Amazon.co.uk Review:

“In No Logo, Klein patiently demonstrates, step by step, how brands have become ubiquitous, not just in media and on the street but increasingly in the schools as well. The global companies claim to support diversity but their version of “corporate multiculturalism” is merely intended to create more buying options for consumers. When Klein talks about how easy it is for retailers like Wal-Mart and Blockbuster to “censor” the contents of videotapes and albums, she also considers the role corporate conglomeration plays in the process. How much would one expect Paramount Pictures, for example, to protest against Blockbuster’s policies, given that they are both divisions of Viacom?

But resistance is growing and the backlash against the brands has set in. Street-level education programmes have taught kids in the inner cities, for example, not only about Nike’s abusive labour practices but about the astronomical mark-up in their prices. Boycotts have commenced: as one urban teen put it, “Nike, we made you. We can break you”.

No Logo is a comprehensive account of what the global economy has wrought and the actions taking place to thwart it."

Present from my mother. I work in the garment industry, so she probably thought it would interest me. I read about a third of the book, before I put it back on the shelf, where it has been sitting for ages. Not for me.

This book is way against our corporate masters.

I’d say that one of Schlosser’s books (Fast Food Nation or Reefer Madness) will give you the same moral:

“If the market only strives for efficiency then humans somewhere will pay the price.”

With that said, I liked reading about struggles against Nike. It reminded me of being back in college.

Absolutely absorbing!

I probably should have read this book long ago, but I felt that I had a pretty good handle on its arguments from other sources. Stumbling across it in a Foozles, though, made picking it up a no-brainer, and last week’s Frontline (``The Persuaders’’) made reading it seem apropos.

I assumed that this book would mostly solidify inklings of ideas and opinions I already had, but it did a lot more than that. A very thorough and convincing portrait of a world headed for a new class crisis, coupled with a crisis for the freedom of expression, and perhaps democracy itself.

Indepth look at brands and corporate culture. Heavy read, definitely not bedside table material, but both and eye-opening and interesting read.

An Enlightening Read

I sort of lost interest in this book towards the end. And I wish that Klein has presented some more concrete ideas on how I, as a consumer, could make informed and ethical choices to combat the increasing insidiousness of multinational corporations and branding. I suppose however that having had my awareness raised, and if I really want to be a conscientious consumer, it’s now up to make to do the research and gather the information necessary to inform those choices. After all, I shouldn’t expect Ms. Klein to do everything for me.