My idea for a blog topic is to look at all the ways corporations brand consumers with their logos. I got the idea from an Adbusters ad that had pictures of 5 leaves and 5 brands like McDonalds Facebook Nike Starbucks and Apple with the caption: 'which 5 can you identify?'To elaborate on this, we saw in the Merchants of Cool video that huge corporations meticulously plan how to market and sell whatever they have to consumers. For example, MTV's parent company is Viacom, which also includes hundreds of other brands, labels, and companies all trying to sell their merchandise. The video also showed how MTV aired the Sprite special, and even though those 'party' kids were payed to be there, it doesn't compare to how much Sprite, MTV, and the performers made after they all became the cool new thing. In addition, anytime someone wears a hat with a Von Dutch logo, Vans's slip-ons, an Etnies hoodie, carries a Starbucks cup, Apple iPod, it's free advertising for that company. The opportunities for companies with a growing market share make money off those who buy their product, and with an easily recognizable label others see it and the name spreads really quickly. Going back to my original topic, it's entirely reasonable that today's America is more likely to recognize any of the brands in the left picture than understand the terms in the leaf picture. That's mostly because leaves don't make money, and we live in a capitalistic society.
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