History Main / TheManIsStickingItToTheMan

When a large commercial corporation tells you via commercial that the best way to rebel against corporate social assimilation is to buy their products. Will often involve what [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Lindsay Naegle]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' refers to as a "[[RuleAbidingRebel spokesrebel]]".

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. [[{{Hypocrite}} So give them your money.]] See: Lawyers, car salesmen, phone providers, etc. There is ConspicuousConsumption at work here.

May come about as the result of two competing incompatible functions of "TheMan". For instance, "The Man" is often seen 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". Or more simply, an attempt by the industry to respond to changes in society and tensions of its time and appeal to the needs and sensibilities of the public, even if they themselves don't share the same inclinations. Their main concern is self-preservation, and changing with the times is a historically proven method.

May come about as the result of two competing incompatible functions of "TheMan". For instance, "The Man" is often seen 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". Or more simply, an attempt by the industry to respond to [[SocietyMarchesOn changes in society]] and tensions of its time and appeal to the needs and sensibilities of the public, even if they themselves don't share the same inclinations. Their main concern is self-preservation, and changing with the times is a historically proven method.

* The Hot Topic chain of clothing stores is ''built'' on this, with an edgy, rebellious image carefully crafted by some marketing suit in City of Industry, CA, where the main offices are located. Yeah, the city looks exactly like you think it does. The Hot Topic building is generally non-descript, but driving past at night you can see that the lobby is decked out with a 27-foot tall gothic altar, and the receptionist sits at an antique autopsy table. ([[http://community.hottopic.com/content/hq-photos First photo.]]) Apparently the rest of the building is no let-down either.

* As well as the page quote above, ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' had another [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/03/18 take]] on this:

* 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.

* ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'': Ali complains of this in "Trouble Don't Last Always", saying that advertisers and businesses have weaponized "revolutions" to sell things, which he thinks stops actual change or at least controls the impact. He relates that Nike put up a sign reading "Our people matter" (about black people) while still charging a bundle for sneakers, which costs them nothing, looks good and lets them still charge the same huge price (he notes they were likely made by slaves or near enough in China too).

* Music/JonathanCoulton's "Sticking It To Myself."

* Jack O'Neil(l) from ''Series/StargateSG1'' complains about his inability to do this after he gets a promotion: He likes sticking it to the man. But now he ''is'' the man. At which point Jackson helpfully suggests he could try sticking it to himself.

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

[[caption-width-right:350:Destroying capitalism, one overpriced, sweatshop-manufactured T-shirt at a time.]]

* The 1994 movie ''Film/TheChase1994'' provides an excellent example of the two incarnations of "The Man" coming into conflict, with the film 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 Creator/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? [[TropicalEpilogue They lie on the beach and drink margaritas]] – something the girl's father most likely did a lot of in private himself.

* The 1994 movie ''Film/TheChase'' provides an excellent example of the two incarnations of "The Man" coming into conflict, with the film 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 Creator/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? [[TropicalEpilogue They lie on the beach and drink margaritas]] – something the girl's father most likely did a lot of in private himself.

* Nintendo's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMQAbQ1hJZw "Play It Loud"]] ad campaign made it look like buying SNES games was an excellent way of rebelling against those stuffy, repressive authority figures, as well as trying to make them look [[NeverTrustATrailer much edgier than they actually were in most cases]]. Mind, ''this'' was coming from the Nintendo that simultaneously demanded ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' and ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' be severely {{bowdlerized}}. Equally amusing was that one of the ads featured a Music/ButtholeSurfers song that was ''released on a major label'' and proceeded to bleep out the word "Hell" in said song. Of course, pretty much every "anti-authority" video game censors its music. Illegal street racing while blasting gangsta rap and ramming into cop cars? Fine, but said rap will be thoroughly clean.

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* Discussed by Creator/LindsayEllis in "''{{Theatre/RENT}}'': Look Pretty And Do As Little As Possible". Because Broadway shows are so expensive, only those with large amounts of spending money can attend them. Thus, shows have to perform a balancing act between being trendy- maybe even a little edgy- and not alienating their wealthy audiences, which can lead to this trope.
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* Several commentators on the documentary ''The Corporation'' note this trope's existence in RealLife. However, it's not presented as all doom-and-gloom -- they also note that, as long as demand for anti-corporate material exists, [[TheMan the corporations within a capitalist system]] will always provide supply to meet that demand, thus allowing for resistance and possibly even eventual subversion of them.

* In one memorable scene from ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'', the protagonist Sam, who idolizes countercultural music and [[Music/Nirvana Kurt Cobain]] in particular, meets a mysterious, impossibly ancient songwriter who claims to have written all hit songs of the the last three generations and at least one piece attributed to Beethoven. During their conversation, the Songwriter mercilessly dismantles Sam's worldview, pointing out that all the protest songs championed by young people who think they're rebelling against the mainstream are just commercial products that ultimately serve only to make the old, wealthy patrons of the entertainment industry like himself even richer. As with everything else in the film, it is not clear whether the scene is meant to be taken at face value or just a product of Sam's [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness increasingly unraveling mind]], but either way, the social commentary is very explicit. For added symbolism, the scene culminates in [[spoiler:a violent confrontation during which Sam beats the Songwriter to death with Kurt Cobain's iconic Fender Mustang guitar]].

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* Discussed by Creator/LindsayEllis in "{{Theatre/RENT}}:Look Pretty And Do As Little As Possible". Because Broadway shows are so expensive, only those with large amounts of spending money can attend them. Thus, shows have to perform a balancing act between being trendy- maybe even a little edgy- and not alienating their wealthy audiences, leading to this trope.

* ''VideoGame/CapsuleServant'' has this as its own self-deprecating premise. Holy Grail Wars have been turned into a MerchandiseDriven battle toy monopoly where Servants are little more than cute gashapon prizes, and whoever has the most (or [[BribingYourWayToVictory spends enough to get the best ones]]) wins. Keep in mind this was made before ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' did the same thing much more seriously, and that its standalone release happened during the latter's tenure... and was ported by the exact same company that runs it.

* ''VideoGame/CapsuleServant'' has this as its own self-deprecating premise. Holy Grail Wars have been turned into a MerchandiseDriven battle toy monopoly where Servants are little more than cute gashapon prizes, and whoever has the most (or [[BribingYourWayToVictory spends enough to get the best ones]]) wins. Keep in mind this was made before ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' did the same thing much more seriously, and that its standalone release happened during the latter's run... and was ported by the exact same company that runs it.

-->'''CEO:''' That's right.

-->'''Underling:''' Is that your new Sprint Phone?"
-->'''CEO:''' Uh huh, with Sprint's new fair and flexible plans no one can tell me what to do. I can talk when and how I want. It is my little way of sticking it to The Man."

* In-universe example in Jim Munroe's ''[[https://jimmunroe.net/category/books/angry-young-spaceman Angry Young Spaceman]]''. In a future where parents can buy membership in a subculture as a birthday present for their kids, protagonist Sam Breen belongs to the rebellious non-commercial "pug" subculture (a sort of free-roaming fight club) that was created by the young people themselves. Then he sees an interview with the creator of pug revealing that it was just another manufactured subculture, viral-marketed to seem like spontaneous rebellion.