After 9/11 Graydon Carter, the justifiably celebrated editor of Vanity Fair, made a comment that he has since said he regretted mightily. His comment was that the heinous 9/11 attacks signaled the "death of irony" in America. Of course, Carter (one of the founding editors of Spy Magazine) knows from irony. It is a major part of his approach and style as an editor and increasingly as a mini media mogul. Absent irony, Vanity Fair would not be what it is today, and it certainly would not enjoy its huge success. Which is probably why Carter regrets his knee jerk comment after the 9/11 attacks.

After a very brief hiatus (probably just a few weeks) to deal with the shock and sadness of that September morning 6 years ago, irony returned with a vengeance. Even Bill Maher, the brilliant comedian who lost his original TV gig when he commented that the 9/11 attackers were a lot of things, but cowards was not one of them, is back in a big way with a hit HBO show.

I think it’s pretty inescapable that we now live in an ironic age. But, what is even more interesting about that cultural development is that there is a parallel and competing trend which can best be summed up as a desire for authenticity and "realness." People are getting tired of the irony "overload" that is being forced on them and are thus gravitating to people, culture, and brands that seem real, authentic, genuine and most importantly, trustworthy. Trust me on this one, this is a deep seated trend and it has legs. It also has serious ramifications for those of us in the marketing and communications business. (Also for politicos and especially the presidential candidates, but that is best covered by The Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com, not this blog.)

So, there is this tug of war between the irony embraced by a certain part of society (particularly the cultural elites and a lot of the web 2.0 opinion formers), and a desire for authenticity and trust that is bubbling up in the rest of the country (and not just the red states). I am especially aware of this culture clash because I live in what is perhaps the most unapologetically ironic city in the US, San Francisco. This is the city that was dubbed "Baghdad by the Bay" by Herb Caen, the famous chronicler of the San Francisco night life who died a few years ago. And that was long before we got into a war without seeming end in the real Baghdad. Talk about irony.

With San Francisco the epicenter of the new web 2.0 economy, you can imagine the irony quotient of life here. When you really think about it, YouTube is all about irony in all its comedic and tragic dimensions. This is also a city where being ironic is the only cool way to be (if you show even a smidgen of sincerity here in SF, you will lose your Bay Area hipster status for life). To be a SF hipster you have to dress a certain way (of course, true hipsters would never admit to wearing a uniform, but wear one they do), talk and act a certain way, go to the right places, think the right ideas and, most of all, keep everything on a familiar plane of irony. Irony is the sine qua non of hipsterdom.

In addition to being the center of web 2.0, San Francisco is also an important and influential center of the advertising agency business. Here again, the local agency culture thrives on irony, even more so than the famously edgy and ironic creativity that became the LA style with Chiat/Day back in the early 80s. Compared to SF, LA today is much more mainstream in its advertising approach and persona. (Of course, it’s still LA so you won’t see a lot of P&G advertising being done in either city.)

Where am I going with all of this. I am not entirely sure. I guess my view is that people (consumers) today are tired of the lies from their government and other institutions, pissed at being sold risky mortgages that they never should have been offered in the first place, fed up with companies and brands that are not accountable for basic things like safety and efficacy, and just plain mad about the overall direction of society. Now, I am not going to pull a Howard Beale here and ask you to go the window and scream "I’m mad as hell," but I will say that as marketers and communicators, we should be very cognizant of this mood shift. Many of the cultural elites don’t get it yet, and they don’t really have to. But, marketers must be aware of this trend and wary of the constant drumbeat of cynicism and irony that is turning people off as they shift to a more fundamental and grounded way of living and life. Sans the constant ironic overlay.

Consumers are now ready for something genuine and trustworthy. They will be looking for the same in the products and services they invest in. If you still think edgy irony is what’s going to win them over, then you could have some very tough marketing quarters in front of you.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS