Pre-Reading on Jenkins

Jenkins Participatory Culture | Pre-Reading Assignment 1 Contextualize and Connect Think about a contemporary example of “cultural acupuncture.” Was the strategy successful in promoting social change, as Jenkins suggests? Explain at length. A contemporary example of cultural acupuncture is in the context of Starbucks which illustrates the strategic use of popular cultural influence to advocate for social change. In response to the company's initial resistance to employee unionization, a boycott of Starbucks was initiated, prompting public debate and consideration of the issue. Starbucks faced a significant challenge when it prohibited employees from wearing Black Lives Matter apparel, leading to a controversial incident where black individuals were reported to the police for ‘loitering’ at a Starbucks location despite being customers of the establishment. This event sparked widespread media coverage and public conversations, ultimately resulting in Starbucks reversing its position and allowing their employees to then express and support the Black Lives Matter movement. This is a strong example that demonstrates the power of cultural acupuncture in leveraging the influence of a large and recognized brand to address social issues and hold corporations accountable. While the specific impact on Starbucks’ labor practices may not be immediately evident, the campaign succeeded in raising awareness and promoting meaningful conversations on corporate responsibility and social justice. This contemporary example really exemplifies the potential of cultural acupuncture to promote social change by using a big/popular companies influence to address real-world issues. Identify A. What is the argument of Jenkins’ Participatory Culture: From Co-Creating Brand Meaning to Changing the World? Be expressive. The argument and discussion is how people, especially young individuals, are now participating in culture in a powerful new way. They are using social media and online platforms to engage in activities that are social, cultural, political and civic. This is a big change from the 1990s when activists tried to shut out and challenge the influence of big companies and their brands. Now, people are using the things that are popular in our culture to get their message out. For example, the Harry Potter Alliance used the huge following of Harry Potter books and movies to get people to support fair trade. They did this by asking the company that makes Harry Potter products to use fair trade chocolate. This way, they use something that a lot of people like to help make a change for the better. Vocabulary B. The following are key theoretical terms introduced by Jenkins in this reading. Define them in your own words. Aim for a paragraph for each – not just a few words. Cultural Acupuncture: Cultural acupuncture can be seen as a modern way of making change by using the things that are popular in our culture. Instead of trying to stop or change these messages, people use them to get their message across, and corporations are conforming to the current socioeconomic and cultural landscape. If corporations do not comply, then they get negatively labeled or are not supported. For example, Starbucks though fighting the masses in the Black Lives Matter protest and their specific situation of removing two black customers, they eventually had to resign to the consumers to regain their profit. (Stevens, 2018) Cultural Jamming: Cultural jamming refers to a form of activism that emerged in the 1990s, where individuals challenged the influence of global organizations and their brands by disrupting mainstream media and consumer culture. The main objective of cultural jamming was to break and change the messages that companies were sending through media platforms like ads and tv shows. Messages that activists perceived as not true. Activists believed the messages were untrue and were trying to get people to buy things they did not need. With that idea in mind, they tried to stop these messages from getting to people. Starbucks' employees continued to wear Black Lives Matter (BLM) apparel to work despite being punished for it. (Murphy, 2020) Fan Communities: Fan communities are composed of a group of people with similar interests that come together and create a community to participate in. They use the skills they have developed in these spaces like video editing as soft skills they are able to translate into their role in activism. These people might go to events about their similar interests, make things about it or talk about it with other people who like it. For example, the Harry Potter Alliance is a fan community that really likes Harry Potter. They worked together to ask the company that makes Harry Potter things to use fair trade chocolate. This is a specific way that fan communities can use the things they like to make the world better. Activism: Promoting social justice by communicating to the masses via media and other forms of communication to gain momentum and ultimately seeking justice and educating others on the specific issues presented. In the case of Starbucks people took a stand and began pushing against the corporation. The brand was not in support of the BLM movement and barred employees from wearing any personal apparel or clothing with supportive imagery. Consequently, facing boycotts from supporters of the Black Lives Matter Movement and social activists. Activists hold brands like Starbucks accountable. (Ortega, 2020) Social Brand Engagement: Social brand engagement is when corporations actively promote consumer engagement Crowdsourcing to identify new potential products, allows brands to understand what users actually want, not what they think users want through the lens of the corporation. Allowing consumers to be active participants in the decision-making and design thinking process in fine-tuning the brand to better serve consumers. This builds a brand and community, brand loyalty and rapport. We didn’t finish the last 2 questions because we were very involved in our discussion. References Jenkins, H. (2014). Participatory Culture: From Co-Creating Brand Meaning to Changing the World. GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, 6(2), 34-39. http://libproxy.mtroyal.ca/login? url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/participatory-culture-co-creatingbrand-meaning/docview/1656599508/se-2 Murphy, H. (2020, June 12). Starbucks Will Allow Employees to Wear Black Lives Apparel. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/business/starbucks-blm-ban-reversed.html Ortega, R. (2020, June 11) Starbucks faces boycott after BANNING employees from wearing BLM logos over fears 'it could incite violence' - despite announcing support for Black Lives Matter. DailyMail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8412429/Starbucks-faces-boycott-BANNINGemployees-wearing-BLM-logos.html Stevens, M. (2018, April 15). Starbucks C.E.O Apologizes After Arrests of 2 Black Men. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/us/starbucks-philadelphia-blackmen-arrest.html Interpret “Today’s change-makers are still strongly invested in appropriating and remixing content from ‘the empire of the signs’ and are still holding corporations accountable for their unhealthy impact on our lives” (p. 35). What does Jenkins mean by “the empire of the signs”? Be expressive and complete. Evaluate What was your experience of reading Jenkins’s Participatory Culture: From Co-Creating Brand Meaning to Changing the World? In your evaluation refer to language, complexity of the ideas introduced, examples used by the author, applicability in a contemporary context, and value of the ideas presented. Say all that can be said. Don’t settle for brevity.