The Bonfire Manifesto

Less than a century ago, the logos that appeared on consumer items existed to identify quality of produce and origin of production. In today’s world, these logos have come to symbolise an awful lot more. Through the routine use of psychology in advertising, many brands now embody goals and values in life towards which we must strive. We proudly wear the logos of companies on our chests to identify where we come from, who we are and more importantly, who we want to be. The manufactured values of company brands have become our own.

I believe that brands have begun to mean too much. The symbol of a sports shoe manufacturer should not embody freedom. Nor should the symbol of a bag manufacturer should not embody aspiration. We should not be defining ourselves simply by the logo on our cars. In doing so, we hand our identity and our self-worth over to companies whose existence are geared not towards quality of life, but towards profit.

There exists no brand powerful enough to make us spend against our will, but there are plenty that persuade us to queue overnight for new products, to spend more money than we earn, to continue buying new versions of things that we already own. To underestimate the power of brand culture is to deny a fact of modern life. Chain stores dominate our malls. Billboards dominate our streets. Advertising dominates our television, radio, magazines and the web.
It is virtually impossible to lead a normal life brand-free. The myriad brands on offer to us each day would seem to offer us choice. But in terms of an alternative style of life, there is no choice.

The basic message is that we will feel better for consuming more. In owning these brands, we are promised that our lives will be transformed for the better. We in the UK have accepted this principle as part of our culture, to the extent that shopping has become our national pastime. Mounting evidence proves that consumer culture has in fact transformed our lives for the worse. In paying for this lifestyle, we British work longer hours than any other country in Europe, and we are over £1 trillion in debt. Despite our materially high standard of living, our overall quality of life lags far behind those of some developing countries; in meeting our inflated expectations of life, we suffer enormous stress. But most important of all, the brand message prevents us from properly dealing with the challenge of climate change. According to the Carbon Trust, 42% of our individual carbon footprint comprises of consumer products and services. The core message of message of branding – to consume more – is fundamentally at odds with footprint reduction – the need to consume less. Until this conflict is resolved, I believe there is little chance that we can change our lives for the better.

Our authorities understand the impact that brand advertising has upon children and have legislated accordingly. Likewise, restrictions have been placed upon the advertising of cigarettes and alcohol. If the government wishes to improve the quality of British life, and meet targets for climate change, it must restrict the psychologically manipulative techniques that are used in emotional branding. Manufacturers must be persuaded to return to traditional forms of advertising, whereby products are promoted on the basis of function, as opposed to feeling. In a free market economy such as ours, we will always need brands. But we don’t need for them to mean so much. Brands have to stop making promises that they cannot keep. The only promise we need is that the product does exactly what it says on the tin.