Slaves to the brand

It is the most widespread slavery in the Western world, and also the most transparent one. Those who suffer from it are not even aware of their suffering, and in extreme cases believe they are happy.

The slaves walk around in public with the signs of their slavery embedded in their attire and not only do they not care, they are even proud of it: After all, they paid good money in order to adorn themselves with precisely these symbols – and after all, they are free to sacrifice their money, and their masters are invisible.

This is what is so sad about being a slave to the brand name: For the first time in human history, human beings are turning their body, home, and modes of transportation to advertising billboards – and are even willing to pay for it, always an exorbitant price, and always with no relation to the functional benefit that the product is supposed to bring to their lives.

In an era that extols individualism, more and more people want to mark themselves as belonging to the herd. In an era where superstitions are seemingly known as such, human beings believe in the magical power of being in touch – not with other people, but rather, with well known brand names. Or ridiculous decorations.

As if the presence of a small crocodile embroidered on a shirt distinguishes it, and the person wearing it, from other human beings, who have no such crocodile and whose shirt arrives from the very same giant factory in China, but its price is about half the price of the decorated shirt.

Do not underestimate the magic of being in touch. If you have children, you know that they believe wholeheartedly that their colorful blanket and toothbrush draw their uniqueness from the existence of Winnie the Pooh or Spiderman posted on them. They know well – and try to convince them that they are wrong – that the object belongs to Pooh or Spiderman themselves, and as this object is part of the child's world, the child believes that it distinguishes him or her as sharing an inexplicable trait with their favorite creatures.

Therefore, the object must be purchased, and now. And this is done while they are being dragged behind the adults, who are seeking their own brand names at the nearby mall.

Sad people 

Wait a few years, and you'll see that the magic persists. Using the same mental process, which international corporations utilize to get rich all the time, the magic will be transferred to brand names of jeans, sneakers, and fashion accessories, and later to gadgets and designer homes and the "right" cars."

And while doing this, children and adults will display immense anxiety in the face of uniqueness and seek more golden calves to worship, completely lose the ability to spot the value and quality of a product, and develop the herd mentality of those who are addicted to status symbols without noticing that the chains of slavery are slowly tightening around them.

Ultimately, brand name slaves are sad people, because they are not enslaved to the product, but rather, to the silly story that led them to purchase it. They wholeheartedly believe in the mysterious connection between their sexuality and the label on their pants. They live in a grim fantasy regarding the relationships between their power and the symbol adorning their vehicle.

They smile with satisfaction because they believe that there is indeed some kind of connection between their qualities as people and the logo on their fridge. Pathetic? Indeed. All of us? To some extent, because all those who knows the names of their clothes are such slaves.

And after thousands of years of monotheism, the brand name slaves worship numerous large and small idols without distinguishing between them or and without the ability to stop doing that. When the idols disappoint, there are always new ones that would be glad to take their place and compete for the slave's increasingly depleted wallet.

The only comfort in such slavery is the fake sense of belonging: indeed, the slaves can feel that branding their body and belongings makes them a part of a select group of human beings – who are all slaves.