Don't Brand Me

I find the whole concept of "branding" very very disturbing. Everywhere I look, people are falling all over themselves to be "branded." In all sectors of life, from doctors to refrigerator repairmen to athletes to politicians to musicians to nutritionists to yoga instructors to activists, everyone wants to be "branded." There is a collective desire to be labelled and categorized, subsumed into the marketplace and monetized. In marketing parlance, to be branded is to become a viable commodity. It is to have a name that is recognized, so that the name becomes a replacement for the object, or becomes the definition of an entire category of objects, like jacuzzi, kleenex or xerox. Being a brand means having name recognition that creates instant understanding in the consumer without much research or exploration. In the business world, the sexiest, most bitchin' thing you can do is to become a recognized brand. If you are a lawyer and your name becomes synonymous with earning millions of dollars in personal injury claims, you have passed through that golden doorway, you are no longer just a person plying a trade, you are that magical thing of power and affirmation. You are a "brand." You are branded. I find the whole thing extremely fucked up.

Let's look at where the word "brand" comes from. It comes from people putting an indelible mark on their property, living or otherwise, to identify it as such. It comes from farmers putting a stamp on their cows, or slave owners branding their slaves. Branding is achieved by heating a piece of metal until it is red hot and then pushing it into the flesh to burn and permanently disfigure the person being "branded." It has always been a method of marking chattel or livestock to keep it from escaping or being stolen.

This is what we are all striving for? No thank you. I realize that the term "brand" has evolved since the days of slavery, but I believe to be willingly branded, to desire to turn oneself into a brand, is to willingly subject oneself to a different form of slavery. It is to give up one's individual identity for the sake of monetary gain. We all have to do this to some degree, depending on our occupation. But let's remember where the word comes from. I believe words have meaning and power.

Granted, I am an artist who sells his wares and a tradesman who plies his trade in the system we all live in, the capitalist system of the western world in the twenty-first century. And I realize products in the marketplace are recognized for their quality and reputation by their name. But is there no such thing as an individual? Why do politicians, musicians, athletes, and institutions of higher learning need to have a brand? Are they really so eager to stick their asses out and have someone come along and apply a smoldering piece of metal to their flesh till it oozes, fries, and scars, just to be part of a larger amalgamation of commodities? I think it behooves all of us (no pun intended) to take a step back and examine this whole concept. I am not a cow, I am not a slave. Don't brand me.