Can Americans Ignore Brands and Ads?

[polichick]

Looking around DU on any given day, it's clear that many here think our political system is broken - that money has corrupted the democratic process to such an extent that even calling our system a democracy is a stretch.

So how do we change it when those in power are not likely to vote money out of office?

As I look at the Super Bowl ads, it occurs to me that the only way out of this mess (short of armed revolution) is for Americans to ignore brands (Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, tea party, libertarian, etc.), ignore ads (no matter how clever) - and choose leaders based solely on policy positions, on what is needed to get the country out of the mess we're in.

With the help of the internet, candidates and policy positions are now easily known without the use of ads. Ads are not actually necessary - and neither are brands.

But, given the brand and ad-driven capitalist society we live in, can Americans learn to ignore them?

[Iggo]

1. I already ignore the ads on DU.

Once I lost my star, it didn't take that long to tune 'em out.

Well, every now and again there's a whole cleavage thing going on and my eyes are naturally drawn toward that because I'm a gross boy. But for the most part, I don't see what's in the band at the top or the box on the left or right.

[polichick]

6. Could you ignore the "Dem" brand?

[PowerToThePeople]

2. We voted for policy positions in '08. n/t

[polichick]

4. A lot of people just voted for the cool guy who held the rock star events.

[KurtNYC]

3. No Americans cannot ignore brands or ads but perhaps we should organize around

goals instead of people ?

Put the name of the goal right in the name of the organization like they do in small towns -- eg. "SpringfieldNeedsADogPark.org"

[polichick]

5. I guess the goal for a presidential election...

could be "CaringForThePlanetAnd100%OfThePeople"

It does seem as if Americans would have a hard time giving up brands and ignoring ads - which is what the powers-that-be count on.

[BelgianMadCow]

7. ...is why No Logo ended up as a kind of revolutionary bible.

I hope we can all ignore the branding, o yes.

[polichick]

9. Just looked it up - haven't read it but will soon. Thanks!

[BelgianMadCow]

10. ...Almost forgot: a viewing of Century of the Self is an antidote to brands

women being told to express their freedom through smoking, with marches of women carrying their "freedom torches".

You can view it in full here:
https://archive.org/details/TheCenturyOfTheSelf

[polichick]

11. Reminds me of social-cultural anthro classes - love that stuff!

[Shandris]

8. Even the most vigilant among us are influenced in subtle ways by ads until we learn of how...

...they operate, and even after that there is almost always residual influence. The 'freshness' of flowers when first entering the grocery store, the placement of endcaps and aisle suggestions, and the very fundamental-to-human-nature us vs. them mentality guarantee that the answer to your question is not just no, but HELL NO.

It's not capitalism that causes it; it is the very essence of what it means to be human. Capitalism (and politicians of all stripes) may well take extreme advantage of it, but they don't -cause- it.

[polichick]

12. I do think we can decide to make decisions based more on other factors...

You might enjoy the link in #10 - looks interesting!

[Shandris]

17. I agree that we can be much, MUCH more pro-active in policing ourselves for the...

...amount of influence we let these things have on us. I mean, I believe many of us (if not most!) on this site actively do try to avoid the vast amount of manipulation, and I think many of us are probably pretty darn successful at doing so. I know for myself, I actively try to avoid any advertising manipulations that I'm aware of, and will go out of my way to avoid using that brand if/when possible as a sort of 'pocketbook payback' for trying to manipulate me as well as educate those around me about what tactics are being used.

However, the realist in me knows that the biggest problems aren't the ones we're aware of, it's the ones we -aren't-. And since we can never know exactly what we -don't- know (oh lords I just had a terrible Rumsfeld flashback), we can never truly be certain just how successful we're being at avoiding these manipulations.

Thanks for pointing that link out btw, I had missed it! I haven't had a chance to get into it yet, but I did bookmark it for tomorrow.

[Rex]

13. Mostly, yes you can. One big way is to throw away the TVEE.

nt.

[1000words]

14. No

The manipulation is so finely tuned, most don't even realize they're being brainwashed.

[polichick]

16. Yeah - as long as people allow themselves to be manipulated like that, money rules.

[hunter]

15. No television, so that advertising is of no consequence to me.

I eat simple foods, shop in thrift stores.

I have a star here. No ads. Drive an old car with a salvage title, and if I ever have to replace it, it will be another old car. Car advertisements of any sort are just noise to me.

Most advertisements are just noise to me.

Frankly, it's not what I'm boycotting (nearly everything), it's what I do decide to buy. I have this rule of sorts: if it's not going to last a century, and it's not something (vegetable) I'm going to eat or was with, then it's simply not on my shopping list. Everything else becomes a gift of fortune, something I'll find used, or in the trash, or something I can repair or make.

My wife is not quite like that. She does enjoy shopping but has some environmental awareness above that of the "average" American "consumer." I never wanted to be a "consumer" and I've done all right.

But I'm probably not going to convince my wife we can live without a refrigerator... I tell her it's easy and then you can avoid entire aisles in the supermarket, but she's not buying it.