William J. Swart

Trophies of Surplus Enjoyment

Megaspectacles are theorized as markets for a special economic object: trophies of surplus enjoyment. Attendees at megaspectacles were found to focus their activity upon trophy markets, trophy hunting and anticipated trophy display rather than spontaneous enjoyment of the staged event. Veblen’s theory of trophies as invidious objects, and insights from Goffman, Lacan and Žižek, are used to explain these counterintuitive findings. Trophies function as distorting mirrors, reflective surfaces in which viewers misrecognize the trophy owner’s apparent experience of legendary pleasures as their own dispossessed surplus enjoyment. Megaspectacles produce and sustain envy inducing legends and ritually load trophies with three forms of potential envy: status trophies (envy of symbolic prowess), action trophies (envy of imaginary risk taking) and trophies of jouissance (envious yet repressed desire for libidinal pleasure). Megaspectacles do not directly pleasure their attendees, but provide them with trophies of surplus enjoyment to disturb and disrupt the pleasure of others.

The Commodification of Spectacle: Spectators, Sponsors and the Outlaw Biker Diegesis at Sturgis:

This article conceptualizes economies of spectatorship through a case study of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (SMR). Economies of spectatorship produce spectacular diegeses as commodities sold to spectators and sponsors. They develop through a dialectical process of progressive decontextualization as their diegeses are cross-marketed with discrepant products and services to reach new markets. Progressive decontextualization leads to diegetic incoherence that threatens the realization of profit. As an economy of spectatorship, the SMR produced an outlaw biker themed diegesis replete with vicarious action and consumable character gambles. The SMR progressively decontextualized as it cross-marketed its outlaw diegesis with establishment corporate, religious and political themes. The resulting diegetic incoherence threatened profits and required the SMR’s producers to make significant investments in order to stabilize its flow of spectators and sponsors. Conceptualizing such inherently negating processes is critical to understanding the commodification of spectacle in mature capitalism.

How Legends Become Brands: The Culture Industry in the Second Enclosure Movement

Abstract Purpose Capital increasingly takes the form of intangible assets, especially trademarked corporate brands. Further, contemporary capitalism increasingly accumulates through commodification of iconic cultural images and legendary narratives constituting a “second enclosure movement” (Boyle, 2008). This paper develops a critical theory of brands, branding, and brand management within economies of spectacle. Methodology/approach A case study of the consumer culture surrounding large displacement motorcycling is used to critique the central premise of consumer culture theory (marketing professionals create brands that become valuable icons) and develop an alternative view using concepts from critical theory, especially spectacle (Debord, 1967) and culture industry (Adorno, 1991). Findings After initial enclosure, legends were managed by Crossmarketing Licensing Networks (CMLN), coalitions of corporate and state actors, each possessing a piece of the legendary pie. The Sturgis CMLN was organized into two political divisions, rally profiteers and civic leaders, with overlapping but differentiated interests and approaches to the management of the Sturgis legend. The CMLN intervened in the cultural commons to overcome legendary degradations (banality, incoherence, undesirability) surrounding the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Originality/value Brands are capitalized culture created by enclosures, a form of primitive accumulation. Under current conditions of immaterial production, CMLN’s engage in ongoing cultural production to maintain the capitalized value of their brands. Brands are not only hunted in the wilds of culture, but also increasingly domesticated and fattened when herded through legendary commons.

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.

The Structure of Economies of Spectacle

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.

Paying to be Seen: Sponsorship Markets, Branding, and the Management of Legends

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.

Dark Spectacle: Authoritarianism and the Aestheticization of Economics

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.

The Future of Economic Spectacles: Virtual Augmentation and the Dialectics of Aura

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.

Paying to be Seen Enjoying: Trophy Markets, Display, and Surplus Enjoyment

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.

Economies of Spectacle and Micro-primitive Accumulation: A Tale of Two Cities

NASCAR, Sturgis, and the New Economy of Spectacle vividly illustrates how legendary spectacles, such as those in NASCAR racing and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, generate a triple-circuit of profit.