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A review by brannigan
No LOGO: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs by Naomi Klein
4.0
This book makes a great counterpart to David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs, pushing the message that modern western capitalism functions for a large part on hot air. The business of actually making and selling a good product is passé, a relic of the 20th century. No, the success of multi-billion dollar global corporations like Nike and McDonalds depends not on the quality of their goods, but their ability to build their brand. What they are selling isn’t trainers and burgers, because anyone can make those. No, they’re selling you something much more ineffable and transcendent than that - a lifestyle. Meanwhile the production lines are outsourced and sub-contracted to shady gangmasters in developing countries, at the expense of the natural world and the poor workers’ human rights.
But of course, this is old news! Which is the problem with reading No Logo in 2020. Nowadays, Klein is preaching to the choir, but I can’t hold that against her as this book played a great part in raising awareness of these nefarious corporate practices in the nineties. For this, she must be commended.
There are a couple of disappointments, though. The first few chapters about the history of modern branding and invasive advertising make for engaging reading, but it’s strange that she neglected to mention even in passing the father of modern marketing psychology, Edward Bernays. And I rushed through the last part, documenting anti-corporate activist groups in the 90s, mostly because the hesitantly hopeful tone is now a little depressing with 20+ years’ hindsight.
The brands are winning, and we have less space, less choice and fewer (“real”) jobs than ever. Klein was writing during the dawn of Web 2.0, and the era of the digital titans hadn’t yet dawned. Now it’s impossible to escape Google and Amazon - they pretty much run the internet, swallowing everything that shows too much commercial promise. Amazon even owns this very platform, and despite the mother corporation’s billions, the app is still shit.
Three stars for the depressing reading experience; rounded up to four because the research is on point, it was an important cultural milestone and its core message remains just as relevant today.
But of course, this is old news! Which is the problem with reading No Logo in 2020. Nowadays, Klein is preaching to the choir, but I can’t hold that against her as this book played a great part in raising awareness of these nefarious corporate practices in the nineties. For this, she must be commended.
There are a couple of disappointments, though. The first few chapters about the history of modern branding and invasive advertising make for engaging reading, but it’s strange that she neglected to mention even in passing the father of modern marketing psychology, Edward Bernays. And I rushed through the last part, documenting anti-corporate activist groups in the 90s, mostly because the hesitantly hopeful tone is now a little depressing with 20+ years’ hindsight.
The brands are winning, and we have less space, less choice and fewer (“real”) jobs than ever. Klein was writing during the dawn of Web 2.0, and the era of the digital titans hadn’t yet dawned. Now it’s impossible to escape Google and Amazon - they pretty much run the internet, swallowing everything that shows too much commercial promise. Amazon even owns this very platform, and despite the mother corporation’s billions, the app is still shit.
Three stars for the depressing reading experience; rounded up to four because the research is on point, it was an important cultural milestone and its core message remains just as relevant today.