Brand Loyalty

[That One Guy]

Semi-rant that's a rought draft for the Aftermath thing

I pledge allegiance to the trademarks
of the Multi-national Corporations,
and to the Marketing for which they stand,
one Brand under the Dow,
franchiseable,
with profits and dividends for shareholders.

What do YOU get for your "brand loyalty"? What's the difference to YOU which toothpaste, which dental floss, which lightbulb you buy? Are your teeth more clean with brand X or brand Y? Is your home more lit up? How much of a difference IS there between Coke and Pepsi? After all, they're both sugar-water, caffeine and artificial coloring. For that matter, so is the generic "Cola" from your local supermarkets. All your "loyalty" amounts to is either being suckered in by a slick Madison Avenue marketing strategy or just blindly using what your parents/friends/whoever used - and THEY were probably suckered in by a marketing ploy.

The only people that care which brand you use are the shareholders of the companies that make all this stuff. Their profits rely on you buying into the multi-million dollar hype that THEIR brand of toothpaste gets your teeth just a little bit cleaner than their competition. The Madison Avenue people could care less - all they're trying to do is sell whatever product they can get the account for. They'll pimp whichever one they get the $$$ for with whatever message they're getting paid to spread. They might never use the products they're selling, but since they got the check for the campaign, they're damn well going to sell it the best they can.

Why did you pick up brand X? Was it because they spent $50 million researching how to get your teeth .05% whiter? Or was it because they spent $50 million on an ad campaign that TOLD you it makes your teeth .05% whiter than that OTHER brand, has a sparkly box that the tube comes in, and showed the woman in her bathroom (with generic, perfectly groomed good looks, generic good-looking, well-groomed husband in the background and generic good-looking, well-groomed kids) really being so HAPPY brushing her teeth with brand X while the woman using brand Y was alone, rumpled and not all that happy with brand Y?

Have you ever stopped to think about what exactly you're being told to do in all these ads? Buy product X because it'll make you a better person/have sex with whoever you want to/fill the emptiness of your existence - oh and none of those OTHER products will do it as well as THIS one. It doesn't matter whether or not it's true - it only matters whether or not you THINK it's true, and spend your money accordingly.

If you have to buy into the consumerism, at least know what they're telling you and how they're selling it to you. You still might pick up brand X, but at least now you know WHY you're buying it.

[Cramulus]

I'm going to go xerox a bunch of these. 


If you say xerox instead of photocopy, if you say kleenex instead of tissue, if you say Saran wrap, if you say Coke when you mean soda, if you say google when you mean search, you're feeding the monster. They want you to think of their specific brand as the class of products it exists in. They're using language to get inside of us.

In part, they're selling you your identity. Our culture is obsessed with the individual. We think it's great to build up the individual in all these unique and personalized ways, and companies are trying to cash in on that. They want you to identify with your gum brand or soda choices. They want your car to be a part of you. And in doing so, they're watering you down.


great rant, rev

[DJRubberducky]

I buy brand X because the Sunday paper had a coupon that my local supermarket will double and allow me to pick it up at 64% off normal retail.  About the only exception is toilet paper, and that's because my husband has picked a favorite and insists on it.

And no, I'm not one of those obsessives that painstakingly scrutinizes every circular and coupon insert.  I pay someone else to be!  http://www.thegrocerygame.com/

[DJRubberducky]

In part, they're selling you your identity. Our culture is obsessed with the individual. We think it's great to build up the individual in all these unique and personalized ways, and companies are trying to cash in on that. They want you to identify with your gum brand or soda choices. They want your car to be a part of you. And in doing so, they're watering you down.

People have been doing this in some form or fashion for aeons.  Do a websearch for the term "metonymy".

[That One Guy]

I'm hardly immune to this - as the prof said, I say Kleenex and Band-Aids while using the generic brand most of the time. I've used the same soap (Dr. Bronner's - the xtian rantings all over the bottle are hilarious and the soap is really good) since I was a baby, etc. etc.

However, I recognize it and at least attempt to understand what's getting thrown at me. Thus the rant, and the fact that it'll probably be my first contribution to the Aftermath blog/magazine thing. Hopefully someone will stumble across it and at least start to think about how the ads they see influence them.

Or not. Who knows, at least I'm trying 

[Thurnez Isa]

I buy brand X because the Sunday paper had a coupon that my local supermarket will double and allow me to pick it up at 64% off normal retail.  About the only exception is toilet paper, and that's because my husband has picked a favorite and insists on it.

And no, I'm not one of those obsessives that painstakingly scrutinizes every circular and coupon insert.  I pay someone else to be!  http://www.thegrocerygame.com/

HINT: if learn to shop by looking at the price in small numbers (the one that tells you the price per unit or per gram) below the large price (the one that tells you the actual price of the product) you will save lots of money
its mostly just training yourself to look at the small print before the large print

[B_M_W]

I'm going to go xerox a bunch of these. 


If you say xerox instead of photocopy, if you say kleenex instead of tissue, if you say Saran wrap, if you say Coke when you mean soda, if you say google when you mean search, you're feeding the monster. They want you to think of their specific brand as the class of products it exists in. They're using language to get inside of us.

In part, they're selling you your identity. Our culture is obsessed with the individual. We think it's great to build up the individual in all these unique and personalized ways, and companies are trying to cash in on that. They want you to identify with your gum brand or soda choices. They want your car to be a part of you. And in doing so, they're watering you down.


great rant, rev

I use google, and you will too.


You will be assimilated.

[cyberus]

I like very much what you have said.  Personally, I don't play the brand game, except for soda, in which case I do prefer Coke.  Otherwise, I buy whichever is the cheapest at the time I require it.  I noticed this box in the organic foods section at the local grocery store, and thought I had to share, I almost couldn't believe it was real;

[stromcrow]

i agree with TOGs rant and i see the other points. but i don't generally agree with that the cheaper the better argument. cause products are different.

let's take the toothpaste example: one product might make your teeth wither than the other. one product might have better (less health risky) ingredients than the other. one might have been tested on animals, the other one not. and then yes, then there's the price of the product.

so there's more you can base your decision on, than just the marketing campaign or the price.

[Penumbral]

All true and all, and all so what'ed.

I might just be brainwashed from my job. (I am a salesperson) but in reality I do see huge differences in brands.

Not so much in like hollister or abercrombie (ps owned by the same company)

But in say, SELECT vs Coke (mountain breeze vs mountain dew) Paul Mitchell vs Kirkland, fruit of loom vs OBEY, Ocean Spray vs Naked, Payless shoes vs DCs, Fuck even Tommy Hillfinger vs like Plugg.

Or a million other small products, Name brand vs Name brand, Name brand vs Generic. It makes no difference. There is most always a difference.

I often pay for the more expensive of two products if it comes down to price. (I know some market researchers know people do that.) 

Thats my philosophy, you have yours. Both are weird (and I know your not getting all high and mighty about this I'm not either) but What difference does it make if you buy stuff because of marketing, or price, or what good the company does.
Really the only losers are the people who scream at people for being consumers.

[Penumbral]

I suggest you read this

Narcissist
by Sage Francis
[Chorus]
I don't look at myself in the mirror because I'm a narcissist
I simply like to watch myself exist...(HHHH)
Now I'm in a fog and mist...(HHHH)
Now my reflection is anonymous
Ponder this!

I've seen a reflection of my soul in the store window
Caught in limbo 'cause I was dressed all in Timbo's
Having fantasies of playing Polo with Ralph Lauren on a Tommy Hill
And my paper thin spirit was still grieving from the Versace kill in Florida
Opened the door to the store and I walked down the corridor
to see they had a blow out sale on Nautica
I've always been a Lord of the button down Flies?
Being they were half-priced, I pass 'em on by looking for Levis
But Guess what? All my favorite clothing lines and hip designs
Were being liquidized and it made me sick to my eyes
I don't understand...when I had no ends...the price was quick to rise
I'd buy a pair of trends even if they didn't fit my size
Purchase a surplus of fads from merchants whose ads
Made these cheap ass fabrics that were so worthless and sad
Just look priceless, they used unethical devices to attack my sense of
self-worth during my prepubescent crisis
It fed into my insecurities, so instead of being righteous
I want everyone to see me like this
It's all about who looks the nicest
Ice is falling off my Rolie onto my body shoot!
I hope to hell it doesn't melt and ruin my Armani suit
While I'm sweatin' this,some kid who doesn't got any loot
Is buying my necklace along with my same exact khakis and army boots
What?! This is blasphemous!
Since Adidas tried changing its logo
there ain't been nothing as wack as this
It's probably a stunt being pulled by Animal Rights activists
Because of all that Third World country garbage but im a pessimist
So while these monkeys sweat over my name brands that exchange hands
From enslaved lands, I wonder if I'm the same man
Without reward...for what I bought but CAN'T still afford
This is the type of self-realization that might have killed the Lord
*Didn't mind working free as a walking billboard
But now I want my money back...as my ice spilled and poured
Onto the floor I did see a distorted reflection of my Nike hat
I don't know how others might react
For me it was an unsightly act that helped me get my psyche back
I stood 5 feet back, afraid that it might strike me like Shaclack clack!
Ya'll think I'm kidding? It's no* big thing
What I seen made my heart hurt, stomach turn, throat burn, teeth cringe
spine tingle, and ribs sting
I noticed that the swoosh symbol was nothing but a whip in mid-swing..

[Chorus]
I don't look at myself in the mirror because I'm a narcissist
I simply like to watch myself exist...(HHHH)
I'm in a fog and mist...(HHHH)
Now my reflection is anonymous,
Ponder this...

[Cain]

I actually suggest everyone read one book on marketing.  Just one book, it needn't be anything too hard.  Propaganda by Bernays might work, its pretty much the standard text, but Marketing for Dummies would likely work.

That said, I still drink Pepsi and eat Pringles.  But because I like them, not because I feel I "identify" with whatever external values the product markets itself with.

[LMNO]

Diet pepsi works better when mixed with cheap tequila than any other cola.

I don't know why.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

When it comes to going to the store and shopping for things I need, I like to minimize my exposure to the marketplace.

As far as I can honestly remember, I've never bought anything because of a commercial.

I usually buy the same brands based on 2 things: price and convenience.  Also, I use that mundane shit as my "keep the bullshit pattern-based behavior here" zone, so I can be spontaneous somewhere that matters.

It's a fact that you're not mindfucking anyone by purposely switching the brands you buy all the time.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I'm a massive fan of advertising. Can't help myself, always have been. Strong hooks impress me. Well shot, directed, scripted or even good special fx. If I have a choice between two identical brands, one of which has a shit advert and the other a really good one I'll choose the one with the good campaign in the hope that some of my investment will support more good ads.

If an ad is poorly thought out or sends out a dumb reinforcement It prejudices me against the product (worthless fucks can't even be bothered to entice me properly - they can ram their product)

I'm hyper aware of the effects advertising has on me, right down to the subliminal effects of colour, audio and associative cues that are transmitted. Knowledge of this is power over it's impact. Critically assessing my feelings toward a product in light of a particularly good commercial dispel any madjgiquel power the ad might have had. My decision to buy is based on comparison on price, quality or aesthetic that is entirely my own.

I also love all the dumb fucks who buy crap cos the ads push it. Those guys deserve their success. The principle of predator and prey comes immediately to mind. You are either a carnivore or your whole purpose for being is to be eaten. End of story.

More ads please. More striking and beautiful corporate branding. More lavish and visually engaging commercials please. I lap that shit up. As for the product: dunno - is it any good?