The 'Cool' Brand: Cultural Appropriation or Appreciation?

A recent trend on Twitter has seen many brands attempt to use slang in an attempt to engage millennials. To my surprise words like fleek (- meaning on point and most commonly used to describe ones eyebrows) and bae (- a term reserved for a loved one, which some describe as the acronym for Before Anyone Else or simply another way to say babe or baby) along with numerous hip hop lyrics and references left myself and many others bewildered. So you wouldn't have been alone in thinking these Twitter accounts had been hacked by a bunch of WSHH watching teenagers.

From Forever 21, to IHOP, Burger King, Taco Bell and Wendy's the tweets from these brands soon went viral, some amassing over 20,000 retweets - which saw a surge in the respective accounts social media following. Whilst the marketers behind the tweets probably felt pretty pleased with their efforts, the sudden change in tone did beg the question, are we laughing with the brands or at them?

After my initial cringing reaction at seeing these companies use words and references synonymous to hip hop culture the topic of cultural appropriation came mind. These multibillion dollar corporations represented by people who are so far removed from the origins may see it as harmless, to adopt the language or social behaviours of other socio-economic groups. However, it can inadvertently create feelings of resentment among the original users who may feel their culture is being 'ripped off' by corporate America.

It's also quite ironic to mention that whilst the brands may feel they're connecting or engaging with youth culture by speaking to them on 'their level'. Once they generally use these slang terms they also devalue them - by bringing it to the mainstream.

Although, to many it can be argued that hip hop or 'urban' culture IS popular culture. One person who would agree with this sentiment is Steve Stoute the author of The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. In his book he details how hip hop - which started out as a counterculture just over 40 years ago in the streets of the Bronx, New York. Transcended to eventually set the precedent of cool. Kanye West also famously stated in his now illustrious interview with BBC's Zane Lowe 'We culture. Rap is the new rock 'n roll. We the rockstars. It's been like that for a minute'. And it's hard to argue with hip hops dominate influence, when you realise all brands from the most innovative, iconic and luxurious have all at some point capitalised off the lifestyle. Whether through endorsement, partnerships or more below the line techniques such as sponsorships, music licensing/placement or simply from drawing on inspiration from street culture. Every commercial brand 'eats' off hip hop in some shape or form.

The problem here with the tweets is the sudden change of voice. Millennials are very big on authenticity, so throwing out a couple of words we're familiar with as part of your social media strategy does not erase the years you've put in to establish your brand positioning, to which we've become accustomed to. There self-confessed attempt to be seen as 'cool' is also very superficial, if they think a few random hip hop references will cut it.
As other than a momentary social media increase I honestly don't believe a change in tone will ultimately and effectively help to change perception amongst a younger target audience, being that it is contrived, disingenuous and lacking the social credibility.

Some of the brands I personally admire like Trapstar, adidas, Red Bull and Beats by Dre etc. all have a natural authenticity ingrained in their DNA and brand heritage and so instantly provide their consumers with social currency. Why? Because they embody the culture.

Nonetheless, these tweets might still be seen as effective in another way. As the tweets provide a new found affiliation with slang words/sayings Bae, Fleek and 'About a week ago' etc. Whether positive or not, these terms could potentially work as triggers to frequent users or hearers to purchase from either brand in the near future through this unlikely association. Jonah Berger detailed in his book Contagious how sales of Mars candy spiked during the first NASA expedition to the planet Mars in 1997. Triggers also allow for social conversation as he put it Tip of the mind, tip of the tongues, word of mouth here being the on fleek driving force in consumerism.