Lemmy Kilmister and milk from Finland: On remembering, online spaces and corporate branding

Abstract

Abstract In this article, we show how new (social) media dynamics condition the way remembering and mourning play out online. We analyse commenting with regard to the Finnish dairy-product company Valio’s advertisement-turned-tribute to rock idol Lemmy Kilmister, who had passed away some days earlier. Our study shows that ambiguous and fluid power relations in online spaces can sustain facile and simplified corporate messages. We offer an example of how the context of representation shifts in online exchanges and highlight how local repertoires of meaning making are overpowered by universal myths. This offers a new perspective to metal music studies. More generally, our study elucidates contextual shifts as one of the ways in which contemporary capitalism operates as consumers such as metal music fans are engaged in co-production of corporate brand meanings.

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