Want to see an example of someone who thinks they lived through the punk rock era but probably missed it completely. Go read The Punk Rock Brand. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Ok, now here we go …

The author, Darryl Ohrt, says

“Punk rock is more than music, it’s a life philosophy. Punks reject what society considers the norm; they question authority and they fight to be different and make a difference.”

Ok, that sounds good. Punk rockers in the early 80’s were hippies who did more than spread slogans about making love not war and they tried to make the world a better place. But then, he says,

“Within the punk rock credo of my youth were the seeds of a larger business philosophy. Ten years in a boutique design and branding firm has shown me how valuable the punk rock attitude is to a successful brand plan. The brands that consistently rise to the top have questioned everything that’s been done before. Adding “X” to a razor’s name? Just a lame attempt at buying an audience with weak, non-genuine branding. Inventing a razor for shaving heads? Totally punk rock.”

Um, no. Punk rock is not about marketing and it is definitely not the seeds of “a larger business philosophy.” Punk rock was not and is not about simply questioning what has come before; part of it was about questioning authority that dictated what was “normal” without any basis for saying so. Another part of the punk rock mentality was about holding onto what was right and true (for example, fighting injustice or protesting a life defined by material things). It was never about marketing. It was, in part, anti-capitalist.

If punks “question authority” and “fight to be different and make a difference”, then they also fight against those who would reduce a movement to a marketing strategy.

Perhaps the author has confused bands like Green Day with punk rock. Not the same thing.