When Car Showrooms Persist on Displaying Social Class Divisions

To get a clearer understanding of the class system and its effect on cultural consumption, I visited the Nissan car showroom and took some pictures to show the distinction between different class categories in Qatar.

In the Nissan showroom there were the smallest forms of family cars like the Nissan Tida.

Then bigger cars like the Nissan Sunny and Nissan Altima.

Then there were race cars like the 350Z and the Nissan Maxima.

Then there were varying sizes of CUVs starting from the small Nissan Juke and including Nissan Qashqai up until the Nissan Xtrail and Nissan Murano.

Finally, the biggest forms of SUVs ranged from the Nissan Xterra and Nissan Armada up until the Nissan Patrol, being the biggest and most expensive SUV.

All the different cars I mentioned had their own divisions like X, S, SE and ES that range in the available options and price as well. However, these cars are not the whole collection of Nissan yet, there is on the other side of the showroom another brand owned by Nissan called Infiniti.

Infiniti is the Luxury brand of Nissan. In the Infiniti showroom there were also cars that vary in size. Almost all the Infiniti cars are based on one of Nissan’s cars platforms and redesigned to attain luxury. For example, the Nissan Patrol has its Infiniti equivalent the QX56.

The Nissan Murano has its Infiniti equivalent the JX.

Looking at the whole spectrum of all cars from the Nissan Tida up until the most expensive Infiniti QX56, I began to understand class systems. In a class system people are stratified according to characteristics such as income, occupation and educational degree. The class system is made up of different social classes who are a group of people who share a similar position in society based on wealth, education, and occupational prestige. The social class of an individual determines their occupation in the society in terms of family relations, politics, physical health and mental health. However, what this blog is interested in is how can social class determine a person’s consumption of culture? Cultural consumption is the reception, interpretation and experience of various types of culture. Differences in cultural consumption are socially constructed so that they can help maintain socio-economic class boundaries.

Buying a Nissan Tida is always associated with new expatriates who join Doha, just starting their journey with low income. Then the Nissan Altima is associated with older expats especially young men who like a sporty looking car but can only afford a big salon. Then Nissan Patrol is associated with an average Qatari family household since its good in the desert and can carry the big family on one vehicle. The inside of the Patrol has a fancy interior with expensive leather seats and mind dizzying features on its dashboard. However for upper class Qataris, an expensive fancy-looking Patrol with a huge spectrum of features may not be enough. Hence, Infinities with their especially-made luxurious designs and endless features appeal to upper-class men in power.

In sociology, buying normal Nissan cars can be called lowbrow cultural consumption, which is the mass culture stereotypically associated with lower and working classes. However, buying an Infiniti is highbrow cultural consumption of fine arts that are only consumed by the affluent classes.

What is considered highbrow versus what is considered lowbrow changes from a community to a community. For example, in Egypt where I come from, owning a Nissan SUV is considered highbrow culture consumption. Maybe in Nigeria, owning a car in the first place, regardless of its make, can be highbrow culture consumption. However, in Qatar owning a Nissan is lowbrow to many affluent classes. Even Infiniti can be considered lowbrow for elite Bentley owners.

The distinction between lowbrow and highbrow also changes with time. For Example, a Qatari friend told me that buying a Japanese car was considered lowbrow for all Qataris twenty years ago, even if it was a Land Cruiser. It was seen like buying a Kia today in Qatar. However, with time, Japanese cars, especially the luxurious brands, turned into highbrow.

The idea of choosing a car to buy explains the concept of conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption is an attempt to display class and status through the purchase or consumption of high culture and luxury goods or services. Indeed a Nissan Tida has luxurious options when compared to cars you would see in a poor developing country: it has air condition, an entertainment system, ample space to seat five people, some built in safety, and low fuel consumption. However, rich people would buy an Infiniti just for the sole idea to be distinct and be recognizable by their social class wherever they go. I can easily claim that most Infiniti owners know less about its features, than what they know about the looks and the social status associated with them.

Truth revealed

In the following post, the term product placement will be used a lot. Product placement is a form of advertisement where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, TV shows, or news programs.


I was looking through movie trailers when I noticed the sequel Fast and Furious 6. While watching, just the trailer, contained unbelievable amounts of product placement; the movie contains that multiplied by a hundred. If one were to watch the entire movie they probably wouldn’t notice any of the product placements in it. But after having learned about product placement and its role in the media, it’s hard not to notice it anymore.



An action movie like Fast and Furious probably costs the producers millions of dollars to make, $160 million dollars to be exact. And then I remembered a film I once watched. The greatest movie ever sold. That film showed us how a producer can fund their entire movie solely on the income they receive from companies requesting product placement. Product placement achieves success and profit for both sides. The producer will get the majority of the budget for their movie, and the “investor”, lets say, gets their product advertised, while making sure people can’t skip it like a regular Ad. Both side’s benefit, and both sides get millions or even billions back in profit.



If we consider just the cars used in Fast and Furious 6, and set aside all other brands being advertised to us in the movie, we still find a great deal of product placement. The owners of those companies are paying millions to have their cars used in a movie like Fast and Furious. Think of how much increase in sales they’d achieve. And the movie would just look good for having mind-blowing cars like these in it, and of course, having most of it’s budget already taken care of. So everyone comes out a winner.



The funny thing is, the person who owns the car company, might also belong to the same organization that owns the production studio. In that case neither of them have to spend any money whatsoever because they’d be working as a synergy. They’re benefiting each other, multiplying profits by thousands, and not spending a dime out of place. That’s how the culture industry works. You never know which companies or corporations are working under the same umbrella, and most of the time they shock you. But at the end of the day, they have profits pouring in, and we have no idea where the money we pay actually ends up. We probably don’t even care where it ends up, as long as the process of spending it brought us joy and entertainment.

Product Placement in Movies

Companies use advertisements to draw their audiences’ attention and get them interested to buy their products. However, people usually don’t like to watch the ads. People think of the ads as a break from movies, they can get up, go to another place, or they can change the channel; people hate watching ads. Therefore, companies figured another way to advertise their products, which is in movies; this process is called product placement.

According to sociology, product placement is defined as a form of advertising where branded goods or services are placed in context usually devoid of ads. Audiences are forced to look at the brands or the products in the movie. However, Audiences indirectly feel it, or they may get have the desire to buy the product that they saw in the film. Thus, companies now can reach their customers and have new ones locally and globally. The Terminal is a movie about Navorski (Tom Hanks), this movie sets inside the airport and many major brands took place during the movie, in this scene, Navorski figured out how to collects coins to get himself a Whopper meal. Navorski finally lifted the inaccurately well-dressed burger to his mouth as the sound of the music is heroically increasing. From this scene, Burger King restaurants wish you to get up, drive to the nearest Burger King and get a Whopper meal.

The product placement in movies is prevalent because it works. When a celebrity’s fans see him/her in a movie with a certain product, they want to get it so that to become like them. For example, Will Smith’s admirers may got the Ray-Ban glasses once they saw him in Men In Black with his Ray-Ban sunglass. Product placement with an attractive character may make the product placement more successful. The more the product pairs with a good-looking actress, the more people like the product.

However, in Cars movie, product placement weren’t directly paid to cars like Ferrari, Porsche etc. But they helped in the technical field of the vehicles during the film's creations. Porsche AG was the latest model for Porsche, and Prosche was the female version in Cars who fall in love with Ferrari (McQueen); McQueen is the hero in this film, and all kids’ dream is to get a Ferrari once they grow up. This film has produced cultural products that lend themselves to branding and merchandising opportunities, such as McQueen toys in McDonald’s happy meals.

The Island movie – a sci/fi-thriller movie - used many products in it, maybe to make the story more realistic! But when you see the movie, you suddenly feel compelled to buy all the luxurious stuff such as the yacht, the Cadillac car, Apple iMac, or any product from Calvin Klein etc. all of the products in the movie get exposure and promoted internationally.

The more you see a name, consciously or subconsciously, the more likely you will buy that product compared with another brand, or a no-name brand “TRUST ME”. When I saw The Devil Wears Prada movie, I wanted to get Miranda (Meryl Streep)’s Prada bag, or her amazing shoes, clothes and everything, every time I watch the movie, I get the desire to do CRAZY SHOPPING.

Product replacement in movies can help the companies to strengthen their names in the long run, because many movies from the secondary market have the opportunity to generate profit from a cultural product beyond its domestic sale in its original format. On other words, the products in the films can be seen in DVD format, airplane displays, iTunes etc.; that’s why many companies are trying to be part in scenes in movies.

The Audi RSQ car plays a central role in I, Robot movie. Mr. Bean's car, a British Leyland Mini 1000 has its own character in all Mr. Bean's movies and episodes. 

Cars ARE racist!

Since cars were invented in 1894, it developed in an astonishing way that it serves human where ever they go. As I have seen in my homeland Syria, Qatar and the United States of America, certain people from a certain social class and race tend to buy and drive a specific brand of a car. In Syria, people are most likely to buy cheap cars no matter what was the brand because of the high taxes, but some people tend to buy the Syrian or Persian made cars because it serves them better and they can easily sell it later. Of course a person who is in the high middle class would buy an expensive car such as Audi, Land Rover or BMW. If you have the money you can buy any car you want no matter how much were the taxes. As for government officials who do not pay taxes like others, a rise of racism in terms of social classes and positions creates hatred between the people of the society. However, people still continuing to live normally.

As in Qatar, it is different. They are no taxes on cars and it doesn't really matter, but a lot of people tend to have a taste of what car they purchase. Qataris prefers Toyota especially Land cruisers. On the other hand for residence, they have a different taste. Syrians likes Mercedes, Sudanese likes Toyota Corolla, Desi residences like Nissan Sunny and the list continues. It depends on what is your nationality or race to ride a car. With the different of social classes, there are still people who want to move up to the second level by taking a loan from the bank and buying their favorite car
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In sociology, race and ethnicity reproduces social classes and it is not fair sometimes. If we would go back when the USA was racist to an unacceptable level. If a cop sees a black person driving an expensive car, this black dude will be most likely pulled over and questioned about where he got that car. The perspective that was taken about this race’s behaviors throws a lot of questions. Back to Qatar, where the majority residences of Qatar are Desi, It would be shocking to see an Indian driving a Ferrari (with respect to all nationalities). People who live in Qatar are not used to it. It is normal to see an American man or European driving a fancy car because the expectations are that this race gets paid more than others. Racism is everywhere, and it creates different perspectives about others.

Qatar Motor Show 2012

This weekend I attended the Annual Motor Show with one of my female friends. Although my friend was taking her brothers and their friends along, the two of us wanted to go see the ‘cool’ collection of cars too. Upon entering the Exhibition Center, which is where the cars were being displayed, my friend and I came to the sudden realization that we were the only two female companions amidst a sea of male bachelors, families and couples.


This observation shed light on the fact that the event is mainly catered for men. It’s not surprising, especially seeing how in our society we tend to associate cars with men rather than women. Even as toddlers, boys are socialized to play with toy cars. It’s a social construct that classifies males as masculine.


At the event a couple of things provided proof that the cars were directed at a male audience. There were women hired to model for the cars. Many of the men at the event asked the models if they could have their picture taken together. If the cars were aimed at women, surely there would have been male models promoting them.


Last year, one of my friends had modeled for Bugatti. She told me that prior to working the job, she was given information about the car itself. So if she was asked about the specifics of the car, she would be able to give the information. But the people who handled the selling of the cars were men, highlighting that women do the marketing while men manage the deal making.


Although the event was for men, it specifically targeted Qatari nationals. The reason for this is obvious: affordability. The majority of men at the Motor Show were expats, so the most they would do is pose for a picture in front of a Ferrari or Lamborghini. But Qatari men were actually buying the cars.


The overall experience was quite memorable. But being a knowledgeable and experienced sociologist I was more aware of the fact that the event was highly gendered. Apart from walking away with more knowledge on gender and society, my friend and I were asked if we wanted to test-drive a BMW, and happily, my friend agreed.

Cultural Consumption and Economic Capital

Conspicuous consumption is a term coined by the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen which basically refers to the upper class and how they like to show off how much money they have and consume luxurious goods like cars and yachts.

Below is a photograph of the singer P.Diddy in his Rolls-Royce - and it does not take a person with a vast knowledge on cars to know what a Rolls-Royce is.

Source

The irony of the situation is that P.Diddy is in the singing business, and he definitely does not sing in the Opera. He is associated with popular culture, also known as “low-brow culture”. Because he makes so much money, he is able to spend it on things such as luxury cars and expensive suits and he is able to enjoy conspicuous leisure- like driving around in his car and partying all night long. He is therefore a cultural omnivore and often does something called code-switching. This is where a person is capable of negotiating with multiple cultural worlds.

Another example of this is the rapper Jay-Z. Not only is he a rapper but also a singer and a CEO. He is also culturally omnivorous and is able to switch between different cultural worlds such as rapping vs. negotiating business deals.

P.Diddy’s children will be influenced by their father’s status as a singer and by his high income. So they will inherit his cultural capital and be able to some day, possibly, turn that into more economic capital. This is because they are constantly being influenced by their surroundings, which is now part of the upper-class thanks to their father’s highly successful career. And they are being molded into cultured individuals from such a young age. This will give them an advantage over other people when looking for job opportunities or potentially starting their own business because of the fact that they have been exposed to different types of culture and have been taught things that other children of lesser classes might not have been taught.

However, this is not always true because if someone wanted to go into, for example, the computer business, they would not necessarily need cultural capital. They would need the technical abilities and expertise to work in that field. So, there are exceptions to every rule but one can see that cultural capital can be converted into economic capital in most cases.