Are you branded out?

[Lube]

"Bonfire of the Brands" from the BBC.

Some quotes:

As a young teenager, all I ever wanted to do was to work with my favourite brands - Adidas, Technics, Budweiser, Sony - the names that were plastered over the things I craved to own.

Where some boys had posters of footballers or movie stars on their walls, I had images of trainers and turntables - to be surrounded by these names made me feel better about myself, transforming me from my humdrum middle class life in south London suburbia.

But in less than a month's time, I am going to burn every branded thing in my possession.

I have been topping up my self-esteem and my social status by buying the right branded things, so that I feel good about myself, so that people can know who I am. In my world, the implications of wearing a crocodile as opposed to a polo player on the breast of one's shirt are of crucial importance. Understanding the differences between Dualit and Dyson, and what they say about their owners is reflection of style and good taste.

By now you're thinking that I am a particularly shallow individual, and to a certain extent, you'd be right.

Being the gullible fool that I am, I believed in the promises that these brands made to me; that I would be more attractive, more successful, more happy for buying their stuff. However, the highs of consumerism have been accompanied by a continual, dull ache, growing slowly as the years have gone by; a melancholy that until recently I could not understand.

Do brands define your life?

Can you live without brands?

 

[Christopherb36]

NO...that is what I do for a living...I am in marketing!!!

 

[tx_doc]

I can live without practially all brands... except my iPod.

 

[TylerKS]

I only buy name brand.

 

[Austin40acres]

I've always felt like clothing that has a brand mark on it should be sold cheaper than anything else in the store. Hell, they ought to pay ME for doing their advertising for them.

A4A

 

[pisces_ken02]

Only name brand clothing/electronics, and etc for me

 

[Soilwork]

The only brand I care about it Fratmen. (and considering I'm the marketing guy for Fratmen, that's a good thing)

 

[Soilwork]

OH wait.. no.. Honda.

I care about my Honda.

 

[josher]

For me it's all about quality. Some brands really are the best and I pay more because they last longer, fit/look better, have a better customer relations history, etc. When it's a comparison of equals I buy the cheapest. I think we waste more time and money in the long run when we buy cheap just for the sake of cheap.

 

[RationalLunacy]

I buy only one brand:

"Generic"

 

[tx_doc]

I buy only one brand:

"Generic"

LOL
That reminds me of the old black and white generic aisles at the grocery stores. Walk down the aisle and buy "cookies", "coffee", "soda", "bathroom tissue"....

 

[everydaydivo]

Generic for most things...or whatever's on sale usually....

 

[Lube]

I will guiltily admit I'm in to the whole Apple Mac thing (love the design of everything from OS X to Mac hardware to iPod mini/nano's).

My car is perfect for me, but it's not the brand that I love, just that the car itself is everything I need/want. Just wish the "VW" emblem was about 90% smaller. It's kinda gaudy.

I'm pretty much anonymous/brandless when it comes to clothes, food, hobbies. I don't have more than 1 item by a company (computer is Apple, printer is Epson, camera is Nikon, scanner is Canon, monitor is Dell, etc.), so it's not like I only buy Canon or only buy HP.

I just look for the best item that suits my needs. I hold no brand "allegiences".

Marketers probably hate me.

 

[Ramindra]

I don't buy "brands". I don't want things with three stripes and big ticks and horses. I do not want to be a walking billboard for corporations who want to rip us off. I want what is right for me and more importantly, what suits my pocket.

The generic, supermarket-labelled breakfast cereal I buy is made in the same factory using the same ingredients and same recipe as one of the most expensive whole wheat cereals on the shelves. So who cares if I am seen buying less expensive products? I don't.

I must admit that I have a wonderful Gucci watch (genuine of course!)which I paid US$4 in Phnom Phen, Cambodia, about 4 years ago...it is still going strong on its original battery. The problem with the watch is that when the battery does conk out, it is going to cost me about US$8 to get it replaced in Australia....twice what I paid for the watch in the first place!

 

[Soilwork]

yeah, ok, I only use Apple computers.

My iPod is surgically implanted in my chest, it think.

And my laptop is my best friend.

and I'll admit to being a crown royal guy.

 

[Soilwork]

But THAT^^^ is just good taste.

 

[blackbeltninja]

I only buy name brand.

Me too.

But I pride myself on having distanced myself from the t-shirt with the gigantic logo displayed in huge font across the front to the smae brands but with smaller, more discreet logos visible only to those discerning shoppers in the know.

And I do try very hard to not wear labels which clash because they have similar markets - like not wearing a Quik t-shirt with Billabong boardshorts. Label-whoring is all well and good, but I'm the upper-class little-black-book kind of label whore, not the home-bleached-hair-standing-on-street-corner type.

-d-