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Raising a Monster Army: Energy Drinks, Masculinity, and Militarized Consumption

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Raising a Monster Army: Energy Drinks, Masculinity, and Militarized Consumption RAISING A MONSTER ARMY: ENERGY DRINKS, MASCULINITY, AND MILITARIZED CONSUMPTION Lauren Chesnut A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2010 Committee: Radhika Gajjala, Advisor Stephen Ortiz ii ABSTRACT Radhika Gajjala, Advisor In this project, I seek to explore the ways in which contemporary aspects of militarism and capitalism are expressed and exploited by energy drink manufacturers as part of their efforts to attract young men to buy their products and identify with their brand. Numerous larger and ongoing social, economic, and political shifts are at work here, and I find that examining the visual and textual rhetoric of energy drinks can help us identify how consumer culture reflects as well as perpetuates these forces. I draw from a variety of disciplines, sources, and sites in my efforts, which will ultimately serve to help explicate the content of energy drink advertisements, packaging, web projects, and the self-styled online identities of their consumers. The widespread adoption of masculine-centric rhetoric by nearly all the purveyors of energy beverages, as well as their ever-growing popularity, prompt me to wonder why these messages seem to be so appealing and effective and what that might tell us about masculine gender identity in a post-9/11 era. iii For Sheryl and Felix. Thanks for keeping the hooting to a minimum. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Great thanks, of course, are due to my committee, Radhika Gajjala and Stephen Ortiz for their helpful and speedy feedback. I am grateful for support from BGSU’s American Culture Studies and Women’s Studies programs, and to Culture Club’s Battleground States Conference for a public venue to start working out these arguments. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my dear friend Katie Ashton for discovering Ol’ Glory at a Kentucky 7-11, and to all my other friends who collect odd and interesting energy drink paraphernalia for me from across the country and on the internet. But most especially I owe thanks to Isaac Vayo for challenging me to write a paper about an energy drink can to begin with and for his never ending support, particularly in the form of rides to the library, caffeine supplies, proofreading skills, and as the ultimate TV on DVD marathon partner. Oh, and thanks to my future dentist for filling all the cavities formed by soda and energy drinks during the writing of this project. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 Theory .…….. ............................................................................................................ 1 Method …….. ........................................................................................................... 2 Background Information ........................................................................................... 5 Chapter Overviews..................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1. CAPITALISM, LEISURE, AND CAFFEINATED MASCULINITY ......... 18 Men, Work, and Attempts at “Fulfillment” ............................................................... 19 Branding and the Service-Based Economy................................................................ 25 Caffeine and Capitalism ............................................................................................. 27 More than Just a Soda ................................................................................................ 30 Anxiety, Anger, and Affective Marketing ................................................................. 33 You Are What You Consume .................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 2. SELLING MASCULINITY, ONE CAN AT A TIME: WAR AND GENDER IN POST-9/11 AMERICAN CULTURE ........................................ 44 Masculine Heroism, 9/11, and the Consumer Citizen ............................................... 47 Selling Militarism (and the Military) since 2001 ....................................................... 49 Supporting the Troops................................................................................................ 51 Niche Marketing and “America’s Energy Drink” ..................................................... 54 Monster Assault, “the War,” and Memory ................................................................ 59 CHAPTER 3. VISUALIZING THE MONSTER: RACE, GENDER, THE UNIFORM, AND DIGITAL LABOR ........................................... 66 vi Social Networks, Privacy, and Gendered Labor ........................................................ 67 Whiteness and Online Architecture .......................................................................... 70 Brand Communities and the Pursuit of “Cool”.......................................................... 72 The Monster Army’s Masculine Recruits .................................................................. 77 The Soldiers ............................................................................................................ 81 Digital Labor and Consent ......................................................................................... 86 Figures ......................................................................................................….. 91 CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................... 94 URLS EXAMINED ............................................................................................................... 100 REFERENCES ……. ............................................................................................................ 101 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Monster Army/Hookit Profile .................................................................................... 91 2 Default Facebook Photo ............................................................................................. 92 3 James McIntire’s Monster Army Profile Picture ....................................................... 92 4 Mike Schmidt’s Boonie Rats ..................................................................................... 93 INTRODUCTION In this project, I seek to explore the ways in which contemporary aspects of militarism and capitalism are expressed and exploited by energy drink manufacturers as part of their efforts to attract young men to buy their products and identify with their brand. Numerous larger and ongoing social, economic, and political shifts are at work here, and I find that examining the visual and textual rhetoric of energy drinks can help us identify how consumer culture reflects as well as perpetuates these forces. I draw from a variety of disciplines, sources, and sites in my efforts, which will ultimately serve to help explicate the content of energy drink advertisements, packaging, web projects, and the self-styled online identities of their consumers. The widespread adoption of masculine-centric rhetoric by nearly all the purveyors of energy beverages, as well as their ever-growing popularity, prompt me to wonder why these messages seem to be so appealing and effective and what that might tell us about masculine gender identity in a post- 9/11 era. THEORY First and foremost, my theoretical framework for this study is feminist-inspired critical gender studies. Projects that attempt to deconstruct masculinity owe much to the long tradition of critiquing the social requirements of femininity by feminists and benefit greatly from the efforts of foundational scholars of gender and queer theory like Judith Butler and Judith Halberstam, who look to expose the performative nature of gender identities and separate our gender conceptions from biological origins. These theories provide some of the base assumptions of my work; the understanding that genders are defined in opposition to one another, and cannot exist outside of this social framework in any sort of objective or immutable way. I will be working with writings by Michael Kimmel, Gail Bederman, and others who look at the evolution of 2 American masculine ideals over time. In addition, authors like Susan Faludi and Stephen Ducat examine the state of gendered identities and relations in a post-9/11 U.S. context, while Lisa Nakamura and others trace out how gender as well as race plays out in online settings. This project is a feminist effort because of the theories that underlie my efforts, but also because as a feminist I believe the denaturalization of gender is a key step in the movement for equality and social justice. Many of the aspects of masculinity embraced by mainstream American culture are incredibly dangerous and destructive for men and women alike. Looking at cultural products to identify the themes that encourage violence and risk-taking among young men in particular can help us figure out ways in which we can begin to redefine masculinities. As an important counterpart to teaching girls that they may defy gender stereotypes, we need to teach boys the same; that they need not participate in or embody dangerous and hurtful behaviors in order to be “real men.” Until we are able to articulate exactly what types of negative messages boys and men receive about how to enact their gender, we will not be able to combat them. These efforts are important to my eventual teaching goals, and this project will help form a basis for my
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