In a Time of Digital Obsession, Consume Wisely
Following a recent feud over a rising wellness brand found to be plagiarising and conveying harmful narrative, the discussion of personal responsibility around our consumption habits couldn’t be any more important.
This brand established huge momentum over a very short space of time- starting as a “...mood board for life; a collection of images from past and present that represent a life surrounded by beauty”, to now being described as “Just a Forever 21 Moodboard” by critics. And why is this? Because the harmful words were the antithesis of the lifestyle and values in which this brand stood for.
What was most alarming is that the brand CEO responded in a way which further alienated her critics, rather than apologising and upholding any integrity, or brand authenticity. The issue here is transparency- a principle we must all be aware of whether we are following wellness trends or supporting sustainable brands. It was the lack of transparency in question which spurred a mock account exposing the questionable acts of this brand and raised awareness of its unethical acts. This account was swiftly shared by influencers and followed by thousands wanting to witness the brands’ downfall.
This behaviour is not new, in fact it has been labelled in the media for several years as ‘cancel culture’ or online shaming. This is a movement of speaking truth to power, a movement pivotal to social and economic progress. Or is it? There are arguments suggesting we ought to be equally cautious of cancel culture, and we should feel empowered to detach ourselves from any social pressure in order to make our own, autonomous consumption choices.
Cancel culture
Source: I Am Well and Good
Cancelling is where one withdraws their support for a public figure or brand in response to something ethically questionable. Withdrawal of support is often shared on social media and spreads to form collective online shaming, or “cancelling” of this individual across all media platforms (social, print, television, etc). It is withdrawing any attention to them, seen against public figures such as Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Scarlett Johansson.
The wider dangers of cancel culture
Adopting a vicious mob-mentality
Of course we might align with the views of the masses for good reason, and we are exercising our right in doing so. However in times where we might join the mob without establishing strong, personal reasons for doing so, we are reducing the truth about our complicated world to sound bites and headlines. Furthermore, this mob-mentality often presents a repressive “you are either with us or against us” rhetoric.
As a consumer: to prevent it reaching this point we can be researching the CSR and sustainability policies brands have in place before making a purchase. From this we make our own judgment of whether such policies align with our ethics. If we all take responsibility in doing this beforehand, then companies will be held accountable before it’s too late or cancelling is even necessary. Making these conscious consumption decisions will impose pressure for the market to change in accord with our personal values.
Over-simplifying
It has been observed that facts and stories are often over-simplified to fit the character count of a tweet or being displayed well on a well-curated Instagram post. This isn’t too dissimilar from some of the marketing ploys in question, bringing light to a form of hypocrisy!
Denial of our human fallibility
This mob-mentality denies our ability to get things wrong and almost assumes that this dominant view is finite and absolute. But progress inherently requires an inferior position beforehand, therefore it might be impractical to observe the world with this apocalyptic view. Barack Obama has even expressed his concern for this ignorance. In October 2019 he voiced “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically woke and all that stuff, you should get over that quickly”. Obama shares that this judgmental behaviour is not true political activism, and that this is not a healthy way to bring about change.
Clash between the apocalyptic and prophetic
In repelling forgiveness and taking revenge, aforementioned individuals are thrown into a basket of deplorables, denying any chance of re-education, of redemption or improvement. Consider the consequence of the cancelling and bullying which Caroline Flack endured by the media. Cancelling presents the world as one which needs to be destroyed and remade. This is frightening, for this poses the risk of a one-sided world view; plus there are elements of the world we have today which remain great.
In repelling forgiveness and taking revenge, aforementioned individuals are thrown into a basket of deplorables, denying any chance of re-education, of redemption or improvement. Consider the consequence of the cancelling and bullying which Caroline Flack endured by the media. Cancelling presents the world as one which needs to be destroyed and remade. This is frightening, for this poses the risk of a one-sided world view; plus there are elements of the world we have today which remain great.
From a consumer point of view, there are still lots of brands upholding their authenticity and embarking on great sustainability projects. Take a look at clothing brand Everlane for instance. Everlane prides itself in “radical transparency”, determined to build a transparent and environmentally responsible supply chain from its materials, factory conditions, store design, to pricing and a cost breakdown for customers. For an insightful read take a look at https://www.everlane.com/about.
How can we respond?
Justice is at the forefront of a liberal society and cancelling is one of numerous means to that. But as cancelling is being more widely used it is becoming all the more deadly and we must be wary of this individually. We must question when our individual values are violated and apply our ability to rationalise as individual human beings. This doesn’t mean acting passively or rejecting the principles of social justice. It doesn’t mean giving up on our accountability, in fact it means living into personal responsibility to our fullest. Being cautious of cancel culture simply means we are acknowledging our human fallibility and displaying optimism for change. We are optimistic that we can live in a compassionate and ethical liberal world.
On brands
With the rise of social media and this immeasurable exposure to marketing content, we ought to consciously reflect on our personal values and reasoning before taking a marketeers’ word as gospel- do not be lured to the point where you are subjected to a marketeers prey. A lot of us are following others rather than our intuition; the antithesis of the movements we are fighting for such as wellness and sustainability. Do your own research, and consume wisely.
