![]() In any case, we’ll be watching to see if the tide turns back, but we suspect there are going to be more and more brands co-opting the antihero approach for a piece of the action. So it might seem that in an ironic twist, siding with the antihero might actually be the heroic choice. ![]() While we all remember the 90’s backlash against child labor in cases of major brands like Nike and Gap, the labor standards driving these mass retailers hasn’t significantly shifted in many cases. John Oliver, HBO’s resident late night host, tackled the issue of fast fashion in one of his recent segments, identifying the legitimately horrific circumstances of workers which lead to the low price points and mass scaling of such brands. You might want to picture Paul Newman playing the title character in the film Cool Hand Luke, Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry, or Bruce Willis playing John McClane in Die Hardslightly scruffy and worn, sometimes moral, but sometimes not. ![]() It’s a way to stand out against the retail mass machinery and stand for something different.Īnd if you’re wondering what’s so wrong with that mass market retailing, you don’t have to look very far to find out. An anti-hero is often a bad ass, a maverick, or a screw-up. They are who they are and they do as they want-without apology.” Just as our favorite television shows allow us to live vicariously through the antihero’s struggles and victories, donning the apparel of a rebellious brand lets us “put on” that attitude and adopt a bit of antiheroism in our day to day life. They make us feel like something right is being done, even if it is legally wrong.Īntiheroes do things we’re afraid to do. They reject societal constraints and expectations imposed upon us. So why is the antihero approach so appealing to audiences and consumers? For PsychologyToday, it’s all about the idea of liberation and the shirking of normative rules, “Antiheroes liberate us. I’m looking to be a purist and my goal is not the financial success of the business but the impact the business will have.” While he might “think most of them are f***tards,” he does realize that his way is a shift in the predominant way of doing business. And in football the anti-hero is Eric Cantona. From Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost to Schwarzenegger as the profoundly conflicted Terminator, cheering on the bad guy has never felt so delightful. I’m not looking to be the next big-name designer. I n classical literature the anti-hero is an evil misfit. It validates my work and it makes me feel good.
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