History Main / TheManIsStickingItToTheMan

** Interestingly, the one critic who pointed this out on RottenTomatoes got almost nothing but hatred for it in the comments section.

* [=McDonalds=] ran a series of ads in New Zealand for its new "Lamb Burger", one of which had a man complain about how New Zealand is now overrun by overseas influences, such as American TV shows and European cars, until he is told that [=McDonalds=] now offer Lamb Burger. All this, coming from an American franchise. Indeed, [=McDonalds=] in particular is a prime focal point for the ambivalence harbored toward American consumer culture by foreigners, such as in the case of the French embracing [=McDonalds=] (it's been in Paris since at least the 1980s) but insisting on [[PulpFiction "Frenchifying" its menu]].

* ''TheAdjustmentBureau'' references this when Norris, a Senatorial candidate, admits that despite his small-town anti-conformist tone has his entire appearance dictated by careful studies from large corporations to find what will get the best reaction from the population.

* LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit: Detective John Munch is an avid conspiracy theorist and actively voices suspicion of all branches of government, including the justice system of which he is a part.

** Fox News and Fox's entertainment division are generally masters of this trope. ''The Simpsons'' show has been making fun of its home network and lambasting Murdoch as a right-wing fascist "billionaire tyrant" since long before he even launched Fox News. So far, Fox's network of affiliates and Murdoch himself seem to be taking all of this in stride, and why not? For all the viewer ratings they've got and as much money as they're making, they're probably laughing all the way to the bank and know they already got a lot of enemies.

May come about as the result of two competing incompatible functions of "The Man". For instance, "The Man" is often as representative of censorship and regulation. A company that makes billions out of manufactured edgy and offensive content would thus call upon people to "stand up" against censorship groups. However, being motivated by profit rather than altruism is also a characteristic of "The Man". (Think of it as the not-too-crucial distinction between traditional conservatism and libertarian conservatism, which at the end of the day tend to go hand in hand, [[AmericanPoliticalSystem at least in American culture]].)

Anyway, creativity is an inherently anti-authoritarian function; it's even subtly subversive against nature itself, since the ''[[GratuitousFrench auteur]]'' essentially "plays God." And, as was previously implied, capitalist democracy is the best social vehicle for disseminating creative products. Communist and fascist societies, after all, invariably insist that art must serve government propaganda above all else, while anarchist societies (an oxymoron if there ever was one) regard the very idea of art - and arguably even entertainment itself - as inherently "bourgeois" and thus counterrevolutionary.

Also can refer to any commercial that attacks its general field, but claims ''they'' are rooting for the underdog, and are taking a stand against the greed of all the others. So give them your money. See: Lawyers, car salesmen, phone providers, etc. There is conspicuous consumption at work here.

** The campaign itself {{Lampshaded}} and [[{{Parody}} Parodied]] this trope, rather than played it straight. The campaign assumed that the Gen-X market believed they were being exploited and manipulated by advertising in general, and so was simply transparent about it.

* Reminiscent of the commentaries on the film 'The Corporation'' in the above section is the quote, variously attributed to Lenin or Stalin, which goes something like "the capitalists will sell us the rope by which we will hang them."

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* [=McDonalds=] ran a series of ads in New Zealand for its new "Lamb Burger", one of which had a man complain about how New Zealand is now overrun by overseas influences, such as American TV shows and European cars, until he is told that [=McDonalds=] now offer Lamb Burger. All this, coming from an American franchise.

Anyway, creativity is an inherently anti-authoritarian function; it's even subtly subversive against nature itself, since the ''auteur'' essentially "plays God." And, as was previously implied, capitalist democracy is the best social vehicle for disseminating creative products. Communist and fascist societies, after all, invariably insist that art must serve government propaganda above all else, while anarchist societies (an oxymoron if there ever was one) regard the very idea of art - and arguably even entertainment itself - as inherently "bourgeois" and thus counterrevolutionary.

Remember, that TropesAreNotBad. While there is inevitably going to be some inherent hypocrisy in almost any well known media talking out against The Man, it's also because of The Man that these works gets such wide coverage in the first place. Furthermore, the creative minds behind many of these works aren't always part of the establishment. While some given corporation may be happy to let itself be insulted as long as they profit, the people who write those insults in the first place aren't necessarily part of the problem they criticize. Writers subject to excessive amounts of ExecutiveMeddling have just as much a grudge against their corporate overlords as do most people.

May come about as the result of two competing incompatible functions of "The Man". For instance, "The Man" is often as representative of censorship and regulation. A company that makes billions out of manufactured edgy and offensive content would thus call upon people to "stand up" against censorship groups. However, being motivated by profit rather than altruism is also a characteristic of "The Man". (Think of it as the not-too-crucial distinction between traditional conservatism and libertarian conservatism, which at the end of the day tend to go hand in hand, at least in American culture.)

* The 1994 movie ''TheChase'' provides an excellent example of the two incarnations of "The Man" coming into conflict, with the film - completely without irony - intrinsically claiming that the "hip" Man is somehow less of a Man than the stodgy old corporate Man. Kristy Swanson is the daughter of a mega-successful California businessman. After she is kidnapped by a desperate prison escapee (played by CharlieSheen) and finds herself [[StockholmSyndrome slowly falling in love with him]], she decides she's had enough of her father trying to control her life. Long story short, the couple abscond to Mexico...and how do they "rebel" when they get there? [[PerpetualTourist They lie on the beach and drink margaritas]] - something the girl's father most likely did a lot of in private himself.

May come about as the result of two competing incompatible functions of "The Man". For instance, "The Man" is often as representative of censorship and regulation. A company that makes billions out of manufactured edgy and offensive content would thus call upon people to "stand up" against censorship groups. However, being motivated by profit rather than altruism is also a characteristic of "The Man". (Think of it as the not-too-crucial distinction between traditional conservatism and libertarian conservatism, which at the end of the day tend to go hand in hand.)

* ''7-Up's'' short-lived "Are You An Un?" ad depicted their competitors as Orwellian overlords hunting down the "Uns," people who thought for themselves by drinking...7-Up. Viewers saw right through it, and it was soon pulled.

* In 2004, a short-lived ad campaign for ''V -- The Ultimate Variety Show'' appeared in at least one Las Vegas freebie magazine (publications left in hotel rooms, etc. for tourists), encouraging potential theatergoers to "Dare to be different" and choose this show over Blue Man Group, CirqueDuSoleil, and/or Celine Dion. It even had a cartoon illustration with a black sheep choosing the variety show while tons of white sheep chose the others. (The show is a B-list, low-budget production compared to those A-list ones, so the ad was assuming the target audience did not know that...)

** Also an example of this trope by being on {{MTV}}.
*** {{MTV}} does have something of a reputation for being this trope.

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* HannahMontana: TheMovie. The main antagonist of the film wants to build a mall. That's right, the corporate manufactured, MerchandiseDriven, fashion obsessed, consumistic Hannah Montana is telling us that malls are bad.

** The phrase "flaming youth" itself evokes the decadence of the RoaringTwenties, which were arguably a textbook example of this trope as well. Dressing in "flapper" fashions and listening and/or dancing to [[TheNewRockAndRoll jazz music]], viewed by both fans and critics as barbaric and subversive at the time, were in fact enjoyed the most by NouveauRiche types who wanted first and foremost to make lots of money, not change the culture.

May come about as the result of two competing incompatible functions of "The Man". For instance, "The Man" is often as representative of censorship and regulation. A company that makes billions out of manufactured edgy and offensive content would thus call upon people to "stand up" against censorship groups. However, being motivated by profit rather than altruism is also a characteristic of "The Man".

The antithesis of the BandwagonTechnique, and often used by competitors of companies that can use said technique. Tends to invoke the RuleAbidingRebel, since by nature they're telling you to rebel by joining a status quo. For the record, {{Hipster}}s tend to not merely fall for this sort of trick, they often seem to eagerly seek it out just to swallow it, as the proverb goes, "hook, line and sinker", and they '''hate''' being called out on this hypocrisy, often trying to cop-out by claiming to only be embracing it 'sarcastically' even though their act doesn't fool anyone, except [[WhatAnIdiot these people]]

* LadyGaga and her admittedly brilliant StealthParody of the pop industry kind of fails when [[NominalParody you remember how rich she's getting from doing it]]. Although, she does ''claim'' to be [[DoingItForTheArt functionally broke from putting all her own money back into her productions.]]

* The film adaptation of ''VForVendetta'' popularized the use of Guy Fawkes masks to protest authority. [[http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/08/29/how-time-warner-profits-from-the-anonymous-hackers/ The Time Warner corporation makes a lot of money off of selling those masks]]. Not to mention how much [[VigilanteMan Anonymous]] likes them as well.