FREE Essay reponse to NO LOGO by Naomi Klein Essay
In the Book No Logo, Naomi Klein discusses at length a trend that has been becoming increasingly dominant over the culture of the United States for the last fifteen years. The phenomenon of branding, whose logo itself is only a graphic expression, 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. In their race for territory, the brands have progressively taken over new spaces, planting their flags on terrain that was previously protected from advertising (public schools, for example). With no domain seemingly beyond their reach, they aroused strong vocal opposition. This ‘mythic’ power of the logo or the brand can be seen at work when political protesters go after the most visible symbols of the United States, such as McDonalds or Coca-Cola. Their goal is to undo or negate the incredible power acquired by the brands in a world dominated by image. For some analysts, brands serve another purpose. They fill the void left by the decline in ideologies and religions. On the flip side, this new position leaves them even more exposed and fragile than before.
The phenomenon of corporate branding, or, as Klein refers to it, “the transcendence of a brand or logo over the actual product which it adorns.” In this way, the famous Nike swoosh, for example, becomes not merely just a logo on the sides of shoes, t-shirts and athletes, but a symbol of Sport in general, causing Nike to move away from the business of manufacturing running shoes, and devoting more and more of its resources to marketing the brand. Although this may not sound like a truly terrible thing, Klein shows that the rise of this marketing philosophy has led to an unmatched corporate intrusion into the rights of consumers all over the world. .
The book is divided into four parts: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, and No Logo.
