21 April 2003
“Like ugly clothes and extreme sports, Pabst [Blue Ribbon]’s value lies in its expression of individuality and choice, a rejection of consumer society by those who feel manipulated by it… While most young consumers buy clothes and cars to make themselves seem as affluent and desirable as possible, the materialism of many of today’s counterculture youth is just the opposite. It is meant to reflect the economics of “reality,” of working-class thriftiness, of the notion of America at its best, at its most optimistic, at its blue-collar prime. Of course, this is not America. This is Americana — and an appetite for what was good when things are going bad.” As poetic a description of hipsters’ attempts to overcome pomo ennui with false nostalgia as any, from the Washington Post.