Butter? Really?

The aspect of post modernity I have chosen is that of the apparent commodification of society. The clip I have chosen deals specifically with the concern regarding the image and not the product itself. In their prime, the Sex Pistols and John Lydon symbolised the complete opposite of society in the form of rebellion, with their appearances and music clearly seen to be sending a message of discontent with the English government, perhaps never better personified than in the single ‘Anarchy in the UK’. So how is it that a man who was the figurehead for everything people opposed about society, is now reduced to appearing in butter commercials? The very image of the Sex Pistols and Johnny Rotten appear to have been commoditised.

This shows the shift from a society of production to one of commodification. The rebellious image that John Lydon once possessed is now reversed to be used to sell a product, effectively being classed, in modern society, as a ‘sell-out’. The shift shown here shows not only the power of money but also the power of image. The very image of the front man of the Sex Pistols; one of the founders of a genre of music that sought to inspire individuality once again, marketing a food product for the cause of everything that inspired him musically and personally, shows how far society has shifted and how it is now about selling the image, not necessarily the story behind the image.