I've been wearing my new non-branded sneakers for a week now, and I've developed a serious complaint on the soles of my feet. Truly, my plates have been so pampered by the branded luxury of adidas/ Reebok/ New Balance that they cannot suffer the zero cushioning/ support of my new shoes. Does any one know of any non-branded insoles I might buy?
Less than a month to go now, and I'm growing more anxious by the day. My therapist suggested that I go and buy some relaxation tapes, and practice breathing regularly. Some of that stuff does actually work, once you learn to ignore the dreadful Kenny G meets the Whales soundtrack. Breathe in, breathe out; forget the cost of burning all your gear. Breathe in breathe out; don't panic that you've only baking soda and mint with which to clean your teeth. Breathe in, breathe out; accept that you'll never eat a Snickers ice cream ever again. Breathe in, breathe out; remember that you're doing this for legitimate reasons, and not (as people who keep posting the blog suggest) simply to impress people who work on Radio 4 sociology programmes. I feel better already.
On a separate note, the gap between advertising and content just got that little bit smaller, as Budweiser announces that they are launching a film/ TV production company. For all those that once feared that culture would eventually be (not just paid for, but) created by brands, it is finally coming to pass.
Click here for the gory truth.
Well Heeled?
Posted: Aug 22, 2006
46 Comments:
"Breathe in breathe out; don't panic that you've only baking soda and mint with which to clean your teeth." Neil, you're going to have the whitest teeth ever, so don't stress! (You might need to source fluoride from somewhere though...Thames Water? Or is that a brand?!)
Don't get me started with Thames Water. Unless I can find a well somewhere, I am alas stuck with those chancers. They've got to be top of the list for worst UK brand of the year. Perhaps we should launch an antidote to Superbrands... Ponybrands... the least reliable, the least value for money etc etc.
instead of burning your clothes, why not give them to charity? it might really help someone!
ps i enjoy reading your blog. its funny and interesting too.
Yeah the gap between advertising and content is all but gone - remember that Lynx advert that had that tune 'Get Down and Listen to the music' - the tune went to number one and was a huge albeit cheesy club hit but the ad agency set up an in house publishing company that owned the rights to the song?? You know that everyone in cheesy clubs up and down the country would have been apeing that dude in the ad. I guess thats not quite the same as a bud production company but then again music in the hands of advertising would be just as wrong.
Anyway I just found this and thought it might be useful
http://thegreysweatsuitrevolution.com/
And yeah I've got a pair of those 5 quid shoes and they're not good long distance!
Grumblemouse
are you gonna come to the bonfire then? It would be good to meet you finally. Likewise, any one who has taken the time to post on the site is most welcome to attend. I'll announce the venue in the next couple of days.
"Does any one know of any non-branded insoles I might buy?"
try visiting a chiropodist, they can make ones to perfectly fit your tootsies and custom made to solve any support problems you might need.
Ah thank you. I need them.
Hi Neil
I’ve been thinking about the question raised by you and several of your correspondents – what will you wear, use, enjoy when you’ve destroyed your branded goods and enter the underworld of the unbranded?
Having just returned from the USA, I think I have the answer for, at least, the clothing issue. It has the right feel for your new ascetic existence – not quite sackcloth and ashes but a philosophical statement made in the name, as well as the implicit lack of street credibility in the product.
But what is this, you cry, it has a name, therefore a brand? Yes, but not a brand that you will flaunt with a logo discretely showing on your shirt pocket. The closest parallel I can think of in the UK from my youth, was the horror at our parents’ desire to dress us in anything from M & S – “so well made and such good value” – and, if they prevailed, our essential exorcism of the dreaded “St. Michael” label, in case it should be spotted on one’s shirt in the changing room.
Ok, so what is the answer? Walmart’s ubiquitous brand of clothing - “Puritan” !!!!
So, if you agree, on our next Virginia trip, we can bring you back a whole suitcase full of billowy boxer shorts, pocket Ts, button down madras shirts, double pleat chinos, baseball caps and rayon/polyester sweaters, all cheerfully labelled “Puritan”. Just think of that euphoric feeling you will get as you survey your new wardrobe and select a pristine set of Puritan products to don for your book launch, knowing that you have eschewed every last hint of Ralph Lauren, Gucci or Pierre Cardin.
BB 23aug06
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nice point Bingo
and this raises my question - is this 'quest' a non branded fashion avoidance scheme or perhaps routed more in a No Logo stance. What I mean is are you avoiding Diesel T-Shirts that you buy to help promote their brand and the lure of expensive designer goods, in a way making redundant their advertising / marketing campaigns or does this run deeper into avoiding large multi nationals that are destroying not not only local shopping styles in the west but also practising unfair trade over east.
Walmart would obviously be a good choice for bucking the fashion / marketing thing but surely Walmart is not much better?
Intrigued of Shoreditch
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Bazzerbingo
I, err, don't know what to say. Except, I've seen those Puritan shirts at Wall Mart, and while I am going about the process of dismanteling my branded self, I do hope to retain some sense of dignity. So how can I put this, thanks but no thanks!
Now if you could find a brand called Statesman, or Sebonair, perhaps Stallion, I could aspire to that, ha ha.
Grumblemouse
the brand is primary, all the other ethical/ political issues come second for me. The official party line is that I have been manipulated by brands beyond reason, and in a search for identity and self esteem, I have chosen to disconnect from them. So, as much as I care about working practices, the environment etc etc. it is the essence of branding that comes first.If you know what I mean,
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The bonfire looms ever closer, and it's got me thinking. The location is completely your choice of course and subject to numerous bureacratic restrictioons no doubt...how have you dealt with this? I assume it has to be outdoors and in some wasteland? I was hoping it might be in an uber-trendoid area like Dalston/Shoreditch just on the off-chance it catches and takes down the whole area, and spreads into Essex, razing huge areas of brandography.
A Budweiser TV company?! Whasssuuppp with that? Budweiser=officially the shittest beer on the market. No question. Even Tennants and Fosters are better. Beer-flavoured water.
But then emerged (about 5 years) ago that Eastern European rival the Budvar Budweiser...and the start of the trendy Leffe/Fruilli/Erdinger invasion for people aspiring to an authentic Polish drinkinng experience.
How did that work with Budweiser/Budvar, who was fucking over who there? Anyone know...
funny you should mention Tennants - a while ago they hooked up with Dazed to create some magazine called T. It was basically a magazine about music that was actually pretty cool and it had these shitty cut out and play 7" like you used to get on the side of cornflakes packets - I guess branded content has been around a little longer in the publishing world maybe?
Well, I can fault the flavour of the beer but Tennants have been very supportive of the music scene (especially in Scotland), there's T at the Fringe, T in the Park, and T-break. (And their adverts are bloody funny but often not shown down south, which is a shame cos they often mercilessly rip the piss out of the Scotch.) So no surprise they've done other cool stuff. They seem a bit more innovative than Carling, who I'm not so sure about...they seem to have the monopoly over a lot of venues. Again...don't know how that works.
And one more thing about Budweiser...they are the official beer of Glastonbury which was a real shock to me (thanks God for Pear cider), I know Glasto's all sold out and now branded as fuck but c'mon..
I actually forgot about how much they're involved in music - I remember now when I got the magazine and was like'Tennants??' and he said almost the same as you.
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phentermine - health insurance - debt consolidation - home equity loans Nice comment.. I ll come back for sure :]
hang on, no more snickers ice creams???
why on earth are you burning everything? give it to a charity shop or a clothes bank or a same sized friend, your not helping anyone by burning all that crap.
On the Budvar/Budweiser fight, the following link explains it in some depth:
http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=191
just read the slot in the new Sunday Times; haven't read any of the posts on here yet so i don't know if there's any disparity between the views expressed in them. anyway, the ST article made me laugh - mostly at you, i'm afraid, in an avuncular, indulgent way. you really need to pick up some early Roland Bathes, like Mythologies. The point i'm getting at is that wearing non-brands expresses as much about you as wearing brands. all clothes are symbols: the "naturalness" of wearing a blank t-shirt is illusory. trust me, i spent my teenage years doing anything, not just to avoid being a billboard, but to escape socially-prescribed norms: wearing t-shirts in-side out, cutting pockets off trousers; anything bar wearing a loin-cloth. it's a sisyphean task. i've been planning a book based around these ideas, and you appear to be my central character; i may have to buy your book just for research!
sorry, that was a little one-sided. i'm anti-logo myself, but mainly on aesthic grounds. "the real you" idea is what i was getting at. there is no total freedom or pure self-expression in society; only a dialect of personal/social identity.
seeing as i anticipate at least one angry message, and i wrote the wrong site address the last two times, this post should be linked to my real profile. Thanks.
what about things such as tesco value toothpaste.. i know its still a brand.. but its not a LUXURY brand.. surely youre only trying to strip yourself of idiotic luxury brands... i mean.. even farmers from texas etc.. still brush their teeth with toothpaste!
why are you burning it, give it to charity
Why burn? Why not charity? Why not help others who are not as privileged as you have been. You might then get some kind of satisfaction rather than commit an otherwise gratuitously selfish act.
I read your article in the Sunday Times style magazine and i thought it was tragic! I understand the motives behind your actions and why you would want to "de-brand" yourself, but it seems to me that you are destroying quality goods that could be of great use and value to people who aren't so fortunate as yourself. If you really want to gain some kind of catharsis from the event why not just take all of your things down to a church or a charity shop and let them redistribute them to people that could benefit. That would be admirable!
i understand the motive to burn the possesions - it's a dramatic statement and will serve as a kind of therapy, maybe even to people watching as well as yourself. where's it taking place?
Neil,
I think you are very brave for staging this act of resistance, in what seems to be an otherwise irresistable (and I fully intend to invoke ALL conotations of the word), and probably unwinnable battle.
We are drip fed, ever so softly, day after day, year after year, the mantras of the market, and perhaps, with your stunt, you will arm others with weapons to defy the unstoppable shopping machines!
I do have a question however: why do you think it was that you became 'hypersensitive', as you say, (Style, Sunday Times, 27/08) to the perfidious proclamations of the billboards?
Neel Boorman....I remember you...I lived in Shoreditch for 10 years (96-05)and you were a brand in yourself. Isnt this just perpetuating the brand of "Boorman"? I bought my clothes from ASDA or charity shops...and you can go to a running shop and get insoles made from sorborthane which give great cushioning or to a hiking shop and buy some felt/cotton ones which give good insulation. Or a pound shop down Whitechapel high street where you can get no name flipflops. Recent research in America identified the flipflop as the best shoe for support.
Hi!
I just wanted to know, Instead of burning your items, would you be willing to give them away for free?
I guess giving them away would be much easier and better, as you are not sacrificing any of the work that peeps have done, and It's better to the environment!
Dear Mr Boorman,
I very much admire your idea of rejecting brands. I totally support your idea and look forward to reading your book. However, I do not support this unnecessary burning of what I imagine to be a large amount of perfectly decent goods. Burn the clothes if you must, but I think it would be far better (and more ethical) to send off the electrical and mechanical goods to be recycled. Especially the Trek bike. Speaking of which, should you wish to give it away to someone, I would be more than happy to take it off your hands.
I wish you luck in your venture and I look forward to your reply.
Wow, lots of comments to answer. Thanks to everyone for posting. So...
1. The bonfire is both a political protest and a personal cathartic act. If I were to give the stuff away, the project would be neither. I know its a terrible waste, but that's the way it has to be. If I had dropped off the lot to Oxfam, no one would have heard of the project and none of the issues would have been raised.
2. Henry: fair point, all clothes are a form of personal expression, but I would much rather express myself through ideas/ styles of my own as opposed to an off the peg identity from Selfridges. Good luck with your book. Have you read Pattern Recognition?
3. Gerard: thanks for such a thoughtful comment... I appreciate the encouragement, and yes, it is an un-winnable battle, but I suppose that is really the point of the book. In answer to your question: personally I have an extremely addictive nature (I am a recovering alcoholic, I constantly battle with nicotine, I tend to do things obsessively) so part of the sensitivity comes from that. I would also say, from the therapy I have recently been having for the book, that I have suffered from low self-esteem from an early age, and have taught myself to use consumption as a means of bolstering the esteem. Of course, branding and advertising has exasperated this, offering me confidence, and love-ability as they do in the messages that they pump out.
Neil excellent article yesterday. Some concerns however, has your therapist ever discussed OCD with you? Might it perhaps be the case that this purging of brands is just another obsession. Instead of alcoholism, nicotine addiction and compulsive consumerism you are now a latching on to another self destructive act. An undoubtedly futile attempt at brand cleansing… Perhaps its time to take a deep breath and try things in moderation for a while?
Neil,
Thank you for the reply.
Firstly, I admire your honesty. In my mind it has perhaps saved what you are doing from turning into a mere flash-ad for your new book. Would it be possible to tell us something of your therapy for the book, i.e. which begat which?
With regards to your compulsive nature, I do recognise some of your demon, and they are of the same species of my own. Whilst I cannot say that I myself suffer from low self-regard, obsession and compulsion are delightful, if somewhat tiring, masters of mine. (I do not see them however as inherently good or inherently bad, much in the same way that a knife is neither good nor bad, but open to bad or good uses. I would wager, for example, that it is the obsessive streak that will keep you meeting your daily word-limit for the book!).
Other than to those inert to the joys of post-industrial society, the buzz of consumption finds footholds in the nooks in every personality type: for the low-esteemed, it would shore up self-worth, and for the high-esteemed it dovetails flush with a sense of entitlement. They have us every way huh?
Have you any idea how you will feel:
1 day,
1 week,
1 month,
after the bonfire?
please neil -throw yourself on the bonfire, by the time you stage it you & your forthcoming book will be just as much a brand as your other possessions
Burning all of your brands won't fill the emptiness that you feel because the emptiness is at the core of human existence. If you destroy the concept of God (as we have in our largely secular western society), then you destroy mankind's only chance of a meaningful purpose.
However, it's only once you destroy the idea of God that you can become a truly adult human being, responsible to yourself for creating your own meaning - and that's exciting, but also very scary.
I think trying to live without brands sounds like an interesting project and a good idea for a book, but if you think that consumerism is causing your emptiness, then you're mistaken - it just that consumerism no longer effectively masks it for you
Yes, it is wasteful but sometimes a grand gesture is called for. If you don't have your bonfire then you probably won't really purge yourself of the influence that these worthless symbols have over you. Anyway, you can always console yourself with the fact that most branded clothes look blooby awful. They're just a modern day Emperor's new clothes - once you get past the name or logo you're often left with some styless piece of tat.
And don't pay any attention to your critics - anonymous minds are usually the most vocal.
M&S trainers are very comfortable and hard wearing and have no logos on them anywhere (once you take the stickers off). I've had a pair for 5 years and they've only just fallen apart. And I wear them a lot.
I agree with an earlier statement, the spectacle of this project, with it's book and fire, is more about money for the Boorman Brand, and an introspective malaise, rather than an attempt to do something truly useful. Prove me wrong, and don't burn your accumulated crap.
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this blog has been frozen by google for some reason.
but my new site is up and running at bonfireofthebrands.com
my advice to anyone wanting to start a blog... use wordpress or anybody other than blogger.
Hi Neil
I'd like to write an article about your brand burning event for Spiked Magazine.
Are you available for interview over the next week or so?
Paul Fitzpatrick
dalstonair@hotmail.co.uk
07899 903783
What is a non-branded Mac? A Mac minus the apple? Why not try Linux or something.
I'm no activist, and I appreciate your general point, but with the public burning, book publishing info, press junket, you're becoming your own little brand. How original.
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