006 - Bey 4 Anti-capitalist Kids
TikTok Marxism, Tackling Capitalism's front-line, loving Bey's new lyrics- the kids have gone anti-capitalist, but how did we get here and how are brands navigating the new social media zeitgeist?
Yes, yes, yes we’ve all been singing “I’ve just quit my job” for months now and even more so this past week since Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE dropped last Friday (or a week and 2 days ago if you’re on that Napster energy #ShameOnYou).
Sure, it’s all well and good quitting your day job thanks to a dance floor anthem. But with tracks like “America has a Problem” and lyrics on prioritising black-owned brands above colonial ones (“This Telfar bag imported, Birkin them shits in storage”) delivered over EDM (Zillenals’ genre of choice) this album is a sign of something more. It feels like the height of something MØRNING has been observing for over a year now - Anti-Capitalist Kids.
Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin…
Back in 2020, I remember being shook by a TikTok of a young boy pouting, posing and sharing his favourite communists reads. Firstly, I was like, “TikTok’s algorithm really prioritises tween heartthrobs", but more so, I was stunned by the depth of the books he was reading. Naturally, I went to his profile which had more pouting, posing, communism, socialism, and marxism toks earning him millions of likes.
For the life of me, I can’t find his profile - but its probably because it was deleted along with other marxist accounts like Communist Hype House (@marxians) and all the other Daddy Karl stan accounts which ballooned in August 2020 (here is a remnant of @marxians which predicted the Roe Vs Wade overturn).
With censorship popping the extreme-Marxists balloon on TikTok (theory and memes still happily thrive on the platform), what we're left with is a diluted version of this discourse, Anti-capitalism.
From #s, to audios, to comical content and, literally, sending for big corps in the comments of their accounts, the anti-capitalist sentiment is strong and treated with nihilism (GenZ’s fave humour type <3).
But, before I go into recent examples of this social media phenomenon, can we just deep how wild it is that most young people know what capitalism is? I learnt such lexicon and critical eye at university. Nowadays, kids are critical from teenagehood and no longer awaiting tertiary education to give them this capability, and I do feel the rise of “wokeness”, i.e. “the state of being aware”, could be the cause of this.
Anyway, let’s go back to Instagram x
My most recent observation of #Anticap on socials has been GenZ taking to the “frontline” of the matter.
Exhibit A, Zoe. Our UK subs will be familiar with TV Licensing letters, but basically they're sent to homes that have not paid their TV Licensing bill. As GenZ don’t watch TV, or even have one, they don’t need a licence - but the licensing company tends to come for all homes, no matter who is in them. These letters get increasingly threatening and the “ultimate threat” is an unannounced visit to your home in order to catch you in-the-act of watching tv (lol). Zoe takes this capitalist manifestation head-on. Having got the “ultimate threat", she calls TV Licensing to ask how she can prep for their unannounced visit, to quote:
“But all the parking around where I live is permits only, so if they were gonna come, I’d need to like collect them from the station”.
A true prod at capitalism.
Exhibit B, Alhan. Last week, the GenZ Millionaire was blocked from his bank account and online banking. The only way he could unblock it was to visit a branch - which he took to Twitter multiple times to vent about. He documented his branch visit and purposefully exposed its post-capitalist tropes like now redundant PC screens and empty pamphlet holders - not a good look for capitalism.
So, yeah… it’s all getting a bit real for capitalism. Which begs the question - how are brands coping?
Well, well, well - considering MØRNING provides punk positive social media strategies for some of the world's biggest brands you’ve come to the right Substack.
Here are five tactics that brands have used to embrace the anti-cap shift:
Self Aware POV: A favourite for “of the people” and domestic brands, talking from the POV of a rogue social media manager. They’re in-on the cultural context of their brand, relatable to their audience (the account is managed by a person, just like me!) and touch on the fact they want to sell. Innocent are the OGs of this on Instagram and Gregg's Twitter is great example of personifying someone you want to be best friends with.
Opportunities: Brands that give opportunities show they want to use their power to lift others. Moncler exemplified this by having several up-and-coming directors direct campaign videos. A big brand backing the next generation of creatives - vibe check passed ✔️
Pure entertainment: Give the people what they want, GenZ-made content! The infamous Duo Lingo TikTok account is run by a 24-year-old, enough said.
Auxiliary Company: If your company is too associated with over-production and profiteering - use that cash to burn down the hatch and start a new one, baby! …okay, maybe not quite like that, but using previous gains to start anew with an audience and cause in mind can bode well. We’re not saying names on this one, you'll have to think for yourself.
Socially Responsible Profits: Ahh, our favourite. Just be a good company with good values and shout about them. Black-owned, female-lead, independent - the next generation is yours.
… and that’s it, that’s how you can work with the new anticapitalist zeitgeist. Oh, or actually, you could also do a Beyoncé and capitalise on anti-capitalism - which is all a bit meta, unless she’s planning to use her royalties to bankroll the anti-cap revolution RENAISSANCE.
Till next time misfits ✌️
Words by Emily Chapps