Two Tendencies in (Inauthentic) Tourism-as-Commodity

I have found two tendencies in which tourism, as a commodity, has adopted the practice of using the branding of "authenticity" so as to sell a product. These tendencies obviously are not new; their function in increasing the effective consumption of tourism, however, might be. To this end, we might call this the commodification of "Fake Authenticity" (a chapter in The Universal Experience). Indeed, Lisa C. Roberts writes that, "The tension between imitation and authenticity is a primary category in American civilization, pervading layers of our culture that are usually thought to be separate" (95).

THE "REAL" THING, BABY

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby--right? Coca-Cola's marketing campaign that declares their soda the "real" thing is an attempt to distance itself from supposedly "poor" imitations (namely, Pepsi-Cola, but also generic versions of cola soda). Of course, there is nothing inherently more "real" about Coca-Cola than other cola products (though they may be one of the originals), but the campaign builds brand recognition, and in a unique way: this is the real cola. 

Ah, yes: the real New York. Presented in the form of a tour commodity. This screen shot is from the site realnewyorktours.com. If you go to New York and want to experience the real New York, then you most definitely have to buy it. The real New York rests within this tour. You'll get all the cultural capital you need. Certainly, this practice exists in almost all tourist destinations, and its commodification of the "authentic" is directly linked to the inauthentic practice of traveling to a destination in order to acquire cultural capital (bad epistemology), rather than to truly experience the destination (experience). 

THE ALTERNATIVE "REAL" THING, BABY

If you don't want to consume real butter, then you can basically get the same thing (only not the same thing). This marketing approach is more complex and sophisticated: real butter without the butter. The logic here, of course, rests upon the notion that you can get the same authentic experience (taste) from an inauthentic product. As Slavoj Zizek as noted in a lecture, this is a growing cultural logic: sugar-free candy, decaf coffee, urban living without the city, etc. 

If you can't go to New Orleans then, somehow, New Orleans will come to you. It's New Orleans without the New Orleans. The restaurant above is located in Texas. But fear not!--you can get the same authentic New Orleans experience at Harry's Seafood here in Gainesville, as the website implies. Again, we encounter a stranger perversion of authenticity: a commodified stereotype of a culture and place (inauthentic) marketed and generally consumed as "authentic." 

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