I just realized that I read, and blog posted about this Edbauer piece rather than the executive one last time. That explains some of the confusion.
Also, I realized I talk on nostalgia a lot. I got confused and used the wrong word for the Keep Austin Weird logo. In class right now we talked about it being more of social class or a social setting. So maybe replace that with nostalgia considering nostalgia is something that brings us back to a childhood memory or anything of the past.
Anyways, for this same Edbauer blog post I will talk about the "Situations Unbound: City Problems" section. Edbauer gives the example of local Austin businesses having to close down and move out due to high property and tax costs. The main focus of the section is the rhetoric of nostalgia towards the Keep Austin Weird logo.
The feeling of nostalgia is a very persuasive rhetorical device because of its effects on consumers or an audience. Nostalgia gives us a special connection to an object or place that gives it the feeling of being our own. It also plays a huge role in the advertisement world, and is the connection that every ad agency looks to evoke when they are trying to sell a product.
The interesting thing about the Keep Austin Weird logo is that while searching for a unique and nostalgic logo for Austonian's to have, they also got something else, a protective aura for local businesses all across Austin.
"The phrase, Keep Austin Weird quickly passed into the cities cultural circulation, taking on the importance of a quasi-civic duty. One pledge pitch from a local radio station told listeners, "you too can work towards Keeping Austin Weird by pledging to keep KOOP Radio on the air." The word PLEDGE is what describes my feelings of the logo best. When you pledge to the Keep Austin Weird logo, you are also pledging to hold your Austin roots together and only invest in the right businesses. Waterloo Records and the Bookstore that created the logo have legitimately created a symbol that screams out HIPNESS.
What better way to reach out to the citizens of Austin then to make them feel like they are being extra hip! Edbauer analyzes the rhetoric of the Keep Austin Weird logo in the following pages, but I thought I'd give my take on it. Let me know what you all think of nostalgia and/or the Keep Austin Weird logo and the rhetoric behind it.
Or...just share a random idea.
Haha...liked your post. Austin is all about trying to make it's citizens feel more cool than they actually are. Good point.
ReplyDeleteReading your comments about nostalgia got me thinking about Mad Men for whatever reason. Some people have nostalgia for a past that they could not have experienced. The Mad Men craze is a good example of this. Most people who were adults in the early 60s are really old, and those people don't throw Mad Men-related parties where everyone dresses like Don Draper and smoke cigarettes. People who throw Mad Men parties are about our age, i.e. people who have NEVER experienced life in the 1960s. However, they romanticize this past and feel nostalgic towards it. Why does this happen? It's so weird to me! I don't really have an answer to this question, but it is a widespread cultural phenomenon. I mean, I'm just as guilty as the Mad Men fans. We all have our nostalgic vices anyway.
I was particularly interested in the seemingly contradictory spin-offs that arose (T-Mobile's use of the phrase and "Make Austin Normal"). Admittedly, I wasn't aware of the origin of the "Keep Austin Weird" phrase. Or rather, I was mistaken, thinking it was more of a social call for nonconformity than an economic statement about local business.
ReplyDeleteYou both talk about selling "hip". Advertisers recognize that Americans see ourselves as unique snowflakes--individuals who refuse to fit the mold. What's ironic, is that people flock to this image, they will literally "line up" behind any symbol of nonconformity. Austinites, as Rebecca mentions, are perhaps more guilty of this hypocrisy than others. It reflects, for me, a culture that is changing, losing track of itself. Austin used to be a big hippie hub, but with the mid nineties tech boom, our "natural", "weird" or otherwise "hip" side got subordinated to a much more conformist norm, one with only a superficial appreciation for the "weirdness".
I think the words pledge and nostalgia hold power because of the affects they create. As we have read throughout the semester, meaning (or a discrete element) has less power than the affect(or movement).
ReplyDeleteSure, we know what the meanings behind these words are. But what makes these words what they are is the affect they provoke. For example, most people know the definition of nostalgia. But most people associate the word not by the definition but by the feeling they get from remembering the “nostalgic” situation. In Rebecca’s response she writes “However, they romanticize this past and feel nostalgic towards it.” We are affected by the word not because of what it does, but how it makes us feel. Just like the “Keep Austin Weird” phrase continues affecting under similar phrases, like “Keep Austin Reading”.
Yeah I think that's the great thing about the "Keep Austin Weird" slogan. It appeals to this sentiment of "weirdness" that all Austinites seem to share. Not only does it appeal to nostalgia, it also appeals to our sense of pride in our city. "Weirdness" is a shared feeling that reacts to a variety of rhetorical situations. Furthermore, the structure of the phrase allows it to be filled with other words or phrases. "Keep Austin ____" essentially becomes a way to talk about any quality that Austin should keep being. Because of the shared knowledge of the "Keep Austin Weird" phrase, these adaptations usually work very well.
ReplyDelete