Living in a Branded World

Every commodity, whether it be clothing, food, car oil or facial tissues, are known by their brands. Instead of saying, may I have a facial tissue, I ask for Kleenex. (Microsoft Word recognized the word Kleenex and capitalized it for me…) Our food industries are owned by a handful of corporations. The goals of these corporations are solely mass production and meeting the demands of quantity demanded by other massive corporations. Is this way of mass production and relying on ‘brands’ healthy for people who seek simplicity and natural ways of life?

Naomi Klein discusses in her article titled, How Corporate Branding Has Taken Over America, how brands have completely taken over. She also discusses her book called No Logo and how it has become a logo. The author also discusses how Starbucks says their goal is not producing a logo however, the goal is producing a community feel to the coffee shops. They have recently opened a coffee shop where people can bring their own music and give it to the DJ. Starbucks is only in small print and can barely be read. Is creating a no logo atmosphere a logo/brand in itself?

How does someone deviate from brands and logos? Must I sew my own clothing? Should I grow my own food? How do I know that my clothes are not being made from a six year old in India in poor working conditions? I buy all of these commodities, why can’t I know where they are coming from and how they are created? If there is a demand for no logos and brands, will this not become a product of its own? If this occurs, corporations will desire to meet the demands and needs of the consumer and then it will become a brand. Mass production will inevitably occur so that the ways of simplicity no longer exist.

A remedy to this brand logo society/world we all live in is to simply not indulge ourselves in this environment. Of course everyone enjoys the latest fashion trends and the ready available low prices of food. However, returning to natural ways of life will make us smart consumers and healthy beings.