Fear of a Name

Reading the introduction and first few chapters of Naomi Klein’s No Logo was quite fascinating. The concept of “branding” and what it means to actually advertise is an interesting topic, and based on what I read, it also seems that it has the ability to become quite controversial. Before reading this, I would probably have fit into the category of “jaded customer,” if such categories existed. In my mind, advertisements and such are, for the most part, simply annoying. I live with them each day, I deal with them each day, yet each day they seem unavoidable.

(The above picture is simply for dramatic affect, attempting to prove my point...)

Is the advertising industry taking over our lives?? Considering I was already “jaded” to begin with, a closer look at this ginormous industry only proved my point. We cannot escape ads. Yet despite all these amazing new marketing promotions, it seems that the customer is getting gypped. No matter how good the advertising, the product remains the same. That is not to say that products have not improved over time–I am sure they have–but rather that maybe companies aren’t focusing enough of their attention on creating good, safe, effective products for members of society.

Although I am sure some people know the truth, I would guess numerous Americans pay large sums of money, thinking that they are receiving a higher quality product, when, in reality, they are paying for the brand name of the product (whether it be a well known laundry detergent or “designer” jeans). As Klein discuses in her book, these brands are becoming more important than the product itself. What does this say about companies? That they are heartless? It would seem so. More importantly, however, what does this say about us–the consumers? Why has society put up with low quality products and endured hours upon hours of endless advertising? Do we lack the proper voice? Or do we lack the proper courage?

Personally, I wouldn’t mind if a company cut their advertising spending in half and used that other half to better their product. This seems like a logical conclusion. But companies today are more focused on the image of their product. They don’t try to sell diamonds or shoes, they sell love and sports­–abstract concepts or ideas that cannot be packaged and shipped to an address. Marx indirectly comments on this with his discussion of fetishism in “The Fetishism of the Commodity and Its Secret.” A fetish is commonly defined as something that is revered or awed because it is believed to have magical powers of some sort. His concepts of “fetishism” can easily be applied to the theory of “brands.” Both are giving objects power through giving the name itself power. Once a “brand” or name has power, this control is then automatically transferred to the product it’s associated with. As Dumbledore says in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”