NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
No Logo The book written by Naomi Klein in the turn of the new millennium competently and distinctly describes some of the problems brought about by the new emerging brand of capitalist system. It tackles the culture of marketing, globalization, and big business. It points out the how and where the economic capitalist system has reduced choices and freedom of the consumers. She gathered and compiled all the evidence in No Logo which makes it a sort of complete, user-friendly handbook on the negative effects that image conscious marketing scheme has had on culture, work, and consumer choice. The book also contains an almost encyclopedic compilation of the decade's fringe and mainstream anti-corporate actions and mind-sets with a proposal that there most be a vast wave of opposition squarely targeting transnational corporations, particularly those with very high name-brand recognition. Klein blames all of these contemporary problems on these corporations claiming that corporations should have some innate sense of ethics.
Her confrontational and argumentative style plus her enthusiasm for her subject matter help a lot in bringing out all the issues she is considered with -- - resistance against the steady encroachment of globalization and condemnation of the pronounced degree of economic exploitation and social inequality that comes with it. It is undeniable that companies hype the name of their commodities by focusing on the consumers dreams (if you want to be a good basketball player like Michael Jordan, wear Nike shoes) and wants (to have a fashion model like body, eat Quaker Oats) rather than on the excellence and value of the product. The title, No Logo is a literal denouncement of the branding practice of mostly all big corporations in the world. No Logo means saying no to the consideration and utilization of brand names instead of quality and durability with regards to a consumer good / service . This seems to be the trend developing and increasingly becoming dominant over the culture not only in the United States but also spreading all over the world. The phenomenon of branding has taken on extraordinary importance over the last decade.
After an initial period where the products themselves were dominant, the power gradually passed to the notion of the brand as an entity, putting the product in second place. Our world has become a community dominated by image and in their race for dominance; the brands have progressively taken over new spaces, hoisting their banners on areas that was previously disregarded by advertising. Even if one cannot totally agree with what Klein is saying (there is a number of misplaced criticisms and prejudiced method of presenting facts in the content of the book), one cannot refute most of the well researched data she has presented in the book. The book is not an objective examination of the economic problems of society or a useful attempt to resolve them but rather, a several hundred pages of misguided call to arms. Nevertheless, it is an eye-opener for consumers about their attitudes towards the consumer goods. I personally agree with what she is saying and actually condemn most of the trans-national corporations she identified in the book yet I will not deny that like most consumers, I cannot help but patronize the same horrendous products.
The culture of image is deeply ingrained into the subconscious of the consumers (mine included) that it is automatic to refer to these big names when thinking of a certain consumer goods -- - Coke for soda, Adidas for sport / activity shoes. The proven formula of many giant corporations is to use the cheapest possible labor (workers in the third world) and production method (low priced and oftentimes low quality raw materials), then hype up image by creating a legendary corporate identity by utilizing bigger than life product endorsers. The effect is so powerful on the consumer that all it has to do is sign its name to produce all sorts of come-on meanings for an end user. Klein's claim that the branding movement advocated by most global companies has become a menace to the lifestyles and socio-economic conditions of the end users clearly manifest the lack of governmental policies (and the companies ethical values) which can help control the massive labor related atrocities committed against laborers of sweatshops established by these companies. Unlike Klein, I believe the effort to stabilize and control big companies manipulations must come from all adjunct governmental agencies rather than asking the companies to change their system and police themselves. The proliferation of the image culture should not solely and wholly be attributed to these multi-nationals; blame should also be shared by the policy making bodies as well as the end users themselves.
The corporations culpability for striving for ubiquity should be directed at the Government and its adjunct agencies for allowing corporations to become so influential. A corporation will naturally strive to infiltrate new markets, and more importantly, impose itself on impressionable consumers at all cost (it is their makeup) but it is the Governments and the publics job to ensure that this does not happen. Reading Klein made me realize the consumers folly of falling into this image / logo trap, the decadent and unethical systems of corporations to amass patronage and therefore profit from the naive and easily manipulated end users yet I also recognize that the books conclusions were inaccurate, and that some of the methods of anti-corporate action she advocates are inappropriate and most of the criticisms she hurls, though based on accurate data, are aimed at the wrong entities. For me, there is nothing wrong in buying a pair of Nike runners or drinking Starbucks coffee or using a Lacoste shirt.
But if one is buying the Nike lifestyle, Starbucks political correctness, or the Lacoste prestige to get a replacement for something real, then it is a problem. Reference List Klein, Naomi. (2000). No Logo. New York: Picador USA.
Free research essays on topics related to: corporations, capitalist system, consumer goods, logo, end users
Research essay sample on Consumer Goods End Users
