I couldn't help but be stimulated to ponder authenticity again when I came across this ad for Stoli in Rolling Stone.
Authenticity is now an important marketable quality of a product. The question that arises is who decides what is authentic and how is that expressed. In the Stoli ad there is a stamp in the corner. I don’t have a clue what that means and its in Russian so I don’t understand it. But it looks official so I guess it gives it an air of formal approval.
Some questions arise from my pondering:
Is it more authentic to drink ‘authentic’ Russian vodka, or a more authentic cultural expression to drink 42 Below?
What is the ‘stamp of authenticity’ that we need to express our faith to a suspicious world?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts
Christina
3 comments:
Hmm...initial thoughts:
- is the authenticity here linked to actually being the best or merely being the most prestigious? I wonder (from mere appearance, as I can't read Russian either :)) if there's a power appeal here - we are authentic, because we are the original (old/have history/this itself should prove we are best and you should drink this) rather than we're authentic because we're genuinely the best and truest expression of vodka (genuine quality - not just for the sake of).
- Is this ad a good cultural fit for us? What does that say to our dis/similar application of ideas of authenticity shown?
- If 'authentic' Russian vodka is an excellent and accessible drink then perhaps it would be more authentic, if 42 below were the mere fashion then perhaps it would be less authentic [I can safely make myself look ridiculous having no experience of either to inform my comments :P]
- The 'stamp of authenticity' I am beginning to find lies not only as I have found necessary, in a place of a defensive mindset, the willingness to admit when we don't know but, at least in part, through an honest expression (read practice including verbalistion) of what one does find true about the world. People seem to want to know and see what we do know if presented in the same vein as what we don't know.
I'll keep pondering your last qu though, I'm sure there's more to it.
- Oh, and considering this is being used for marketing purposes, will we be driven to become 'post-authentic'? What would that look like? hehe.
Oh - as a complete side tangent - was watching a dvd tonight of a guy who started doing stuff and then spent 3 years in a doctorate exploring what was going on in a particular area - creating the theory (and theology) to understand/build on/teach and live from. Excellent man :) thinks we've misapplied Aristotle *happy sigh* You'd love him, I'll pinch the DVD's off my friend for you once we're done.
Love Jas
Just to clarify. 42 Below is made in lil ol NZ. So the authentic cultural expression of drinking it is supporting local business and the concern for the environment involved in importing things from a long distance. However 42 Below is made from wheat whereas Stoli is made from Potatoes (I think) which is more traditional. Vodka drinkers may have more comments on this.
Christina
My Russian is a little rusty, but I think it says 'this stamp is an in-joke for russians only' - so that certainly seems authentic eh.
Authentic vodka? You know Christina that I'm a beer man....!
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