No Logo

Throughout the beginning of No Logo Naomi Klein discuses capitalism focusing on the brand names. Not only does Klein discuss brand names in general, but the rise and fall of the brands. Klein shows statistics, and specific examples of this. Throughout her introduction A Web of Brands she explains how brands have influenced the city she was currently living in, Toronto. Specifically, "All around me, the old factory buildings are being rezoned and converted into "loft-living" complexes with names like "The Candy Factory." The hand-me-downs of industrialization have already been mined for witty fashion ideas-discarded factory workers' uniforms, Diesel's Labor brand jeans and Caterpillar boots." This quote shows that North America profits on anything, even others misfortune. Klein does not seem to be accepting of the idea of brand names, but she certainly makes clear points and shows how others are not always accepting of changes going on, "The shmata guys still selling coats in the office next door look terribly dismayed when they see Marilyn Manson clones stomping down the hall in chains and thigh-high leather boots to the communal washroom, clutching tubes of toothpaste, but what can they do?" This reminds me of Adorno's statement of buying products although we see through them. Klein shows that throughout economic globalization, people don't, and really cannot change the situation, whether they want to or not.

In chapter one of Naomi Klein's book entitled New Branded World she begins to go in depth with the beginning of the brand names, their fall, and how they bounced back into action. According to Klein, "The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multinational corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980's: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products." Klein explains that advertising was only a part of the branding process. The beginning of the brand has changed over the years, but in the beginning mass-marketing campaigns wanted to show people that if they buy their product, their life would be better from it. For example, light bulbs vs. oil lamps. Since these inventions were big news, advertising did not have to go to the extent they have to go now. After the invention of the factory competitive branding became necessary. Advertising and branding were soaring upward until the nineties. The so-called bargain craze "shook" the brands. Everyone seemed to want a bargain, and no longer cared as much about the brand names, and when it came to food, people said they could not even tell the difference. It seems as though Klein wanted to show that people did need to buy cheaper, and that it was a good thing people were not "brand-crazy." Indeed brands did bounce back. Brands began to almost announce enemies, such as Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi Co.

By reading Naomi Klein's introduction and personal experiences with brands and factories she seemed to be against the branding industry. On the other hand, Klein gave many facts, reasons, and the history of advertising and brands from, and for the most part, an unbiased view. It certainly was not as biased as Adorno's and Horkheimer's The Culture Industry. I found Ohman and Klein to be somewhat similar, although Klein's book did not seem to be as dry. Also, No Logo was more focused on brands than Selling Culture. Selling Culture appeared to really focus on advertising. In total, Naomi Klein's No Logo gave a lot of useful background, but in the end it seems as though as good or bad capitalism and advertising are, our culture will never be free from it.