Viral Culture and Media Advertising: Savan, Wasik, and Group Dynamics

Introduction: Culture, Media, and Social Dynamics

In today's world, humans are inherently social creatures. We thrive through many different forms of interaction—word of mouth, texting, and internet communication. We are also influenced and swayed by media. But what is the relationship between viral culture and media advertising? How do the arguments of Leslie Savan and Bill Wasik differ and relate to each other?

Culture and media exist in a dynamic relationship. Sometimes culture adapts media, absorbing it and affecting how media operates or how culture itself changes. Other times, certain cultural groups resist media influence entirely, rejecting it to preserve their way of life. In still other cases, media merges into different cultures almost invisibly, without people fully recognizing the shift. When we hear the word "culture," we typically think of how different people around the world live, speak, dress, eat, and celebrate. This is indeed culture, but it encompasses far more meanings, and understanding how culture relates to sources such as media requires deeper analysis.

African American Vernacular in Commercial Advertising

In Leslie Savan's essay "What's Black, Then White, and Said All Over?" Savan explores the importance of African American vernacular in the United States today. Black English has fundamentally changed American society through new terms and slang that continuously evolve. Slangs such as "yo," "what's hanging," "bae," "hook up," "ain't," "ight," and "thot" have been adopted into contemporary discussions, songs, magazines, and television programming, causing an incredible transformation in marketing strategies.

Black slang has clearly affected many companies seeking to reach young audiences through advertisements. Not every commercial employing this tactic, however, was attractive to consumers. For example, commercials advertising alcohol often feature attractive women to promote the product. The logical connection between women and product quality may be puzzling, yet consumers often respond to the impulse: "This attractive woman likes it, so I should buy it." Such commercials sometimes draw consumers away rather than engaging them effectively.

Group Polarization and Collective Judgment

James Surowiecki offers another crucial lens through which to understand these dynamics: his concept of group polarization. This occurs when members of a small group take extreme positions on opposite sides of an issue. Some members adopt an extreme "yes" position while others take an extreme "no" stance, with little middle ground. Surowiecki identifies the dangers of group polarization by observing that "deliberation does not moderate, but rather radicalizes people's point of view" (Surowiecki, p. 479).

What Surowiecki argues is that small group discussion on contentious topics drives participants toward extremes rather than consensus. He examines many situations in which crowds produce poor judgment, arguing that cognitive failure occurs because group members become too conscious of others' opinions and begin to emulate and conform rather than think independently. Although Surowiecki acknowledges that crowds can be swayed by persuasive speakers, he identifies the root cause: the decision-making system itself contains fundamental structural flaws.