I do not think it is an accident that a society willing to grant corporations the legal status of individuals is also a society that seeks 'community' with anthropomorphized brands. What the viral success of the Old Spice guy shows us is how deep the desire has been (who knew anything could make Old Spice cool?) and how late advertisers are to the telepresence game (technologically, this could have been pulled off about three years ago, I would have thought.)
Do I think particularly American fantasies about gender, race, sexuality and so forth figure into all this? Oh yeah. The Magical Black Brand Man draws wonder and glee for his responses to Twitter users, while the 11 year old 'white trash' girl draws violent responses for her sexualized use of YouTube. Do I think there is something significant in that difference? Yeah.
Do I have any conclusions yet? Nope. But I am in the middle of writing about this stuff right now, and I do promise to let you know when I've got a draft out.
Do I think particularly American fantasies about gender, race, sexuality and so forth figure into all this? Oh yeah. The Magical Black Brand Man draws wonder and glee for his responses to Twitter users, while the 11 year old 'white trash' girl draws violent responses for her sexualized use of YouTube. Do I think there is something significant in that difference? Yeah.
Do I have any conclusions yet? Nope. But I am in the middle of writing about this stuff right now, and I do promise to let you know when I've got a draft out.
