The video is yet another way New Zealand is trying to cash-in on the popularity of Peter Jackson's films, including the soon-to-be-released "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey". But this is not simply unique in its format (New Zealand has most recently put LOTR characters on its currency). The video was posted on YouTube, and in just one week, it has reached over 8 million views and counting. I never would have thought that an airline safety video would be a new media phenomenon, let alone use a hobbit to show me how to put on my oxygen mask in case of emergencies.
In class we mostly discussed the idea of "prosumers", localization of content, and convergence of creative media formats when we spoke of "convergence culture". But what if this video shows that more than just industries are converging in our age of global information circulation? What if industries, governments and pop culture are all converging? This video would seem to suggest this, as you have the airline industry utilizing media and pop culture to promote both the country, the film, and the airline itself. The lines between all of these are very fuzzy, and it is hard to tell where one promotion begins and another ends.
Though other countries may not want to take such links to pop culture to this extreme, they may want to consider take a page our of New Zealand's playbook. In a previous post, I discussed the Internet's clash with Chinese national sovereignty. Would it be possible for China to take a globally-known, Chinese-made pop culture reference (say Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan), use it to promote its media industry (or "open" information), its economic objectives, and its party line and culture? It would be interesting to find out, and even more interesting to see how this could be utilized to promote the US abroad.
In short, the convergence culture I see is the whole picture, not just in one aspect of media usage or production. At the very least, such appropriation of mass media and pop culture to communicate information in various industries is am amusing one-hit-wonder. At most, it could potentially be a a public diplomacy strategy that not only promotes economies, but also tourism, and national brands through the new media technologies.
I'm also a Tolkien fan, I even have a tattoo of his signature.
ReplyDeleteBut good points on convergence culture. Popular media are now used across all other kinds of fields. Also this is a way to force people into viewing a part of popular culture they might not have otherwise watched. For instance, let's say someone on the plane never before had an interest in watching jackson's take on LOTR - well now that passenger HAS to watch at least part of it.
Kudos.