car company?
Either it is a publicity stunt, or it's a very very abstract statement that you can get so far by corporate sponsorships but sooner or later they'll pull the plug. Eh. Whatever. As long as the music doesn't suck, I'm still pulling for the Stripes. Because it's the music that matters, right?

[O!]

The only things I don't like about the White Stripes are those red outfits! Give it a rest! Dress like a normal human being. I want to say to Jack & Meg: "Are you on drugs!?"

Anyway, sell out vs. poverty in obscura? Which would you choose? There is no such thing as selling out. If becoming a successful musician and being able to live via your art is "selling out" then count me in, mister. I can't wait for the day when Ford, Toyota or Honda comes knocking at my door, saying they want to pay me to use one of my songs in their car commercial.

The only problem I have with commercial sponsorships is if somebody promotes something they don't use, or even oppose. Does Jack drive a Nissan? I'll fucking bet he does! I would certainly say no to a company like Dow or Monsanto, and I would say no to some financial companies behind the scenes. But, Disney Cruiselines? Microsoft? Now you're talking.