Advertising as the Weak Force, Culture as the Strong Force
There’s been a lot of conversation recently about advertising as a weak force. I love that framing—it feels true. Ads work mostly by building memory structures. They whisper into the background of our attention, hoping to stick just enough that we recall them later when we’re in-market. Weak, but persistent.
What I don’t see enough of, though, is discussion about what the strong force is.
For me, it has always been culture. Dr. Marcus Collins makes this case more eloquently than I ever could. But I’d argue that the way culture operates today has evolved dramatically—especially in how it crosses into everyday life.
The Collapse of Boundaries
The old line between lifeworld (our private, lived experience) and cultural performance has collapsed.
Think about your:
- Morning routine
- Pantry organization
- Water bottle choice
Not long ago, these lived quietly in the background of daily life. They were invisible rituals—practical habits that no one but you noticed. Today, the moment they’re shared, they enter a broadcast loop:
- A personal ritual becomes visible.
- Recognition and validation reframe it as identity.
- That identity scales outward into tribal signaling.
This loop transforms ordinary practices into cultural phenomena.
The Stanley Cup Effect
Take Stanley cups. It wasn’t advertising that turned them into a movement. It was lifeworld moments broadcast and reinforced through networks.
Picture the school pickup line: every mom holding a different colored Stanley, every kid clutching one of their own. Suddenly, your trusty YETI feels out of place. The signal isn’t about hydration anymore—it’s about belonging. The next stop? Dick’s Sporting Goods.
One-to-one, that cup was just a vessel for water. One-to-many, reinforced in public, it became an identity marker.
This is how cultural gravity pulls behaviors into meaning. Advertising may remind you that YETI exists. But culture is what makes you feel left out until you adopt the Stanley.
Advertising vs. Culture
Advertising is weak. I’m with that.
But culture—accelerated by the collapse of lifeworld boundaries—is getting stronger.
The implications for brands are profound. If personal rituals can flip into tribal signals overnight, how much control do companies really have over their associations? Is brand meaning something marketers can still “shape,” or are we chasing after meanings that networks are already creating for themselves?
Rituals, Consumption, and Meaning
This thought exploration was inspired by an episode of The Marketing Architects Podcast / Elena Jasper discussing a study "Rituals Enhance Consumption" by Kathleen Vohs and Yajin Wang from the University of Minnesota and Francesca Gino and Michael Norton from Harvard University.
The research shows that rituals—when observed, shared, and reinforced—enhance the value we place on consumption. Which means brands aren’t just selling products. They’re stepping into a world where personal rituals can transform into cultural performances, and where advertising’s weak push pales in comparison to culture’s strong gravitational pull.
