NO LOGO

-          Nike

-          North Face

-          Starbucks

-          Adidas

-          Under Armor

-          Vans

-          Mcdonalds

-          Converse

-          Jansport

-          Busch Light

-          Washington state university

-          Panda Express

-          Jansport

-          Juicy Catoure

-          Apple

-          ESPN

Brands.  It’s something our world and society can’t seem to escape.  As we walk around down town, at home, in the work place and on campus we can’t help but be trapped within mega multi media commercial.  These images are truly what  makes up today's society.   In Naomi Klein’s documentary No Logo, she analyzes the corporations and their techniques to brand their products.  She has found that, if a company wants to be successful they must create an idea of this “alternative lifestyle.”  So overall it’s not the product that sells, but the thought of being a part of the lifestyle that product portrays which sells. For an example Disney has created, and is beginning to sell the thought of the “American Dream.”  And Nike fallows by selling the nature of sports in addition to the metaphor of the “American Dream.”  It is a family orientated way of living and us, as consumers are longing for that perfect lifestyle; a life that many aren’t capable of conceiving. 

            While gearing towards this lifestyle, we tend to avoid and forget about what is going on behind the scenes.  Who is assisting these multimillion dollar corporations with their mass distribution and mass transportation.  Is it locally distributed? Or has it stretched out so far, us consumers have no clue of where the product has originated from.  These transactions are what has known to begin the global auction.  By outsourcing; large companies such as Nike can put liabilities into the hands of other contractors, who go to smaller contractors which reach to the cheapest cost.  This levels all the way down to the migrant labor workers who earn about one dollar a day to produce these products.  This gives leeway to companies to be able to move locations if another is becoming to weary of their actions without any precautions.  This challenges the rights and social justice of these workers by being exposed to this kind of treatment.  Their wages and work environments are belittling them down to the point where their identity becomes non existent. This ties into the factors of globalization because companies are beginning to believe that when the government writes rules for trade, we should write towards the good of larger corporations, because it will benefit everyone in the future.  Klein argues this statement in her documentary by stating that “The World is not for sale.  We must reclaim the public and reclaim the commons.” 

From this documentary of No Logo, we were further encouraged to spend a day recording a list of logos and brands we see throughout a 24 hour span.  In doing so I have found that my blog will end up being about 500 words of pure logos.  Instead I have decided to sit in one of my lecture halls and within a span of about five minutes I had compiled about three quarters of the list I have posted above.  It is truly amazing how much we are surrounded by these products.  I am not going to lie there have been many instances where I have bought a product because of it’s brand name.  For an example, I buy North Face back packs and jackets for about a hundred dollars more then if I were to buy it at Walmart or a Good Will for three times the cost.  Nike is also a big consumer product that we all tend to purchase because of it’s name.  Some may even go as far as not buying other products because of their loyalty to that brand.  Such as one only purchasing coffee from Starbucks or electronics from Apple.  It all comes into play in essentially feeding the beast of the corporate world.