Bling is Dead T-Shirt
I’m certainly sympathetic to the Bling is Dead/Demand Details campaign by Annansi Clothing Co. and Chosan and its concern with ending the trade in blood diamonds. But I think there’s an inherent mismatch between the goal of eliminating the "bling culture which helps fund bloody wars in Africa" and to "encourage consumers to stop the illicit diamond trade" by shopping for diamonds responsibily.
The combination works if you view "bling culture" as a materialistic perspective that only values flashy displays of wealth and excessive consumption and also feel that all uses of the term "bling" imply the embrace of bling culture. The problem is, the term bling generally refers to both flashy and high quality products separate from one’s class status, including jewelry bought for special occasions by folks that may have saved all year for their special gift for a loved one.
Saying "Bling is Dead!" will, of course, delight all those that wish it were true. For those not automatically appalled by the idea of bling culture, whether or not they support it, the idea that bling is dead won’t be so appealing, especially since it’s not dead.
Debut of Demand Details[?] T-Shirt at H2O Film Festival w/Designer Kofi Annan (center)
ProHipHop’s Suggestion:
Pick a message and stick to it.
If you’re going to back "Bling is Dead", then don’t ask people to responsibly buy items associated with bling. I’d say go the punk route and start encouraging people to "Kill Bling Dead". That way, rather than simply puzzling over the counter-intuitive message that Bling is Dead, folks will be encouraged to take action of whatever sort seems appropriate, from buying handcrafted wooden beads for those special occasions to organizing physical assaults on rich people wearing expensive jewelry, a la the antifur crowd.
If you’re going to encourage "consumers to demand details about the origin of the gems they are buying and force diamond distributors to change their business practices", then focus on a "Bling Responsibly" type message and go the conscious consumer route. Then you can emphasize the educational aspects and become an important source for those who want to bling without supporting bad things.
Personally, I’d suggest the second route since it’s clear that both Annansi Clothing Co. and Chosan want to do good and make money. That route combines the possibility of having positive effects on long-standing institutions while tapping into the flow of consumer dollars. It’s a niche that can reach the masses. And, to be honest, it’s the route that most people who express concerns about materialism in hip hop really want to take, even though they’ll rock a Bling is Dead t-shirt in a heartbeat. So focus on the Demand Details campaign while offering Bling is Dead merchandise on the side and stack those dollars!
Official site:
Demand Details!
Update:
There was actually a photo of a Demand Details! t-shirt with the other pr photos but it wasn’t loading.
HOW STUPID IS THAT TO THINK THE “BLING/HIPHOP” IS THE CAUSE OF “BLOOD DIAMONDS.” THINK ABOUT THAT WHEN UR FUTURE WIFEY GETS AN ENGAGEMENT RING. TO THINK IS “HIP HOP” ABANDONS “BLING” WILL STOP THE BLOOD DIAMONDS IS CRAZY. ITS A DEEPER ISSUE. REMEMBER “DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER” AND KANYE WISH DIDNT COME UP WITH THAT!
Well, I”m not sure they’d put it that way but your response does reveal the problem when you have two potentially contradictory messages rather than one.
Intersting analysis.
As you can imagine our purpose is not to send mixed messages about our campaign. As you mentioned the Demand Details! initiative is the the primary initiative whose purpose is to encourage people to stop being lazy and find out what part they play in allowing the diamond retailers to continue to be careless. While Demand Details! aims to put the information into people’s hands, Bling is Dead is an attack on the mentality which fuels people’s inaction. By saying Bling is Dead, we are hoping that those who are into blinging blindly because it’s the cool thing to do will question why they do it.
Unfortunately, I think telling people to Bling responsibly will only give those who are complacent an out especially since they’re happy doing what they do and never taking responsibility. There are many ways of approaching the problem, but I think we can all agree that there is a disconnect between the originators of the culture and what it ultimately promotes to the larger society.
Kofi, thanks for stopping by.
I hear what you’re saying and actually I think both directions are valid. I just feel like each one takes you in a different direction and would better be managed separately.
I’m not really promoting Bling Responsibly as a catch phrase necessarily but more as a way to categorize the Demand Details campaign, which is exactly that, a call to go ahead and bling but be mindful of the source.
Let’s hope it catches on a bit better than the campaign to stop getting chocolate with cocoa from slave operations in Africa, which doesn’t seem to have penetrated the mass conciousness after many years of attempts and partial victories.