Branding and Control
The use of branding within the punk aesthetic is first and foremost used to further the idea of both nonconformity then individuality, which are two separate things. Punk aesthetic works with branding through the idea of myth and cultivation of meaning across multiple platforms. Through an association of art to tangible advertisements and branding, the repetition of visual motifs attracts a variety of people, through consumer culture and relationships to brands. Where consumers, especially those which identify with elements of punk aesthetic communicate with brands and find a connection to the presented ideologies as well.
Separate from the originals punk branding, other companies have utilized punk aesthetic in order to sell a product. As shown in the textbook, "Practices of Looking: Visual Culture" the use of the Sex Pistols album cover, Never Mind the Bollocks, was repurposed to create a sense of intertextuality among those who have seen the advertisement. Those who have seen it and know about the Sex Pistols now associate Absolut Vodka with the ideology and representation of the Sex Pistols, resulting in more profit for the company because of its positive response, that one can either live a punk lifestyle or emulate a punk lifestyle while drinking this alcohol.
Never Mind the Bollocks
Never Mind the Bollocks Absolut Version
Separate from the originals punk branding, other companies have utilized punk aesthetic in order to sell a product. As shown in the textbook, "Practices of Looking: Visual Culture" the use of the Sex Pistols album cover, Never Mind the Bollocks, was repurposed to create a sense of intertextuality among those who have seen the advertisement. Those who have seen it and know about the Sex Pistols now associate Absolut Vodka with the ideology and representation of the Sex Pistols, resulting in more profit for the company because of its positive response, that one can either live a punk lifestyle or emulate a punk lifestyle while drinking this alcohol.
Makeup creator, Kat Von D of Kat Von D Beauty utilized band member Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day to sell her collaborated eyeliner, AntiPrecision. This collaboration and ad present a new personality to Kat Von D's makeup brand. She is able to draw more customers, whether they are die-hard Green Day fans or general makeup enthusiasts through her revival of "messy" eyeliner, something this makeup release banks on. This ad in particular changed the general motif of Kat Von D's branding because it made an emotional connection to the customer, many comments under Kat Von D's Instagram post reflected a sense of nostalgia for Green Day's more mainstream popularity in the past, creating an emotional connection to the brand which sells the product.
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The ultimate psychological connection creates an emotional connection to something which is otherwise irrelevant is the power of branding. Punk aesthetic works specifically with branding because it gives brands a personality, reflective of things which are different from the "norm," which is whatever society wants to define it as.
Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: an Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford University Press, 2017.