Before read this article, I’ve never think about that one day, people may feel angry with the world full of advertisements. I‘ve never think about that advertisements and the way companies sell their productions could disturb people’ lives this much. Nowadays, companies are using all the ways they know to kill people’s choices.
Believe or not, advertisements in our lives provide many things we need, sometimes people use some funny ads to make fun, and the most important is that ads can help people to choose the best products we need. Well, it is not easy to establish a powerful brand. Actually, a company maybe needs one hundred years to let people accept their projects, but people can ruin their brand in a month if there is no one like it anymore.
Economist Naomi Klein doesn’t see those ads in the same way as I do, what she focus on is whether ads shows the product truly? Whether the corporations merger and synergy nice for consumers? In her book—No Logo’s chapter 7, she first described her child life. She was influenced by ads a lot; she said that she “had Barbie in my brain”. (No Logo, Naomi Klein) Her favorite ad is Shell sigh—“So bright and cartoon-like I was convinced that if I could climb up and touch it.” (No Logo, Naomi Kelvin) Same with his brother, children are seems more likely to attract by advertisements.
I think companies’ real target is not just attracting children and teenagers, so that they could like their products. What they want is the cash of their parents’ wallets. Cartoon companies know that all children “want to hold a piece of the cartoon world between his or her finger.” (No Logo, Naomi Klein) Disney Mattel work together to make toys such as Mickey Mouse for kids. Believe or not, this is one of the best ways for companies to synergy and sell products to children.
The problem is that if it is right to move those cartoon characters to the real-world. Disney can do this, and so does Mattel. They also move the doll—Barbie to the fantasy world. We can love cartoon, but whether it is right to let cartoon enter our real world. No one wants to be controlled by several toy produce companies. Disney and Mattel are doing this because they’ll let consumers who love cartoons buy the ‘real toys’ without other choices.
Second, in this article, author explained that why it seems that all the ads are all refined from the real life is. What I mean refine is to cover or alter the real life, or to make it pure. Ads are not ads any more, they are arts. Under the designer’s’ hand, they even became the artworks!
Well, of course advertisements can’t show the true life, because ads are dreams, if they too much approach the truth, they would contaminate by the truth. “Epiphany sparked by Marlboro Friday: if brands are about ‘meaning’, not product attributes, then the highest feat of branding comes when companies provide their consumers with opportunities not merely to stop but to fully experience the meaning of their brand. (No Logo, Naomi Klein) Ads never show us the truth, but the perfect life companies’ promise since the first day ads exist.
I can’t believe some snack can make people beef up, but I accept it when it happened in advertisements. I think the reason is why I accept is that I never believe ads can tell the truth, or it is companies to lie in ads. Till our society develop till now, people can easily accept advertisements lying all the time, isn’t it a tragedy?
Third, I want to talk about corporation’s giant merger to a huge projects factory. In the book, Naomi listed several corporations which combined together to do business. To me, combination itself is nice, but their aim to control and invade my whole life—to make my life without other production is no good. Naomi regards this kind of company as a ‘brand canopy’. (No Logo, Naomi Klein) She thought that companies are control people too much; they are invading people’s lives.
Actually, companies not only want to master the whole market, so that they can make sure everything people uses come from their ‘company’. They also want to do business easier. Transport company and food company merger and transportation become cheap and easy. But what if the corporations gave us complete lifestyle package? “If music, why not food, asks Puff Daddy.” If all the companies want to do all the business and make sure all the things we use in our daily life is produced by one company, if it is mean that we are the slaveries of the products monarch?
“If you weren’t everywhere, you were nowhere.” Advertisements are everywhere, you can find them in the hotel, all the things in the room is full of ads—pillows, chairs, and even shower curtains. Brands are trying to achieve their goal—“For the brand to become life itself.” (No Logo, Naomi Klein) Maybe this is the best way for companies to expand their projects.
Not only want people to rely on the brands, but also want people to live in the brands. One of companies’ targets is to kill consumers’ choices. They want consumers can only see their products. How? They’ll put their ads everywhere. Naomi can accept the ads in Disney Land, but not in the ‘real world’. In the square, there are ads; in the departments, there are ads. I mean, companies have right to made ads, but civilians also have right to control their own space, no one want to see ads full of the city they live.
Nowadays, advertisements have already been a part of human lives, if there is no logo, no brand, no ads in a city, and then this is not a city. Why should we live with ads? Because landowners want to make money, companies want all the people know them. So, just let those ads fill our lives. In China, when you watching TV show, you will find that the time for ads is longer than the show itself. TV is a part of space for citizens, not companies. Although they paid money for the ads, I don’t think it is right for them to grab citizens’ right to watch a ‘pure’ TV show.
Next big issue came up by Naomi is the superstore, for the co-branding and brands, all want to sell products and occupied in pop culture. Almost all the powerful brands have “leaped into branded retail” (No Logo, Page 7). They don’t want to do business side by side with their competitors. I have no idea of if it is good or not to sell by outlets or by companies directly. The only thing I know is that multi-brand stores are more seems like provide for those companies which is not very popular. Companies want to sell by itself, not with anyone else, if together, whether product is better or worse than the other companies will be easy to know. If one day, there is no longer superstore in the city, people then need to go to stores for specific companies. This make consumers more difficult to go shopping then.
After brands are powerful enough, they want to control more then. Branded Villages are just the new thought for people who can’t live without brands to live. Since there is hardly no one can live without brands, it will be easy for people to accept this new kind of village.
Just image, in this ‘new city’, whatever you buy, you see, and you use is from one factory, even advertisements is for one company. “Maybe next step is to put housing next to the stores and megaplexes and call it a small town.” When the brands trying to let people live in brands, I think it will be another form of slavery!
Because of these, Naomi came up with a utopianism, she can still remember that at the beginning of the ads created, it’s just many people sit in a circle and then come up with some ideas about how to make a nice advertisement, but not just lying! I think this is not available for most of the countries, because the consumers’ protective system in some countries is still very not powerful. Such as in China, people still need ‘3.15’to help them for their right. To talk about consumers society instead of business routine maybe too quickly.
Everywhere and Nowhere
对“Everywhere and Nowhere”的回应
《NO LOGO》热门书评
-
或许有关或许无关的书评
228有用 13无用 titivillus 2009-05-14
昨天看了经济学人中文版的一篇报道,中国核武测试夺取19万人生命,一时间眼泪想要掉下来。之前只看过那些美丽的影像:年轻的生命相互拥抱雀跃,背后是浩瀚沙漠上空腾起的巨大的蘑菇云。那蘑菇云像是被净化了,与广岛上空腾起的不同,没有伤害,只有自豪与自尊。现在我知道了,46次的核武测试,将近有148万人受到核放...
-
品牌的背后――《NO LOGO》读后感
33有用 1无用 思考的猫 2009-09-03
对于胸怀理想主义的社会活动积极分子,我们常常怀着矛盾的心情,比如说,一帮学生深入广东某镇一知名跨国企业外包工厂,揭露其克扣工资、体罚、工作环境不达标、超时工作等行为,表述的血泪斑斑,激起社会对血汗工厂的猛烈控诉。这个时候,我们可...
-
错误很多 价值不小——评《NO LOGO》
25有用 1无用 胡天翼 2009-06-25
原文:http://hutianyi.net/?p=935 每次一旦有大型国际会议,尤其与会者是政府首脑的峰会,例如G8、G20、世贸会议等,我们总能在会场外看到许多抗议示威人群。他们的诉求往往指向同一个方向:反全球化,反新自由主义。 那么这些抗议者为什么要反对这些被称为“全球发展趋势”的东西呢...
-
左右搖擺
14有用 0无用 [已注销] 2007-04-15
我唸廣告,我學習如何塑造品牌,我想知道如何操弄消費者,但是我讀《No Logo》,讀得不亦樂乎,讀到精神分裂。Naomi Klein所寫的這本《No Logo》被紐約時報推崇為「社運聖經」,很明顯這是本很左的書,難怪我在左右翼思潮光譜兩端不斷地來回奔跑,卻怎麼也停不下來,因為我只要一停下腳步就發覺自...
-
品牌是怎么控制我们的?
13有用 1无用 明天小镇 2009-07-22
随便翻开一本时尚杂志,如《时尚先生》2009年5月号,有一组韩寒在北京郊外的照片,其中有一张用作了这一期的封面。这些照片很怀旧很艺术很唯美,但是我们在图片的左下角或右下角却可以清晰地看见“D&G白色针织袖口夹克”“Lee水洗仿旧牛仔裤”“Y-3黑色高帮球鞋”“Loewe摩托头盔”等等,每幅照...
书名: NO LOGO
作者: [加拿大] 娜奥米·克莱恩
出版社: 广西师范大学出版社
副标题: 颠覆品牌全球统治
译者: 徐诗思
出版年: 2009-5
页数: 490
定价: 45.00
装帧: 平装16开
ISBN: 9787563383887