The Branded You

To what extent are you influenced by brands?

1 DESCRIPTION. Take a look around your home or dormitory room and list all the branded products you’ve purchased, including food, electronics, clothes, shoes, toiletries, and cleaning products.

2 ANALYSIS. Now organize your branded items into categories. For example, how many items of clothing are branded with athletic, university, or designer logos? What patterns emerge and what kind of psychographic profile do these brands suggest about you?

3 INTERPRETATION. Why did you buy each particular product? Was it because you thought it was of superior quality? Because it was cheaper? Because your parents used this product (so it was tried, trusted, and familiar)? Because it made you feel a certain way about yourself, and you wanted to project this image toward others? Have you ever purchased items without brands or removed logos once you bought the product? Why?

4 EVALUATION. As you become more conscious of our branded environment (and your participation in it), what is your assessment of U.S. consumer culture? Is there too much conspicuous branding? What is good and bad about the ubiquity of brand names in our culture? How does branding relate to the common American ethic of individualism?

5 ENGAGEMENT. Visit Adbusters.org and read about action projects that confront commercialism, including Buy Nothing Day, Media Carta, TV Turnoff, the Culturejammers Network, the Blackspot non-brand sneaker, and Unbrand America. Also visit the home page for the advocacy organization Commercial Alert (http://www.commercialalert.org) to learn about the most recent commercial incursions into everyday life and what can be done about them. Or write a letter to a company about a product or ad that you think is a problem. How does the company respond?