No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs by Naomi Klein
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Book Reviews of No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs
Book Review: Relativity in advertising
Summary: 4 Stars
Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek frequently uses as an explanatory topos the following reading of Einstein's theory of relativity: In the special theory of relativity (so the story goes) matter has the effect of curving the space around it, so the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line. However, with the shift to the general theory of relativity the story is reversed; the curvature of space is no longer the effect of matter's gravity, it is rather matter itself which is the side-effect of the curvature of space, the curvature of space is itself the primordial fact.
Whether or not this is an accurate summary of Einstein's contribution to twentieth century physics, it is a useful schema for understanding the transformation Naomi Klein charts in No Logo. If, in early capitalism, the commodity itself is the primary material fact of economic existence, then it would seem that marketing and advertising are the concomitant warping of the ideological/cultural space that is the natural by-product of material commodities' vigorous efforts to get themselves sold on the open market. However, as we transition eras into late capitalism, a profound shift occurs, as branding itself becomes increasingly important. With the success of the mega-brands of the nineties (Nike, Starbucks, Microsoft, etc.) what is ultimately for sale is no longer mere commodities but the brand itself, and the physical products (shoes, coffee, software, etc.) that advertising used to serve become mere vehicles for selling the increasingly ubiquitous brands.
This is the shift that Naomi Klein beautifully details in this book, with copious charts and graphs, endless footnotes and references, and engaging and readable writing. Klein is an impeccable researcher, and her marshaling of the data and statistics in the service of the story she has to tell are flawless. If anyone doubts that there still exist Dickensian nightmares of exploitation in the contemporary world of global capitalism (or if anyone has faith that the rising tide does indeed lift all boats) then this is the book you should read.
My one caveat is that while Klein is a masterful journalist and a capable storyteller, she is at best (at least in this book) a mediocre theoretician. While her descriptive powers of documenting the current realities are formidable, her analysis of the possibilities of resistance and her prescriptions for future movements leave something to be desired. In particular, the last section of the book, devoted to an exploration of various forms of resistance movements and Klein's own unwavering optimism, seem, from the vantage point of a decade after the book was published, a tad bit naive and underwhelming. I mean, has the Reclaim the Streets movement really thrown a monkey-wrench into the forces of gentrification and homogenization reshaping the faces of North American cities (as Klein breathlessly anticipates in one chapter)? Fortunately, Klein has since published The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, a far more sober accounting of the events and economic ideologies of the past decade.
However, despite the dated feel of the final chapters, No Logo remains relevant for anyone trying to get a picture of contemporary economic realities. It offers a treasure trove of data and documentation that continues to serve as reliable ammunition for anyone wishing to take the wind out of the sails of today's counter-revolutionary apologists of capital that continue to be so much in vogue and dominate global policy making at the dawn of the twenty-first century.
Book Review: Funky Brand-Fighting
Summary: 4 Stars
No Logo is capitalism deconstructed for the despair-disseminating and presence-negating machine few recognise it to be. Multi-national corporations and their brands are exposed as the latest power-mongers, usurping the imagination of society, controlling the public space, limiting choices. It is indeed, as one reviewer put it, the Das Kapital of the growing anti-corporate movement, a fascinating pre-emptive strike against the global larger-than-governments transcendent meaning machines (Klein's phrase).
I tell ya I can never think of Nike, McDonald's, Shell, Pepsi, Disney, Espirit and the other bought-without-thought logos the same way again. Not after reading (Klein's respectable though obviously not problem-free account of) how these companies have planted their symbols in all areas of life (in music, in toilets, in to youth culture, within imagination). Coke and Pepsi taste less refreshing when juxtaposed with the thought that in exchange for funds, schools and universities had to commission research on new ad campaigns for the drink giants. And each time the famous yellow shell image appears, I can't help being reminded of the petrol organisation's contribution (albeit indirect) to the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa, African Nobel Peace Prize nominee fighting for the Ogoni people, whose lives were threatened by oil-drilling in the Niger delta.
Most heart-wrenching of all were Klein's account of the utterly inhumane practices going on in Export Processing Zones (EPZs') in countries like the Phillipines and China. Imagine pee sessions restricted to a pre-specified 15-minute stretches during the 12- to 14-hour workdays. Or women workers passing out and giving birth on the factory floor, because they were hiding their pregnancy, because to show a belly was to lose their pittance-paying jobs.
If Klein, this "young funky heiress to Noam Chomsky", is even on target with her reporting then most of us consumers are sustaining an oppressive (though subtle hidden) system. As a Tom Peters fan, I swear I felt the guilt flowing through me. Fast. (Interestingly enough, I Googled Peters' - the ultimate prophet of postmodern brands if ever there was one - site for any discussion on Klein's book and guess what I found? Zilch.)
The 'solutions' discussed and paraded were interestingly fresh in their own right. You've got people redrawing poster-ads, hordes Reclaiming the Streets (think of thousands of people jamming up the streets, blocking traffic, creatively saying, "No more cars!" - that's RTS for you), mass boycotting of brands, and very public expos?s (the McLibel in the U.K. story was a classic - McDonald sues couple for disseminating anti-McD leaflets, couple uses legal limelight to open up McD's negative practices even more!). We even read of street kids in the Bronx collectively dumping Nike shoes and attire at the nearest Nike retail store.
In Klein's own words:
"Ethical shareholders, culture jammers, street reclaimers, McUnion organisers, human-rights hacktivists, school-logo fighters and Internet corporate watchdogs are at the early stages of demanding a citizen-centered alternative to the international rule of the brands.
That demand, still sometimes in some areas of the world whispered for fear of a jinx, is to build a resistance - both high-tech and grassroots, both focused and fragmented (sounds like the Emergent movement, doesn't it?) -that is as global, and as capble of coordinated action, as the multinational corporations it seeks to subvert." (p.445-446) (insert mine, obviously)
Check out the website. Read the book.
Fight the brands.
Book Review: A book that should be more widely read
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite having become modestly dated in its details (a updated edition or follow-up work would be welcomed), Naomi Klein's book No Logo remains an important work about the blurring boundaries between global business and global culture. Since its publication, much of the globalization furor directed at Kathy Lee, McDonald's, Nike, Shell Oil, Pepsi, and others has died down or been redirected at health, local impact (e.g., Wal-Mart stores) and other important but ancillary issues (take, for example, the movie Super Size Me). The fact that the noise has subsided does not, however, mean that the problems Ms. Klein cites have disappeared. More likely, the companies subjected to such scathing public rebuke have better learned how to play the game, managing their PR more effectively and hiding further and further behind layers of subsidiaries, contractors, sub-contractors, and locked factory gates. No Logo is a significant work, deserving to be much better known than it is. American consumers -- that is, all of us -- need to reach a much better understanding of how brand management has evolved into culture management, how Starbucks and Nike and Gap and The Body Shop and so many other companies are infiltrating our subconscious and controlling our cultural dialogues. No Logo still serves as an eye-opener for those who have been spending so much time at the mall that they have not yet seen what is going on around them.
Sadly, No Logo is not the most approachable of books for the general populace. It is over-long and over-detailed, bogging down in topics that are probably exciting to radical activists (like billboard jamming) but are sleep-inducing to most readers. Like many people who are involved in activism, Klein sometimes loses the forest for the trees, giving us so much insider detail about causes and people we don't know that we lose interest in, and attention to, her real message. My rating of only four stars, while certainly positive, derives from Klein's tendency to preach too much to the converted and spend too little time educating the as-yet unconverted.
The book is divided into four sections: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, and No Logo. The first two sections, encompassing the first eight chapters, are well worth the price of the book by themselves. Readers will come to a new understanding of how the public spaces around them are being manipulated by mega-corporate messaging, how those corporations hide behind a public face of social consciousness, and how violently they respond when anyone seeks to question their self-proclaimed high moral ground. I would recommend these eight chapters as required reading for every third- or fourth-year high school student in America. Chapter 16, "A Tale of Three Logos," is also a fascinating account of less than admirable behavior on the parts of Nike, Shell, and McDonald's, definitely worth reading.
I can only hope that Ms. Klein will someday revisit her subject matter again, perhaps to publish a more streamlined and updated version that will reach a wider audience. She deserves the audience, and the American public needs to hear her voice. Despite her understandable tendency toward one-sidedness (perhaps necessary in this case to avoid being drowned out by Nike and McDonald's commercials and Starbucks ads), Naomi Klein's No Logo is an important book that all consuming Americans should read.
Book Review: No Logo by Darren Bartosz
Summary: 4 Stars
"No Logo" outlines anti-corporate visions on the war against greed. Naomi Klein takes an interesting approach on this topic so widespread written about today in society. Klein's approach towards the matter is that she divides reality of what corporations do to the world into four main categories.In the first section of the book entitled "No Space", Klein states on page 3 that, "Corporations must primarily produce brands as opposed to products." This means that real work lies in marketing, not manufacturing as it was in the past seeing that branding is a relatively new concept that has evolved over the last few decades. Klein goes on to say that companies sell brands before product, because their eyes are fixed on global expansion and even more fixed on making maximum dollar profit.
In "No Choice", the second main section, Klein examines her own personal experiences of involvement with corporate synergy mania in popular culture. There were many other points in the area of the book, but this one stood out the most to me because it makes a person realize how they themselves as a child are basically born into corporate synergy, and very hard to avoid at a young age.
"No Jobs", is the third category Klein uses to demonstrate that corporations are taking jobs out of the economy. On page 195 Peter Schweitzer president of the advertising campaign for J. Walter Thompson, says, "The difference between products and brands is fundamental. A product is something that is made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by a customer." Many companies now bypass production completely, and hence leave many former paid employees families hungry at the dinner table at night.
The fourth and final section is named "No Logo." In this section, Klein talks about culture jamming. This term culture jam might best be defined as media hacking, information warfare, terror-art, and guerrilla semiotics, all in one. These examples all work toward the idea that people do not need to be brainwashed into doing something that somebody of wealth wishes you to. This action is seemed necessary by many because they feel that most people don't know any better than to believe what the media tells us. Culture jam is meant to educate those who are so captivated by companies branded products that people fall into an idea that they need a product that a large corporation who cares nothing about them is making.
I enjoyed this book because people always have heard that large corporations are bad, but people really don't understand what that means, and this book gives the cold hard facts. Many parts gave me the knowledge and realization that I can make a difference thru educating others who are not as lucky as I am to get a college education. After all, this book is not intended for just those who are on the way to their degree, but rather this affects everyone no matter how big or small. After reading this book I see more and more corporate logos, but now I am also able to see right thru them as well.
Book Review: Logo or NO LOGO?
Summary: 4 Stars
The question: Exactly what product does Tommy Hilfiger make? The answer: Nothing at all.
In fact, when you buy Tommy jeans, shoes, and sunglasses you are specifically purchasing the right to wear the advertisement. This concept of branding is the central issue of Naomi Klein's NO LOGO.
Klein is virtually obsessed with the pervasiveness of branding and also its inherent preposterousness. This obsession is the driving force behind NO LOGO. This book pulls the reader in, at the same time convincing and forcing him or her to think of the reasons for making brand purchases and also think of the undeserved money it makes for entirely marketing-based corporations that make no products.
Until I read NO LOGO I had no idea of the magnitude of branding and the marketing industry created to push it. I was shocked to read that this was the real reason school kids have been beaten, even killed for their shoes. Branding denotes status, and there are entire corporations looking to sell this way. Looking to sell this way to children, with utter disregard for the physical (and self-esteem) dangers this poses. Think about Mattel's Barbie brand. Everything Barbie...from dolls to drapes to clothing. Branding has become the ultimate in conspicuous AND vicarious consumption.
Each chapter begins with a graphic depiction of some form of branding, and this is very helpful to get Klein's message across. The ads that are routine in everyday life seem grotesque and manipulative in this book - and that is Klein's intent. Think differently, think deeper, she seems to urge.
I am old enough to remember a time when characters on television and in movies drank SODA and not PEPSI. I thought (and still do believe) that the reason for SODA was to make people more able to relate to the character...one would have no way of knowing how much Character X paid for his SODA. Today, however, it is more important in society to strive to become as affluent as someone else by paying extra for a name brand. "Drink Pepsi, and you will be as cool as this beautiful actor."
I would definitely recommend NO LOGO for anyone interested in consumerism, sociology, the environment, or any combination of the three. It is quite long and repetitive, but a real eye-opener as far as the extent of branding. We, as Americans, often don't even think about such things consciously, but we should.