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ABSTRACT
From frequent television advertisements to posters in jet bridges all over the globe, the public is continuously subjected to messages affirming the inception of a flat, borderless world. While these discourses suggest globalization is bringing humanity together into a globally connected, cosmopolitan world order, such corporate advertisements also seek to convey the desirability and inevitability of a borderless economy in which they may roam unfettered. To illustrate how these ideas are communicated, I investigate three emblematic cases: Emirates Airlines, HSBC, and Itaú. By interrogating their public discourses, this article elucidates how powerful actors seek to construct global (or regional–global) imaginaries for consumers by deploying esthetically pleasing (and, at times, seemingly ‘subversive’) advertisements. Their ultimate effect is to demonstrate the would-be futility of attempts to regulate the spread of global capitalism or their own profit-seeking behavior. Through showing how pop-culture artifacts attempt to ‘sell’ teleological global capitalism to audiences, this article contributes to the burgeoning literature on the cultural political economy of globalization. To conclude, I briefly explore how this analysis relates to important political debates concerning agency in globalization, the feasibility of state regulation of global capitalism, and the construction of alternative global imaginaries/orders.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their particularly helpful comments (which included a turn of phrase that served as inspiration for the title), along with fellow participants in the panel ‘Culture and the Ambiguities of Postcolonial Politics,’ held at the 2017 annual convention of the International Studies Association.
I would like to thank Matt Davies, Priya Dixit, Aida Hozic and Jany Méndez for pushing me to develop various aspects of this argument, and readers of a previous draft for their useful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Kevin Funk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Law and Director of International Studies at Spring Hill College. His main areas of focus are global political economy, capitalism and class, the politics of Latin America and the Southern Cone, and interpretive methods. His writing has appeared in such venues as International Studies Perspectives, New Political Science, The Latin Americanist, and Journal of Politics in Latin America. He received his PhD from the Department of Political Science and Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida.
Notes on contributor
Kevin Funk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Law and Director of International Studies at Spring Hill College. His main areas of focus are global political economy, capitalism and class, the politics of Latin America and the Southern Cone, and interpretive methods. His writing has appeared in such venues as International Studies Perspectives, New Political Science, The Latin Americanist, and Journal of Politics in Latin America. He received his PhD from the Department of Political Science and Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida.
Notes
1 This term is derived from Michael Billig’s (Citation1995, p. 6) well-known concept of ‘banal nationalism.’ It refers to ‘the ideological habits which enable the established nations of the West to be reproduced,’ as these practices are deeply embedded in ‘everyday life.’
2 This speaks to a larger truth: we engage with pop culture, in part, because we find it pleasurable. For additional commentary on pop culture and International Relations (IR), see Grayson et al. (Citation2009).
3 Indeed, a Google search for the slogan ‘Tomorrow thinks borders are so yesterday’ returns over 200 results, the vast majority of which seem to be user-generated social media content. In turn, nearly 25,000 results appear vis-à-vis Emirates’ broader ‘Hello Tomorrow’ campaign, as well as approximately 50 citations in academic sources (as revealed via Google Scholar). As the latter slogan’s creator notes, ‘When writing the phrase Hello Tomorrow, I wanted to give people less to worry about and more to feel optimistic about. We are curators of culture and looking for what’s the unmet need, what’s emotional and pleasurable and beneficial to travelers.’ Hence his reference to ‘the now famous Hello Tomorrow Cultural Movement strategy and marketing campaign.’ Another of the ‘creative team’ members behind the campaign comments that, ‘“Hello Tomorrow” is an open-arms greeting to our new borderless world, and positions Emirates as the first real global airline, inspiring interconnectedness and open-mindedness among every class of traveler.’ See, respectively, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-goodson/emirates-hello-tomorrow-w_b_10220336.html and https://www.behance.net/gallery/11980197/EMIRATES-hello-tomorrow (both accessed April 10, 2018).
4 As observed in marketing-focused media, ‘HSBC has staked its claim as the go-to bank for the consumer in transit.’ Indeed, ‘These days it’s rare to cross an airport terminal or air bridge and not see an HSBC ad.’ Accordingly, one online forum participant poses the question, ‘Why Does Every Jetway Have HSBC Ads?’ Of the 62 posted responses, one notes, ‘Excellent question! I never thought about it, but now that you mention it, it is true! Almost feels like HSBS [sic] ads only ever appear on jetways, but almost everywhere in the world. Like they had the monopoly for advertising on jetways.’ See, respectively, http://sparksheet.com/banking-on-airports-qa-with-hsbcs-global-advertising-head/ and http://opennav.com/forum/airchive/5097248 (both accessed April 11, 2018). Media and scholarly references also abound, a small selection of which are cited below. As a further demonstration of its (apparently successful) attempts to allure audiences, a 2015 HSBC project ‘turned the 194-metre sky bridge at [London’s] Gatwick Airport into a sound installation mimicking China’s Yangtze river as part of a conservation campaign with the [World Wildlife Fund].’ See https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/hsbc-a-living-river-j-walter-thompson/1372279 (accessed April 11, 2018).
5 In the words of a business consultant, referring to having encountered one of the ‘Global Latin American’ advertisements in The Economist, ‘Every once in awhile [sic] you come across some magazine advertising that makes you actually stop and look.’ Another online commentator labels the campaign ‘a brilliant translation of what Latin American professionals are doing outside the region,’ and invites readers to ‘send [her] a short bio explaining why you are [sic] Global Latin American.’ See, respectively, http://brucemctague.com/tag/i-am-a-global-latin-american and https://giuseppinarusso.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/%E2%80%9Ci-am-a-global-latin-american%E2%80%9D/ (both accessed April 4, 2018).
6 There are numerous prominent examples of audiences constructing counter-discourses in response to corporate advertisements, many of whom engage in ‘culture-jamming’ activism that aims to subvert corporate messages through ‘playfully appropriating commercial rhetoric’ for oppositional purposes (Harold Citation2004). They include Adbusters magazine (and its ‘spoof ads’) (see http://www.adbusters.org/spoofads/ [accessed January 29, 2018]), the ‘laughtivist’ efforts of the ‘Yes Men’ to satirize the machinations of ‘corporate evildoers’ and others by ‘infiltrat[ing] conferences, produc[ing] fake newspapers, and do[ing] various other weirdness’ (see http://theyesmen.org/index.php/about/ [accessed January 29, 2018]), and Banksy’s subversive graffiti art (Branscome Citation2011).
7 See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwYr4LAIUjk (accessed January 17, 2016).
8 See https://worldairlinenews.com/2012/04/09/emirates-launches-its-hello-tomorrow-ad-campaign/ (accessed January 28, 2018).
9 For present purposes, neoliberalism refers to a post-embedded-liberal ‘political project to re-establish the conditions for capital accumulation and to restore the power of economic elites’ through radical market reforms such as privatization, corporate-friendly regulations, and flexibilization of labor (Harvey Citation2007, p. 19; emphasis in original). Both neoliberalism and embedded liberalism (or Keynesianism), among others, can be conceptualized as distinct ‘varieties of capitalism’ (Hall and Soskice Citation2001). As such, they share certain foundational assumptions (including private ownership over the means of production), but present divergent ideas in key areas (e.g., respectively, whether to respond to a financial crisis through fiscal austerity or counter-cyclical deficit spending).
10 See http://www.emirates.com/english/about/int-and-gov-affairs/international-and-government-affairs-new.aspx (accessed January 17, 2016). Perhaps ironically, Emirates and other Middle Eastern airlines have repeatedly been accused of benefiting from ‘massive government subsidies’ (see http://www.openandfairskies.com/ [accessed January 31, 2017]). The above Bloomberg cover cheekily refers to two of Emirates’ competitive advantages: ‘no unions’ and ‘no shareholders.’
11 See http://www.emirates.com/ro/english/open-skies/issue/2866682/january-2016 (accessed January 17, 2016).
12 Though he adds the caveat: ‘Maybe I’m just being a little bit naive, overoptimistic.’
13 See http://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/about/cultural_diversity.aspx (accessed January 17, 2016).
14 See http://www.emirates.com/english/about/the_emirates_story.aspx (accessed January 17, 2016).
15 See https://www.emirates.com/us/english/flying/cabin_features/first_class/first_class.aspx (accessed March 17, 2017).
16 The world’s current busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, recorded just under 104 million passengers in 2017.
17 See http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/emirates_burj?size=original (accessed January 17, 2016).
18 See http://www.hsbc.com/about-hsbc/company-history (accessed January 17, 2016).
19 See http://www.hsbc.com/citizenship/diversity-and-inclusion (accessed January 17, 2016).
20 See http://www.hsbc.com/about-hsbc (accessed January 17, 2016).
21 See http://www.hsbc.com/about-hsbc/our-purpose?WT.ac=HGHQ_Ah_h1.2_On (accessed January 17, 2016).
22 See http://www.hsbc.com/about-hsbc/advertising (accessed January 17, 2016).
23 See http://sparksheet.com/banking-on-airports-qa-with-hsbcs-global-advertising-head/ (accessed January 28, 2018).
24 See these and other slogans at http://blog.rev.com/articles/culture/hsbc-airport-ads-share-remarkable-insight-to-our-world/ (accessed January 17, 2016).
25 The advertisements can be viewed at http://mustardpost.com/hsbc-airport-ads/ (accessed January 17, 2016).
26 See http://blog.rev.com/articles/culture/hsbc-airport-ads-share-remarkable-insight-to-our-world/ (accessed January 17, 2016).
27 The authors further comment that, ‘Our interest in these ads is not based on HSBC’s use of graphic cultural images in the service of its business interests, but rather on the ways in which the campaign displays bankers’ own understanding that they require cultural knowledge in order to do business well’ (Best and Paterson Citation2010, p. 6). While sensitive to the latter, my focus is instead on the former.
28 See http://www.itau.com/ (accessed January 17, 2016).
29 See https://www.itau.com.br/itaubba-en/about-itau-bba/who-we-are/itau-unibanco-holding (accessed January 11, 2017).
30 See http://www.itauunibanco.com.br/relatoriodesustentabilidade/ra/10.htm (accessed January 11, 2017).
31 See https://www.itau.com.br/itaubba-en (accessed January 11, 2017).
32 See https://www.itau.com.br/itaubba-en/our-business/wholesale-bank (accessed January 11, 2017).
33 See https://www.itau.com.br/sobre/quem-somos/visao/ (accessed January 11, 2017).
34 See https://www.itau.com.br/itaubba-en/about-itau-bba/who-we-are/our-purpose (accessed January 11, 2017).
35 See https://www.itau.com.br/ (accessed January 11, 2017).
36 See https://africaagency.wordpress.com/ (accessed January 12, 2017).
37 See https://africaagency.wordpress.com/tag/global/ (accessed January 12, 2017).
38 The same slogan appears on Itaú-branded notebooks. See http://www.pmaise.com.br/portfolio/peca/caderneta-i-am-a-global-latin-american (accessed January 12, 2017).
39 See https://africaagency.wordpress.com/tag/global/ (accessed January 12, 2017).
40 For others, of course, ‘America First’ and ‘Brexit’ may be more appropriate rallying cries. Should this current ethno-nationalist wave continue to rise, one may expect even ‘global’ corporations – perhaps including those cited above – to increasingly perform a ‘national’ identity for audiences.
41 Note Condé Nast Traveler’s suggested hashtag, ‘#AtHomeInTheWorld.’ See http://www.condenast.com/brands/conde-nast-traveler/ (accessed January 15, 2017). The magazine declares itself ‘the global citizen’s bible and muse.’