High and Pop Culture Brought Together in Advertising and Painting

Chrysoula Titi University of Kent

The complexity of culture does not allow us to easily define

it or draw its limitations for the simple reason that it

constantly changes and develops. Defining culture and

differentiating it from other cultures is a hotly debated issue

because of its elusive nature; we know more or less what culture

is but how and based on what criteria do we determine its

boundaries and which groups it represents is difficult to say.

Because culture is a broad term, naturally there have been

attempts to create categories in order to better analyse it. One

such distinction, although questionable, is that of high and pop

culture. Cultural studies critics debate about whether such a

distinction exists or should exist. While previously the focus had

been what we would call high culture, there is a general turn

towards pop culture by people, artists and cultural studies as a

field. This is evident in daily life and the kind of Art and

Culture promoted by media and society.

For practical reasons, it is easier to first describe the

terms high and pop culture before examining their presence in

society. We can define high culture with the words of Matthew

Arnold, that it is "the best that has been thought and known in

the world" (Johnson 7). It is an elitistic idea of culture that is

"organised around distinct moral-aesthetic principles" and is

based on "a classical education and patronage and centred on the

classical (i.e. Greek and Latin) canon" (During 194). It draws its

material and inspiration from the past and the great artists that1

have helped shape the cultural context of a society. It comes as a

result of years of education and reading that extends beyond

compulsory education; in other words, the people who move within

this field of high culture are usually privileged people from a

financially well-to-do background who have access to education

which is one of the reasons why it has been criticized. The fact

that only a few have access to high culture means that it excludes

a large number of people and therefore does not represent society

in its entirety. Another reason that derives from the previous one

is that high culture is "dry" in the sense that it does not have

much room for development precisely because it is restricted to a

handful of people who reproduce what they learn.

Popular culture comes as a response to high culture. It is

essentially "anti-authority" (194) because it addresses the

general public and not the elite class as high culture does. It is

basically "the culture of and by the people" (196) that is

directed towards the non-privileged and by extension excludes and

criticizes the elite and its high culture. The subject matter of

pop culture is usually the non-canonical, meaning issues that

would not normally interest high culture such as the problems of

the underprivileged and daily situations and objects. Unlike high

culture, pop culture is more present in society because it

addresses a larger number of people and it is "committed to

immediate pleasure" and "its first requirement is – generally

speaking – to be consumable now" (193) and not aspire to timeless

value and recognition. It may seem more democratic in a way

because it addresses the people and includes the more diverse

groups of a society and therefore is more representative of it.

However some limitations have been identified. One such limitation2

is its "obsolescence," how susceptible it is to falling into

disuse or becoming out of date because eventually "repetition and

celebrity turn into boredom and satiety, and the object is trashed

into final uncoolness and obsolescence" (201). Precisely because

it is not meant to last long, the pop culture artifact is

prominent so long as it is consumable by the people and then it is

replaced by another. Another limitation is that it is a "standard

bearer for commercial values and the ideology that supports

consumer capitalism" (202). Because it addresses a large number of

people, it is commercialized and used as a means of advertising

and promotion with the aim of profit.

This general and quite simplistic distinction is not clear-

cut nor is it definite. As mentioned above, there have been many

debates about what exactly is classified as high and pop culture

and which is "better." There are arguments for and against both

but the general tendency the last few years is towards pop culture

in the sense that the focus has been turned to pop culture, even

by cultural studies and the academia. During particularly talks

about what he calls the "academicisation of popular culture" (197)

and the relationship between "academic disciplines and popular

culture [that] remain contentious" (193) because of some main

differences in their characteristics, functions and objectives.

However it is more accurate and closer to reality to say that high

and pop culture coexist and even blend; in fact, "a large body of

culture today exists in a zone between or reaching into both high

and low (to use those loaded terms)" (196).

This merging and blending of high and popular culture is

evident in cultural artifacts that society produces, such as

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literary and other texts, films, television, music, advertisements

etc. This mix is probably a result of the postmodern age that puts

into question fixed categories, blurs the lines between genres

with its techniques of pastiche to express the fragmentation of

the era and uses humour, sarcasm and irony to make a point and

comment on the issues it addresses. In order to discuss this

merging of high and pop culture, we will examine two commercials,

the 2014 KIA Super Bowl Commercial featuring Laurence Fishburne as

Morpheus from The Matrix and the Dewar’s Live True Commercial. To

enrich the analysis of how they blend high and pop culture we will

also include the analysis of the pop artist Marco Battaglini who

mixes in his paintings high and pop culture with fascinating

results. The paintings to be discussed are "Gentlemen prefer

blondes" (Image 1) and "Unhappy ending" (Image 2) which appear in

the Appendix.

In the first commercial there is an interesting mix of

elements of high and pop culture. It is the latest 2014 KIA

commercial advertising a KIA car. The commercial’s plot is that a

man and woman, probably a couple, very well-dressed, exit a fancy

restaurant and head to the valet to get their car. Laurence

Fishburne appears as the valet and gives them an option, to leave

with their car or with the new KIA car which will change their

perception of luxury. The man chooses the latter and while

driving, Fishburne appears at the back seat to reaffirm that this

experience of luxury is real and to show them what true luxury is

like. At that point he starts singing Puccini’s famous "Nessun

Dorma" while outside the car causes chaos; everything behind the

car floats and is destroyed, light bulbs explode and everyone’s

attention turns to the car. The commercial ends with Fishburne’s4

voice and the KIA car moving forwards while behind it "normal"

cars are exploding which gives the impression of an epic, heroic

scene. The final message is that KIA redefines luxury.

We can deduce many interesting things from this short

commercial. It is clearly addressed to men because the woman does

not utter a word and is simply there as part of the background; it

is the man who chooses to take the other car and the one who

drives giving the impression that luxury and difference is

reserved for men only. But what is particularly interesting is how

pop culture is mixed with high culture. The elements of pop

culture are the central role of Fishburne in the commercial and

how it uses The Matrix to appeal to a larger audience and of course

the very object of advertising is part of pop culture. A car,

being a commodity, would not be considered high culture or culture

at all for that matter but as we saw above, pop culture can turn

anything into Art. These elements are combined with Puccini’s

famous piece as a musical background that makes the car seem

superior and more than a product because Puccini is a celebrated

opera composer, that is high culture. In any case, this commercial

is a clear example of how pop culture can commercialize art and

fuse high and pop culture.

We find similar themes in the second commercial that

advertises Dewar’s scotch naming the whole campaign Live True. It

portrays a number of different people and their special choice of

lifestyle. In other words, people who follow their dreams despite

the difficulties and who are true to themselves. The commercial

seems to address authentic people like the ones portrayed

presenting this scotch as a reward for their hard work,

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determination, passion and persistence to achieve their unusual

but admirable goals. There are quite a few people presented and we

see glimpses of their lives, their choices and the challenges they

face along the way but in the end we see their fulfillment as they

follow their heart. Throughout the commercial Tom O’Bedlam recites

Charles Bukowski’s poem "So you want to be a writer?." The

commercial ends with young people running forward in a field and

the call to Live True. Here again the commercial targets men since

men are dominant while only one woman appears briefly.

As with the KIA commercial, the Dewar’s one fuses high and

pop culture. What is advertised, scotch and drinking, is not

considered high culture but it is elevated to the status of

something more than simply consuming alcohol; it is related to

greatness, rebellion, authenticity and character. This effect is

achieved by the portrayal of real people who have rejected the

beaten path and make their own instead, following their vision no

matter how difficult it might be. This is reinforced by the choice

of the poem as a background, the voice of the person who recites

it and the kind of tune that accompanies it. The aim is for the

commercial to be inspiring and to encourage ordinary people to be

great and visionary. So in this case, the title of the poem can

change according to who is watching the commercial; "so you want

to be a writer" can be substituted for anything a viewer dreams of

doing or becoming. The choice of a poem as a background is an

element of high culture because poetry is traditionally considered

high culture that requires a certain level of education and

refinement to appreciate. Although Bukowski might not exactly be a

high culture poet tending more towards popular culture, but the

choice of genre is still poetry and in any case Bukowski was6

notorious for his drinking so he is an appropriate choice for a

scotch commercial that wants to promote its product but also

elevate it to the status of Art and way of life rather than simply

drinking.

To complement the discussion of how high and pop culture fuse

in cultural artifacts as the commercials we discussed above, now

we will turn to the analysis of two of Marco Battaglini’s

paintings, "Gentlemen prefer blondes" (Image 1) and "Unhappy

ending" (Image 2). Battaglini is a pop artist who produces "large

pastiche paintings that combine a handful of genres, styles, and

references" (Gutierrez) applying the postmodern technique of

pastiche and adhering to the idea that classifications are not

fixed. Some of his paintings "are often reminiscent of a

Renaissance composition and include classicist figures painted

alongside more modern imagery like graffitied walls, tattooed

bodies, varying artistic allusions like Warhol and Lichtenstein,

and other pop culture details" (Gutierrez); this is effectively

what we have discussing so far, that there is a tendency in Art to

merge rather than separate high and pop culture. This is the case

with the two paintings included here. Both images portray

Renaissance figures as we have seen them in famous paintings of

renowned Renaissance painters, therefore high culture, but situate

them in a modern context with graffiti walls as a background or

little details of pop culture such as tattoos or artwork by other

pop artists; image 1 has details from Andy Warhol’s paintings,

Marilyn Monroe’s portrait. Both have a graffitied background with

inscriptions that are related to modern society and both have

ironic and humoristic overtones; image 2 for instance has its

Renaissance figures dressed in modern clothes and even includes7

brand names like Calvin Klein. It is an interesting mix of high

and pop culture in terms of aesthetics and politics in the sense

of what message it wants to promote.

Having discussed the above, we can conclude that the general

distinction between high and pop culture is not very clear or

valid. The two commercials and the two paintings we have examined

prove that it is more productive and stimulating to mix the two,

without ignoring their differences, rather than attempt to

separate them and determine which is of a better quality and which

is not. In our postmodern society there is no room for fixed and

rigid categories and classifications and this applies to Culture

as well. The results of this fusion may be positive or negative,

at this point we cannot be certain, however it is definitely an

issue worth further exploration.

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Appendix

2014 KIA Super Bowl Commercial featuring Morpheus (Laurence

Fishburne) from The Matrix https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=C6Rbn2pk2h8

Dewar’s Live True Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2QM5uo196Q

Marco Battaglini Artworks. Saatchi Art. Web. 12 June 2014.

http://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/28818

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1 Battaglini ''Gentlemen prefer blondes'' 2 Battaglini ''Unhappy ending''

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Works Cited

During, Simon. Cultural Studies: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge,

2005. Print.

Gutierrez, Jené. "Marco Battaglini Mixes Renaissance Paintings

With Pop Culture Imagery"

Beautiful Decay. October 15, 2013. Web. 14 June 2014.

http://beautifuldecay.com/2013/10/15/marco-battaglinis-mixes-

renaissance-paintings-pop-

culture-imagery/

Johnson, David. "Introduction to Part I." David Johnson (ed.) The

Popular & the Canonical:

Debating Twentieth-century Literature 1940-2000. London: Routledge,

2005. 3-12. Print.

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