Channel 10's 'The Project' had a segment on the modern funeral, on the 22nd of February 2013. How funerals in the "last five years" are moving to a more personal service as the funeral service and the funeral industry modernises.
Showing posts with label modern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modern. Show all posts
2012-11-06
The Funeral Industry & the Internet: step forward or be left behind
Overall the funeral industry has been quite late to the internet. Even now the industry is still not truly active or taking advantage of the online opportunities.
In this post I explain how the industry is not very internet active and why this is actually a big issue for the industry. I also discuss why the industry is so hesitant of the internet, even at their own loss.
In this post I explain how the industry is not very internet active and why this is actually a big issue for the industry. I also discuss why the industry is so hesitant of the internet, even at their own loss.
2012-05-26
An Unregulated Industry
One thing that shocked me about the industry was the sheer lack of rules or regulations. There is pretty much no governing body to watch over what goes on and no real repercussions in many cases. Talking with several undertakers they all spoke of a desire for more regulation and how others have tried over the years and failed miserably. They said the industry has never been regulated and have depressingly resigned themselves to the thought that it never will be.
You need no qualifications to join the industry, a drivers license is useful but not essential in certain situations. There is also no age restriction, one undertaker now a veteran in his own ways told me how he joined the industry at 15 as part of school work experience. His first transfer was a gruesome affair where the deceased had been cut in half in an industrial accident. The job involved buckets and scooping, and this was one of his first days at only 15. Now, some may think that this was quite a while ago yet it was only in the late 1980s that this happened. I have no doubts that there is potential for this to still happen at certain companies. Anyone can join the industry at any age if the company is willing to employ them.
The pay for an undertaker (also known as "assistant funeral director") is little more than minimal wage. The wage is about $20 per hour for full time staff, at the entry level. I have heard that conductors with some companies earn an extra $17 per week on top of this. These are the people who run the funeral on the day. When paying so little one cannot expect high quality staff as anyone who wants more than this and is able to earn it will go elsewhere.
Some of the larger funeral companies such as InvoCare are pushing more and more casual staff to save money. The situation with embalmers is not much better. These casual staff have less experience and training, being casual they only work when needed where needed. The situation is not much better for embalmers. While there is a shortage of embalmers across Sydney they are not paid enough and companies are going for contract or casual embalmers.
The lack of experience of staff is an issue for some companies. As no experience or qualifications are needed some join the industry with nothing to help them. They need to be trained from scratch in everything. Many might think of this as a normal thing for most companies, many join jobs without experience or knowledge and leran as they go. In itself this is not too much of an issue for the funeral industry, however there are certain things and hazards people need to know before starting. this makes starting the job safer and easier for new staff as well as easier for further training the new staff. I remember in retail there is an briefe induction course before starting work, with Target it was over two days and with BigW it was a more intense one day course. These courses covered basic OH&S, security, policy, practices and so on. Basically all the little and important things that should be gotten out of the way. Yet in the funeral industry where there is exposure to infectious fluids, lots of manual lifting, driving, etc there is no induction course or training. I will say InvoCare is outstanding in providing these courses to staff, but it is done after they join. Instead it should be before they join the industry. What good are these courses to someone who has almost a years experience? By then they would have learnt most of what is taught and been exposed to the hazards the courses aim to warn about.
Another issue with the delegalisation is that ordinary undertakers are the ones who transfer bodies on crime scenes. With murders, suicides, accidents or so on it is an undertaker who will arrive with their van and move the body to the coroners for examination. Letting just anybody move the body means that the government has no real control over how the body is moved. Evidence could be compromised or outright destroyed with mismanaging the body as the undertakers are not trained in forensic techniques. Many undertakers formal education stops at finishing high school and there is no training provided or needed for police transfers.
There is also little to no protective equipment provided to the transfer crews. On a police job they have shower-caps on their feet, but otherwise it's like any other transfer. They have basic gloves and nothing else, and these gloves are not even sharps/puncture proof like the police gloves. An undertaker told me of how he had to transfer a body from a murder. There was blood and needles everywhere and the deceased had HIV and hep C. The police refused to lend him their sharps proof gloves for the job. Another undertaker told me of how the deceased had died on train tracks in a tunnel the city. As they were getting the body one of the police yelled "train" and they had to squeeze against the walls as a train went past. CityRail has extremely strickt rules and requirements about who can step on the tracks, especially active ones yet these were not applied to the transfer crew. Nor was the track shut down. And this was not an old story, it happened in the 80s-90s. An undertaker also told me of another police transfer where a family member had "lost it" and killed the family violently, they had also brutally killed the family cat. He said how everything went as usual, they removed the bodies of the people, yet the cat was different. The police put it in a garbage bag and left it on the street for the garbage truck. While not directly related to the lack of regulation in the industry it does speak of how things are sometimes seen or done because of this deregulation.
There are no official governing bodies to watch over the industry and few laws or regulations directed at it. Nor are there any real consequences for violating what rules there are. There the Australian Funeral Directors Association (AFDA), yet membership is voluntary and from what I see they do not oversee or enforce much. So long as certain basics are met and fees are paid membership is guaranteed. The infamous story of 'bricky' is a good example. I explain in detail in this post here, but basically he is an undertaker who buried a coffin of bricks because he cremated the wrong body. So now the industry refers to him as 'bricky'. When they exhumed the coffin the person in charge opened the lid further than allowed and this meant the health department no longer had jurisdiction. Instead it had to fall under a commercial framework and was taken to court that the family did not get what they paid for. Bricky was found guilty, fined a few thousand and let go. The case was very public making national news at the time. Yet his business actually increased, not only was he able to continue in the industry with nothing more than a light punishment but he was better for it. He later went on to stalk a woman with a hearse at night, but that's a whole other story. I also heard of another much older story where the owner of a funeral home opened all the windows in a nursing home in the middle of winter. He was at the nursing home on a transfer to remove a body and while there he thought that he might try to increase his business.
Not all funeral directors are decent people, although most are. Some are not even real funeral directors having never worked on a funeral in their lives. They do not even have a physical business and yet they sell funerals. They're called "briefcase funeral directors" as all they have is a briefcase and a phone. Everything else they rent out, they rent a temporary transfer crew (as one would rent a courier), they rent a hearse and a space in a mortuary and have no ownership over anything. As a result they have no quality control or even the ability to check the process and I have heard of serious mistakes being made. The reason they own nothing is it is cheap, they do not have to pay for staff or facilities and save a lot of money compared to funeral homes. However these savings are not really passed onto families, they may pay less than with other funeral places but the briefcase funeral director will still make a large profit. Lack of quality control, room for mistakes and over charging mourners are the outcomes of this type of business. But what of the AFDA as many would assume their job was to oversee the industry? As I outlined membership is optional and even then not difficult to acquire. Furthermore if a company is not a member most mourners would never know or care. Thus there is plenty of room for just anyone to become a funeral director, even if they have nothing.
There is a union for those in the industry, however despite my best efforts I cannot find a website for it, perhaps one does not exist. Also few people in the industry I met were part of this union. Thus I find it hard to look into the union. From what I found it does help people, one undertaker told me of how it really had his back in a pay dispute with a company and if it wasn't for the union he would have lost a lot of money. However I do not think the union has as much influence as it should. I will briefly say that I am a capitalist through and through. But capitalism needs unions to give companies perspective and help keeps things safe and decent for staff. I was surprised how the union was almost hidden from staff, the boss at WNBull would deliberately not put up and remove any notices from or about the union. I was reminded of my time in retail where all staff were told of the retail union in their initial training, in fact we were actively encouraged to join the union by the companies. Target and BigW both advertised and encouraged membership officially and unofficially despite butting heads with the unions on several occasions. Instead with the funeral industry the AFDA is completely optional and the union has low membership. Thus there is little influence or power from these groups. I saw that InvoCare monitored and protected its own staff more than these groups.
There is a story of an ex-InvoCare employee who would make a small cut on the bodies they dressed or prepared. Quite a 'strange' and completely immoral practice. InvoCare fired this person on the spot as soon as they found out, walking them off the premises and making sure they never worked in another InvoCare funeral home ever again. Unfortunately they did not take it further, I personally think that they did not want it to become public as it would give InvoCare a bad name. Yet I think they handled it well, firing the person the very moment they became aware and making sure it would not happen again. This shows how InvoCare regulates itself with nobody to watch over them. While they do a decent job certain people can walk away without punishment or inquiry that is deserved in order to protect the company.
If anyone is going to change the industry for the better it would be InvoCare. Due to their dominance they have the power and potential to implement and effect changes. And after my briefe time with them I honestly believe that many of the higher ups do care. For example the head of HR was a lovely woman who gave me the impression that she did not just implement OH&S because she had to but because she thought of the welfare of her co-workers. InvoCare has more potential than any other group to make the changes that are needed. While I hope they do start to change things I know they wont. Not because they do not want to but because there is no profit in it. It is not a cruel company, it is efficient and the heart of InvoCare is 'profit' (like any other business). There is no profit to be made (or lost) in regulating the industry and so they will not do it. Simple and regretful as at the end it is everyone who suffers. Staff risk their safety, the companies risk efficiency the deceased risk their dignity, mourners risk quality and the legal system risks evidence...
I honestly believe that a license is needed to be an undertaker, that it could reduce the risks and issues. Or in the least weed out the people not appropriate for the industry.
~~
You need no qualifications to join the industry, a drivers license is useful but not essential in certain situations. There is also no age restriction, one undertaker now a veteran in his own ways told me how he joined the industry at 15 as part of school work experience. His first transfer was a gruesome affair where the deceased had been cut in half in an industrial accident. The job involved buckets and scooping, and this was one of his first days at only 15. Now, some may think that this was quite a while ago yet it was only in the late 1980s that this happened. I have no doubts that there is potential for this to still happen at certain companies. Anyone can join the industry at any age if the company is willing to employ them.
The pay for an undertaker (also known as "assistant funeral director") is little more than minimal wage. The wage is about $20 per hour for full time staff, at the entry level. I have heard that conductors with some companies earn an extra $17 per week on top of this. These are the people who run the funeral on the day. When paying so little one cannot expect high quality staff as anyone who wants more than this and is able to earn it will go elsewhere.
Some of the larger funeral companies such as InvoCare are pushing more and more casual staff to save money. The situation with embalmers is not much better. These casual staff have less experience and training, being casual they only work when needed where needed. The situation is not much better for embalmers. While there is a shortage of embalmers across Sydney they are not paid enough and companies are going for contract or casual embalmers.
The lack of experience of staff is an issue for some companies. As no experience or qualifications are needed some join the industry with nothing to help them. They need to be trained from scratch in everything. Many might think of this as a normal thing for most companies, many join jobs without experience or knowledge and leran as they go. In itself this is not too much of an issue for the funeral industry, however there are certain things and hazards people need to know before starting. this makes starting the job safer and easier for new staff as well as easier for further training the new staff. I remember in retail there is an briefe induction course before starting work, with Target it was over two days and with BigW it was a more intense one day course. These courses covered basic OH&S, security, policy, practices and so on. Basically all the little and important things that should be gotten out of the way. Yet in the funeral industry where there is exposure to infectious fluids, lots of manual lifting, driving, etc there is no induction course or training. I will say InvoCare is outstanding in providing these courses to staff, but it is done after they join. Instead it should be before they join the industry. What good are these courses to someone who has almost a years experience? By then they would have learnt most of what is taught and been exposed to the hazards the courses aim to warn about.
Another issue with the delegalisation is that ordinary undertakers are the ones who transfer bodies on crime scenes. With murders, suicides, accidents or so on it is an undertaker who will arrive with their van and move the body to the coroners for examination. Letting just anybody move the body means that the government has no real control over how the body is moved. Evidence could be compromised or outright destroyed with mismanaging the body as the undertakers are not trained in forensic techniques. Many undertakers formal education stops at finishing high school and there is no training provided or needed for police transfers.
There is also little to no protective equipment provided to the transfer crews. On a police job they have shower-caps on their feet, but otherwise it's like any other transfer. They have basic gloves and nothing else, and these gloves are not even sharps/puncture proof like the police gloves. An undertaker told me of how he had to transfer a body from a murder. There was blood and needles everywhere and the deceased had HIV and hep C. The police refused to lend him their sharps proof gloves for the job. Another undertaker told me of how the deceased had died on train tracks in a tunnel the city. As they were getting the body one of the police yelled "train" and they had to squeeze against the walls as a train went past. CityRail has extremely strickt rules and requirements about who can step on the tracks, especially active ones yet these were not applied to the transfer crew. Nor was the track shut down. And this was not an old story, it happened in the 80s-90s. An undertaker also told me of another police transfer where a family member had "lost it" and killed the family violently, they had also brutally killed the family cat. He said how everything went as usual, they removed the bodies of the people, yet the cat was different. The police put it in a garbage bag and left it on the street for the garbage truck. While not directly related to the lack of regulation in the industry it does speak of how things are sometimes seen or done because of this deregulation.
There are no official governing bodies to watch over the industry and few laws or regulations directed at it. Nor are there any real consequences for violating what rules there are. There the Australian Funeral Directors Association (AFDA), yet membership is voluntary and from what I see they do not oversee or enforce much. So long as certain basics are met and fees are paid membership is guaranteed. The infamous story of 'bricky' is a good example. I explain in detail in this post here, but basically he is an undertaker who buried a coffin of bricks because he cremated the wrong body. So now the industry refers to him as 'bricky'. When they exhumed the coffin the person in charge opened the lid further than allowed and this meant the health department no longer had jurisdiction. Instead it had to fall under a commercial framework and was taken to court that the family did not get what they paid for. Bricky was found guilty, fined a few thousand and let go. The case was very public making national news at the time. Yet his business actually increased, not only was he able to continue in the industry with nothing more than a light punishment but he was better for it. He later went on to stalk a woman with a hearse at night, but that's a whole other story. I also heard of another much older story where the owner of a funeral home opened all the windows in a nursing home in the middle of winter. He was at the nursing home on a transfer to remove a body and while there he thought that he might try to increase his business.
Not all funeral directors are decent people, although most are. Some are not even real funeral directors having never worked on a funeral in their lives. They do not even have a physical business and yet they sell funerals. They're called "briefcase funeral directors" as all they have is a briefcase and a phone. Everything else they rent out, they rent a temporary transfer crew (as one would rent a courier), they rent a hearse and a space in a mortuary and have no ownership over anything. As a result they have no quality control or even the ability to check the process and I have heard of serious mistakes being made. The reason they own nothing is it is cheap, they do not have to pay for staff or facilities and save a lot of money compared to funeral homes. However these savings are not really passed onto families, they may pay less than with other funeral places but the briefcase funeral director will still make a large profit. Lack of quality control, room for mistakes and over charging mourners are the outcomes of this type of business. But what of the AFDA as many would assume their job was to oversee the industry? As I outlined membership is optional and even then not difficult to acquire. Furthermore if a company is not a member most mourners would never know or care. Thus there is plenty of room for just anyone to become a funeral director, even if they have nothing.
There is a union for those in the industry, however despite my best efforts I cannot find a website for it, perhaps one does not exist. Also few people in the industry I met were part of this union. Thus I find it hard to look into the union. From what I found it does help people, one undertaker told me of how it really had his back in a pay dispute with a company and if it wasn't for the union he would have lost a lot of money. However I do not think the union has as much influence as it should. I will briefly say that I am a capitalist through and through. But capitalism needs unions to give companies perspective and help keeps things safe and decent for staff. I was surprised how the union was almost hidden from staff, the boss at WNBull would deliberately not put up and remove any notices from or about the union. I was reminded of my time in retail where all staff were told of the retail union in their initial training, in fact we were actively encouraged to join the union by the companies. Target and BigW both advertised and encouraged membership officially and unofficially despite butting heads with the unions on several occasions. Instead with the funeral industry the AFDA is completely optional and the union has low membership. Thus there is little influence or power from these groups. I saw that InvoCare monitored and protected its own staff more than these groups.
There is a story of an ex-InvoCare employee who would make a small cut on the bodies they dressed or prepared. Quite a 'strange' and completely immoral practice. InvoCare fired this person on the spot as soon as they found out, walking them off the premises and making sure they never worked in another InvoCare funeral home ever again. Unfortunately they did not take it further, I personally think that they did not want it to become public as it would give InvoCare a bad name. Yet I think they handled it well, firing the person the very moment they became aware and making sure it would not happen again. This shows how InvoCare regulates itself with nobody to watch over them. While they do a decent job certain people can walk away without punishment or inquiry that is deserved in order to protect the company.
If anyone is going to change the industry for the better it would be InvoCare. Due to their dominance they have the power and potential to implement and effect changes. And after my briefe time with them I honestly believe that many of the higher ups do care. For example the head of HR was a lovely woman who gave me the impression that she did not just implement OH&S because she had to but because she thought of the welfare of her co-workers. InvoCare has more potential than any other group to make the changes that are needed. While I hope they do start to change things I know they wont. Not because they do not want to but because there is no profit in it. It is not a cruel company, it is efficient and the heart of InvoCare is 'profit' (like any other business). There is no profit to be made (or lost) in regulating the industry and so they will not do it. Simple and regretful as at the end it is everyone who suffers. Staff risk their safety, the companies risk efficiency the deceased risk their dignity, mourners risk quality and the legal system risks evidence...
I honestly believe that a license is needed to be an undertaker, that it could reduce the risks and issues. Or in the least weed out the people not appropriate for the industry.
~~
2012-03-19
LifeArt; A look at the modern funeral industry
The LifeArt coffin is an interesting and quite frankly strange thing. It is basically and simply a cardboard coffin. It is made from the same style of cardboard as pizza boxes and as such I have heard a couple of funeral directors call them "pizza box coffins" with destine. The only wood or real non-cardboard material used is a few blocks of wood on the inside to reinforce the handles. One would wonder what market a cardboard coffin would have. Most people want "the best" for their loved one. And this idea has been the basis for the coffin industry for many decades. People pay high price with the idea they are getting high quality. The result of which is that much of the funeral industry has become dependant on high profit coffins as a means to survive. So along comes a cardboard version, and it is still more expensive than the cheapest wood coffins. Thus we would doubt LifeArts place in an old and established market.
So lets look at the advertising and marketing for this strange new coffin. On the homepage of the LifeArt website we see the main image is of a child. A strangely common image in the industry with the focus being on life (always depicted as young by the industry) rather than death. But it also focuses on two ideas, environment and personalised. These are fascinating ideas to the industry, as personalisation is very old and very important to funeral homes and families.
Personalisation is an old idea which has been emphasised in the modern industry. Firstly I will quickly clarify that by personal I mean two distinct things. One one hand we have personal, which is warm, relevant and relatable to the mourners. On the other hand I am also referring to personalised which is basically customising the event to meed the desires of the family and/or deceased. The two are so intertwined and related in many ways that I will refer to them both at once to simply save time. Looking at older style funeral home ads I found that a few would talk of "personalising the service" to cater to the family and/or the deceased. The concept does appear and is important to funeral homes but it is not essential or emphasised over other concepts. However in the modern funeral industry the idea of a personal or personalised service is almost essential. Looking at the websites for Simplicity, Guardian and White Ladys, which are all owned by Invocare and Olsens and T.J.Andrews, which are independent we can see how important this concept of 'personal' is. It appears several times on each website and each emphasise how they are prepared to personalise the service to fit the family or deceased. Looking at just arranging a burial style funeral we can see exactly how important personalisation is. Simplicity advertises the ability to personalise stuff on the funeral. Such as having a set of golf clubs in the hearse with the coffin or that it is willing and able to get a horse drawn hearse, something I have never seen or heard of. It is such an odd extreme and nobody I had asked ever saw a horse drawn hearse. Guardian focuses more on how it will "personalise the service to your cultural, spiritual, emotional and personal preferences". They chose to focus on advertising emotional and cultural personalisation without stating anything specific. White Ladies even has a whole section on personalising the service. They focus on 'little touches' and helping "achieve a truly memorable funeral service". Here the whole company emphasis is strongly on personal service. Even their motto "a woman's understanding" leads one to believe that they will be willing to listen and personalise the service. These three websites are all for large national companies owned by InvoCare, which itself is a large international company. Just looking at the sites at once one can see the similarities. Their templates are almost exactly the same, the placement of information, links and art styles are all identical. Knowing how to navigate one site means knowing how to navigate any of them. Even the style of language and what is said is the same. They all explain things, such as arranging a funeral, in such a similar manner. Really, the only difference is the colour of the site. One is left wondering how personal their services could be, if their websites are the same down to the language style and template used then they must all be so similar. Thus we turn to the two large independent funeral homes websites to see if 'personal' is just an InvoCare thing or an industry wide concept. Olsens is a mostly Shire and South Sydney company and has been established for many years. Clicking on "what type of funeral" one is immediately confronted with talk of how they will personalise the service. They state how they provide a "distinctly" and "carefully" personal service. T.J Andrews does not explicitly talk of "personal" or "personalising" funerals. They do however talk heavily of how chan change and customise funerals depending on cultural and individual needs or desires. So while not explicit T.J.Andrews does place importance on personal services. All of these websites spend time they could use advertising other things to emphasises the personal concept. It really is an important concept to the funeral industry. This is no different with the LifeArt coffin website. A main advertising point is how the coffin itself can be personalised. From having pictures or photos printed onto it in the manufacturing process to painting it, the coffin is very "customisable". They differentiate themselves from other coffins by emphasising how people can interact with the coffin and make it into the image they desire. I remember one time where a family painted the LifeArt coffin themselves, and although it did not look the best they were extremely happy with the outcome. The outcome had little impact on them itself, what they really focused on and had meaning was the act of painting the coffin.
|
| The visual variety of the coffins |
LifeArt are a product made possible by modern technology and processes as well as the very attitudes to these modern processes. Through an ever modernising and democratising the industry a need has arisen to counter the impersonal and mass production of this process. LifeArt is a great example of this with a majority of the website, advertising and even aim of the product devoted to how the coffins can be personalised. The second focus of LifeArt is on how 'green' it is, another modern concept. However both of these concepts are somewhat debatable. Overall the funeral industry is modernising and the result of which is a desire to differentiate and individualise as they all become more and more similar.
~~
On an unrelated note LifeArt coffins were featured in this article on "Worlds Wackiest Coffins" over at Oddee. It is interesting how the website talked of them as "going out in style" when really their 'style' is only superficial.
2012-02-18
Modernising Death - Looking at the modern crematorium
Death is becoming a very 'modern' operation, no different to other big industries like tourism. As a result there is a lot of uniformity, conformity and predictability in the funeral industry. And the various crematorium are a good example of this. They were built at different times in different places by different groups, yet they share many similarities.
The 'funeral gaze' has a great influence on the industry. As a lecturer once said, the gaze is "not somebody staring. It's staring with intent. Somebody staring with an idea to change things". It is the influence the people have on what they see and experience. The gaze is simultaneously encapsulates what is seen and the way it is seen(Perkins & Thorns, 2001, p. 187) . So mourners have a great influence on the funeral industry through their gaze.
But the funeral industry also has its own influence on the mourners. The funeral industry manipulates the funeral gaze. This is because the industry only lives if the funeral gaze is regular and predictable (Pagenstecher, 2003, p. 1). If the gaze was unpredictable funeral parlours, crematoriums, cemeteries and so on could not sell or market themselves effectively. And InvoCare (along with others in the industry) realise this and manipulate it through various processes such as theming and dedifferentiation (Bryman, 1999; Pagenstecher, 2003, p. 1).
This manipulation is achieved through the concept of Disneyization and McDonaldization. These concepts refer to the never-ending process, and outcome of the process, of control over every aspect of an image on a massive and local level. While there are similarities between these two concepts, the difference is that while McDonaldization is about efficiency, calculability, predictability and (most importantly) control. Whereas Disneyization is about theming, dedifferentiation, merchandising and (most importantly) emotional labour (McCall G. 2., 2010).
These four crematoriums are in different parts of the city, run by different organisation, built at different times and for different reasons. Yet their themes, logos and setup are all very similar.. They name their chapels based on points of the compas, such as 'North Chapel' or 'West Chapel'. They use similar colours, browns, pastels and creme. But not all four are like this. Macquarie Park names its chapels after plants, such as 'Palm Chapel' and 'Magnolia Chapel'. It also uses different colours such as whites, blue and some silvers. And while the other crematoriums use carpet or wooden floors Macquarie Park uses white tiled floors. They are even set up the same way, from the way in which you or the hearse enters to where you sit and where the coffin is placed. There is a asile down the center leading to a stage area surrounded by a curtain. The stage area is in a recess, indented into the wall at the front and surrounded by a curtain. The stage has a 'catafalque' on which to place the coffin. The catafalque is raised so everyone can see it clearly from anywhere in the room. The hearse can pull right up to the front door and there is parking for mourner cars nearby. Macquarie Park is different, it is the only one which has a catafalque that is on wheels. It is the only one which has awnings in front of every chapel and the only one with large modern glass windows and doors with aluminium frames. And yet most people would see it as any other crematorium. The logos at all four are of either bird, flower or a sunset and with simple clean lines and colours. Every crematorium logo is similar to the point of being interchangeable. But they reflect the industry on a larger level. They are badges that show who owns and runs the crematoriums and what they are like. The similarity of these badges reflects the similarity of the groups who run the crematoriums.
These crematorium employ similar yet different themes to illustrate how they sell the same product, but are different companies. This gives the impression that they are different places with different experiences and 'products'. After all, if they all used the exact same themes then people could not differentiate between them. And people want difference, and a newness, but not to lose touch with what’s known (McCall G. 2., 2010).
McDonaldization is also apparent in these four crematorium. The way the service procedes is basically the same in every place. Everything is predictable and tightly controlled by the staff and by the process itself. The funeral staff will arrive with the hearse, inform the crematorium staff of their arrival and exchange paperwork. This paperwork is the same in each crematorium. Depending on family wishes the funeral staff and/or the family will then carry the coffin into the chapel and place it on the catafalque. They will say a few words, prayers or whatever they wish, sometimes placing flowers or memorabilia on the coffin as they either enter or exit. Finally, about 20 to 45 minutes later the curtains are closed and the service is over. The coffin is then taken into a back room where it is either stored in a fridge to be cremated at a later date or cremated right away. It is the same, predictable formule in every place and does not vary much.
The staff, both crematorium and funeral (who are usually from different organisations) keep everything in order. Working together to do so. They keep people out of the chapels until the place is ready and set up, they organise the paperwork, they make sure everything runs as it should. But they do this because of tight rules and procedures. The consequences for not filling out the right papers in the right way are quite serious, as you can imagine. Treating the family differently, such as taking them into the chapel too early or late, can again have consequences. If anything does not go according to the formule then the mourners become upset, even if they do not know the formule. Everything is tightly controlled and efficient.
So we can see that the four crematorium all have clear signs of Disneyfication and McDonaldization. They are uniformed and predictable in almost every way. Thus we would think there was little originality or differentiation between them and between the services. As Guneratne highlights, this idea is a superficial simplistic view (Guneratne, 2001, p. 230). If anything, dedifferentiation and globalisation polarize and emphasise the local differences (Guneratne, 2001). In other words globalisation does not create a global culture, but rather it “reinscribes locality in new ways” (Guneratne, 2001, p. 527). And this is the same with the funeral industry. The conformity reinforces their differences, what makes them individual.
Going back to the logos we see that although each one is very similar to the other, they are all different and emphasise who runs the crematorium. Their procedures are slightly different, and these slight differences are most important to each place. How the hearse pulls up to the chapel, where and how the papers are done, where the mourners park, etc is all different at each place. But more importantly the staff and design of the crematorium is the biggest difference. Not only do the staff wear different uniforms but they practice different procedures. For example at ESMP the staff will charge extra for showing others how to use the AudioVisual system in the chapels and then leave. While at Macquarie Park the staff will be present for the whole service and run the AudioVisual system themselves, for no extra cost. Macquarie Park did this deliberately to be different from the other crematorium, to give the mourners something they will not get at another place. They also offer different services to go along with the funeral. Macquarie Park has catered function rooms within easy walking distance of the chapels and will record the whole service for families. It highlights the modern features and designes of the crematorium. Rookwood Gardens contrastingly emphasises its history and garden settings. And it does not make any attempt to offer a function room or encourage the recording of funerals.
Crematoriums are a modern organisation comparable to the tourism industry. They package and sell a product like any other company. The only real difference being that the product they sell is a funeral service. As a result there is a lot of conformity and similarity between the crematoriums. However this only forces them to reinforce why they are different, what makes them unique. If they all offered the exact same product then there would be no way for people to chose between them. And people like choice, even if it is just an illusion. So long as the choice does not come at the cost of what is expected.
~~
References for further reading:
McCall, G. 2. (2010, 4 28). The “tourist gaze”, industrialisation and accommodation: Guides and hopes for the safe adventure. SOCA3106 Unpublished Lecture . UNSW.
The 'funeral gaze' has a great influence on the industry. As a lecturer once said, the gaze is "not somebody staring. It's staring with intent. Somebody staring with an idea to change things". It is the influence the people have on what they see and experience. The gaze is simultaneously encapsulates what is seen and the way it is seen
But the funeral industry also has its own influence on the mourners. The funeral industry manipulates the funeral gaze. This is because the industry only lives if the funeral gaze is regular and predictable (Pagenstecher, 2003, p. 1). If the gaze was unpredictable funeral parlours, crematoriums, cemeteries and so on could not sell or market themselves effectively. And InvoCare (along with others in the industry) realise this and manipulate it through various processes such as theming and dedifferentiation (Bryman, 1999; Pagenstecher, 2003, p. 1).
This manipulation is achieved through the concept of Disneyization and McDonaldization. These concepts refer to the never-ending process, and outcome of the process, of control over every aspect of an image on a massive and local level. While there are similarities between these two concepts, the difference is that while McDonaldization is about efficiency, calculability, predictability and (most importantly) control. Whereas Disneyization is about theming, dedifferentiation, merchandising and (most importantly) emotional labour (McCall G. 2., 2010).
Theming is a common, and the most obvious, form of Disneyization (Bryman, 1999, p. 29). Theming simply is the productization of an organisation, such as the use of a logo or specific font. One way to see this in the funeral industry is in the crematoriums. Crematoriums were often built at different times and for different reasons across Sydney. We can see this by looking at four main crematoriums in Sydney. The first is Rookwood Gardens is the oldest operating crematorium in Sydney. Established in 1925 it accommodated those who could not afford a burial and to cope with a higher volume of deceased than cemeteries could. The second is Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park (ESMP) crematorium was opened in 1938 to deal with returning soldiers. The third is Northern Suburbs crematorium, opened in 1922. The fourth is Macquarie Park crematorium. Opened in 2004 it was a radically new design and operating procedures aimed at covering as many services as possible, in an efficient and modern way. Nothing like it had been buit in Sydney before.
These four crematoriums are in different parts of the city, run by different organisation, built at different times and for different reasons. Yet their themes, logos and setup are all very similar.. They name their chapels based on points of the compas, such as 'North Chapel' or 'West Chapel'. They use similar colours, browns, pastels and creme. But not all four are like this. Macquarie Park names its chapels after plants, such as 'Palm Chapel' and 'Magnolia Chapel'. It also uses different colours such as whites, blue and some silvers. And while the other crematoriums use carpet or wooden floors Macquarie Park uses white tiled floors. They are even set up the same way, from the way in which you or the hearse enters to where you sit and where the coffin is placed. There is a asile down the center leading to a stage area surrounded by a curtain. The stage area is in a recess, indented into the wall at the front and surrounded by a curtain. The stage has a 'catafalque' on which to place the coffin. The catafalque is raised so everyone can see it clearly from anywhere in the room. The hearse can pull right up to the front door and there is parking for mourner cars nearby. Macquarie Park is different, it is the only one which has a catafalque that is on wheels. It is the only one which has awnings in front of every chapel and the only one with large modern glass windows and doors with aluminium frames. And yet most people would see it as any other crematorium. The logos at all four are of either bird, flower or a sunset and with simple clean lines and colours. Every crematorium logo is similar to the point of being interchangeable. But they reflect the industry on a larger level. They are badges that show who owns and runs the crematoriums and what they are like. The similarity of these badges reflects the similarity of the groups who run the crematoriums.
These crematorium employ similar yet different themes to illustrate how they sell the same product, but are different companies. This gives the impression that they are different places with different experiences and 'products'. After all, if they all used the exact same themes then people could not differentiate between them. And people want difference, and a newness, but not to lose touch with what’s known (McCall G. 2., 2010).
McDonaldization is also apparent in these four crematorium. The way the service procedes is basically the same in every place. Everything is predictable and tightly controlled by the staff and by the process itself. The funeral staff will arrive with the hearse, inform the crematorium staff of their arrival and exchange paperwork. This paperwork is the same in each crematorium. Depending on family wishes the funeral staff and/or the family will then carry the coffin into the chapel and place it on the catafalque. They will say a few words, prayers or whatever they wish, sometimes placing flowers or memorabilia on the coffin as they either enter or exit. Finally, about 20 to 45 minutes later the curtains are closed and the service is over. The coffin is then taken into a back room where it is either stored in a fridge to be cremated at a later date or cremated right away. It is the same, predictable formule in every place and does not vary much.
The staff, both crematorium and funeral (who are usually from different organisations) keep everything in order. Working together to do so. They keep people out of the chapels until the place is ready and set up, they organise the paperwork, they make sure everything runs as it should. But they do this because of tight rules and procedures. The consequences for not filling out the right papers in the right way are quite serious, as you can imagine. Treating the family differently, such as taking them into the chapel too early or late, can again have consequences. If anything does not go according to the formule then the mourners become upset, even if they do not know the formule. Everything is tightly controlled and efficient.
So we can see that the four crematorium all have clear signs of Disneyfication and McDonaldization. They are uniformed and predictable in almost every way. Thus we would think there was little originality or differentiation between them and between the services. As Guneratne highlights, this idea is a superficial simplistic view (Guneratne, 2001, p. 230). If anything, dedifferentiation and globalisation polarize and emphasise the local differences (Guneratne, 2001). In other words globalisation does not create a global culture, but rather it “reinscribes locality in new ways” (Guneratne, 2001, p. 527). And this is the same with the funeral industry. The conformity reinforces their differences, what makes them individual.
Going back to the logos we see that although each one is very similar to the other, they are all different and emphasise who runs the crematorium. Their procedures are slightly different, and these slight differences are most important to each place. How the hearse pulls up to the chapel, where and how the papers are done, where the mourners park, etc is all different at each place. But more importantly the staff and design of the crematorium is the biggest difference. Not only do the staff wear different uniforms but they practice different procedures. For example at ESMP the staff will charge extra for showing others how to use the AudioVisual system in the chapels and then leave. While at Macquarie Park the staff will be present for the whole service and run the AudioVisual system themselves, for no extra cost. Macquarie Park did this deliberately to be different from the other crematorium, to give the mourners something they will not get at another place. They also offer different services to go along with the funeral. Macquarie Park has catered function rooms within easy walking distance of the chapels and will record the whole service for families. It highlights the modern features and designes of the crematorium. Rookwood Gardens contrastingly emphasises its history and garden settings. And it does not make any attempt to offer a function room or encourage the recording of funerals.
Crematoriums are a modern organisation comparable to the tourism industry. They package and sell a product like any other company. The only real difference being that the product they sell is a funeral service. As a result there is a lot of conformity and similarity between the crematoriums. However this only forces them to reinforce why they are different, what makes them unique. If they all offered the exact same product then there would be no way for people to chose between them. And people like choice, even if it is just an illusion. So long as the choice does not come at the cost of what is expected.
~~
References for further reading:
Bryman, A. (1999). The Disneyization of society. The Sociological Review , 46 (1), 25-47.
Guneratne, A. (2001). Shaping the tourist's gaze: Representing ethnic difference in a Nepalese village. Journal of the Royal Anthropologist Institute , 527-543.
McCall, G. 1. (2010, 3 31). Tourism as a development strategy. SOCA3106 Unpublished Lecture . UNSW.
Pagenstecher, C. (2003). The construction of the tourist gaze. How industrial was post-war German tourism? In L. Tissot, Construction d'une industrie touristique au 19e et 20e siècles. Perspectives internationales. Development of a Tourist Industry in the 19th and 20th Centuries (pp. 373-389). Neuchâtel, International Perspectives.'
Perkins, H., & Thorns, D. (2001). Gazing or performing: Reflections on Urry's tourist gaze in the context of contermporary experience in the Antipodes. International Sociology , 16 (2), 185-204.
Urry, J. (2001). Globalizing the tourist gaze. Lancaster LA 1 4YN, UK: Department of Sociology.
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