Everywhere and Nowhere
2011-07-10
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.
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