(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"No logo" by Canadian author and journalist Naomi Klein has been declared the "Bible of anti-globalization". By people who most likely have not read the over 500 page thick statement.
"No logo" does not contain any order on how to run a herpes business, nor does it point a moral index finger at society at large as we have come to know it in the last ten years. Also, one expects that one Bible which retain their relevance for a few decades. As a contemporary and future document, "No logo" will probably be outdated before Jens Stoltenberg returns as Prime Minister. Probably – because; Klein's point is that brand builders established strategy as quickly as young people change boyfriends, and social rebels must therefore just as often find new counter-strategies. In almost the entire 1990s, the brand builders' ingenious move was to create advertising out of the uprising. As the cultural jams made counter-advertising off – which in turn the brand builders made advertising of. As far as we know, they will continue to do so, unless Osama bin Laden took the final sting of the irony on 11 September as well.
"No logo" is thus a time document that soberly describes the brand uprising and their counter-strategies, the brand builders and their strategies. In such a perspective, it is clear that the book has little to do with it anti-globalization to do. On the contrary, according to Klein, they are characterized by the benefits of globalization (diversity) as weapons against an overly unilateral focus on money and money (unification).
The reason the strategy has been so successful so far is that the money managers and their officials were taken to bed by a sudden hostility and that the uprising was based on the principle of the seemingly structured chaos. As the coalition of coalitions grows, the demand for leadership and hierarchy will be needed. Then the top civil servants will also begin to understand.
More values
Thus, Naomi Klein does not want to talk about one movement, but several parallel movements that fight on the surface. On the other hand, on the other hand, lies the same great frustration over the powerless game of power with democracy in the pot.
Naomi Klein could have started anywhere, but in "No logo" the journey begins on April 2, 1993, what is supposedly in advertising circles is called Marlboro Friday, when Philip Morris surprisingly stated that the company will cut 20 percent in the price of cigarettes to compete with the cheap brands. The experts declared not only Malboro dead, but also brand names as such. The Malboro man was not any advertisement. The short-term decline on the stock exchange was due to completely different things, it turned out. The rush hour was over, and most people were concerned about price again. Therefore, the successful companies chose not to move away from branding.
On the contrary, they were reinforced in the belief that traditional industry and production were shut down, and that the advertising agencies were right. The time was ripe to spend sea money on advertising, and less on labor. Since then, there has only been one way; The super companies have merged their advertising services and set up warehouses in poor countries that take care of what Nike, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Levi´s perceive as an inconvenience – producing something tangible. Figures from 1998 estimate total advertising spending at $ 435 billion, of which Americans account for about half.
The first part of the book is full of witty and seemingly limitless idiotic examples of how companies like Nike and McDonalds spend the most time and effort figuring out how they can be visible everywhere – with the contemporary message. Whether a brand name sells clothes or cigarettes, the message is the same – our lifestyle and our values guarantee happiness. The companies do not produce anything themselves, so it is not the size of the company that determines the market value – but its potential ability to gather the people around their idea. In other words: the promise of a better world. Sponsored by Burger King. Also called value creation.
It is no longer the case that companies sponsor pop stars, actors and athletes, but vice versa – which of course has consequences for the content. Also in the media world and in education sectors, the same companies help to keep the spirits up – towards a place in the abstract board.
Klein also mentions several small towns in the United States and Canada that have been sponsored by large companies – in exchange for changing the name of the main street, the town hall, even the city. If you did not know better, you would think that the multinational companies had political ambitions…
company Power
Something they naturally have. From goods to ideas to influence to politics… and vips, you are the Prime Minister of Italy.
It is not quite that simple, partly because many corporate leaders are likely to gain less power over society if they became leaders of a nation-state. This is where Klein believes in finding the trace of the new community rebellion. At one time or another, demonstration trains stopped outside parliaments and town halls, but outside large shopping malls and branded temples. At one time or another, the rebellious youth stopped complaining about women being portrayed negatively in advertising, to complain about the advertising and its scope as such. At some point, the radicals stopped reading postcolonial theory in the student canteen.
They took up the fight in the enemy's arena (that is, everywhere) on the enemy's premises. After all, we are talking about a generation that quickly replaced breast milk with MTV – the cradle of the brand channel itself. So we're talking about an advertising father murder.
It's not really that mysterious. The need of young people to distance themselves from power is ancient. Power is the brand companies and for the brand companies, young people are the most lucrative target group. Therefore, the brand companies capture the latest trends and present them in glorified forms on house walls and in public toilets. Then the youth gets angry and tries something else – but the scouts are still there.
Actually a hyper-good recipe for radicalizing the radicals. (Much like bombing Muslim civilians in the United States – without comparison otherwise.) Of course, there had to be a limit to how long young people found themselves being promised the brand. diversity og brotherhood, while experiencing on the body that freedom is the freedom to choose between Benetton and Ralph Lauren as a school uniform.
An unfortunate side effect of the uprising for the companies is that the same raddis – and their spiritual friends from the 68er generation – became interested (again?) In the production conditions in poor countries. In addition, they came to call for stronger regulations. But they came to City Hall, well, then they were referred to the WTO and other abbreviations with – eventually – fringed brand names.
The way forward?
Such a brief review of the common thread in "No logo" does not do the book justice. Its main characteristics are the linguistic touch, the twinkle in the eye, the paradoxical examples and the overwhelming information, as well as the great willingness to analyze and nuance trends and counter-trends. We will probably also find here the key to the book's success. Naomi Klein is a journalist, not a revival preacher – and can therefore be successfully read by both doctors and teachers.
The big problem with the book is that it ends when it becomes most interesting. Not only in the sense that we would like to see the villains taken on the last page, but just as much that the new another-world-is-possible movements are currently facing a decisive crossroads. Conferences and demonstrations are certainly good, but how fruitful is it in the long run – and how extensive can the uprising be before it grows rigid and unmanageable? Do not the movements shout for one leader, a constructive dialogue with states, some firm demands, a certain form of agreement on form of action and strategy?
The questions are asked by Naomi Klein herself, and she is guilty of answering. The book probably needs a sequel, a "No logo II". The only testimony is that we have something far better to look forward to.
