The two above images are from the inside of Nelson's Diner, situated in Kingsclere. The slogan the diner promotes is Nelsons Diner...A Taste of the USA, this is an example of Fredric Jamesons' theoretical approach to postmodern culture where everything becomes cultural and everything is commodified.
Nelsons Diner is an example of Sign-value, a process by Jean Baudrillard based on the principles of postmodernism, displaying the triumph of an image that is attached to a product. The diner does this by using costume and replication memorabilia from 1950s America through theming and simulation to create the desired, perceived positive atmosphere of an American 1950s diner. The process of simulating the culture of America is appealing to mass population, although it may not be culturally accurate. Baudrillard defines simulation as the death of reality, creating the sense that everything is a copy which is endlessly re-circled, Nelsons Diner being an example of this.
The diner also shows the commodification of everyday life through the branding of a restaurant. The diner has been constructed and manufactured to serve a particular purpose and shows the inability to escape commodification. It also conforms to what Jameson describes as retro/nostalgia where a yearning for the past is experienced. The positive images that came from 1950s America are being placed in the context of modern day culture.
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