If you'd have told me five years ago that the last branded thing I would buy (for a long time at least) was the Adastra 952 Megaphone, I would have laughed. But here it is… my aspiarions to Arthur Scargill chic finally realised with a loudhailer for my speech on Sunday.
If anyone has any good lines from famous speeches (Churchill/ Gandhi/ Chuckle Brothers) do please post some here, as I never took a course in motivational speaking. I'm told that finger wagging, shouting and fist shaking works well.
Hopefully see you at Finsbury Square, 7pm Sunday.
22 Comments:
Winston Chuchill: 'If you're going through hell - keep going'
I also recall how Fidel Castro responded to the Manic Street Preachers when they played in Cuba.
'The concert is going to be loud tonight,' James Dean Bradfield said. 'Yes,' Castro replied. 'But not as loud as war'.'
Good luck tomorrow.
KB
Maybe kissing a baby or two will also go down well!
Maybe kissing a baby or two will also go down well!
liberation to some extent. seeking a rebirth or just shedding some layers. I have been going through this same thing as of late but haven't gotten enough balls to light it all up. some of the sheep are just so far gone they can't understand what it has and will continue to do to them. Either way i applaud your efforts. Regardless if you burn them it is all about letting it go and not contributing to it any longer and that is a good place to start. Righteousness. Free up yourself. respect. j.over
*Pace Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias*
To all the "brands" I've loved before
Who travelled in and out my door
I'm glad they came along
I dedicate this song
To all the "brands" I've loved before.
Try singing this (with delicate falsetto), it captures the spirit of the occasion nicely, I think.
Neil,
This sounds ridiculously obvious - but have you considered exactly how you are going to burn the stuff?
If you pile a bunch of clothes up, douse them in petrol and set fire to them, only the top ones will burn; the air can't get to the ones underneath.
Also, the petrol will probably burn off before anything substantial catches light. May I suggest adding some firewood?
Anyway, best of luck. I look forward to seeing the pictures (perhaps even on the news: "Writer thrown on fire by angry charity activists"?!)
You are nothing but an attention demanding flake! Try doing something serious with your life, instead of your desperate attempt at fame!
Please don't burn them - give them away to a charity shop - please I implore you not to merely burn it all - I think your doing a great thing but do not comprehend the need to destroy it this way.
I just wanted to comment because this entire site and what you're doing is extremely close to me. I wrote my master's thesis on people's interactions with fashion brands; what they mean, what they say, how they're used and interpreted. It's something I've never understood personally and something which has plagued me my entire life. I'm extremely fashion-forward but I refuse to wear anything overtly branded. Similarly, I've never understood the entirety of buying something simply because someone else has it or some brand name is on the tag. As a semi-crunchy neo-hippie (given my educational background, I'm practically a socialist by default) there is a part of me that wants you to donate everything. But the symbolism of what you're doing, the big giant "f*ck you" you're giving to brands everywhere means a lot to me. I know you've gotten a lot of crap from people about this whole extravaganza. But let me just say that if I were living back in London and not in NY (a girl can dream...), I would be helping you light the fire!
Thanks for doing this. It gives me hope!
I just wanted to comment (something I never do) because this entire site and what you're doing is extremely close to me. I wrote my master's thesis on people's interactions with fashion brands; what they mean, what they say, how they're used and interpreted. It's something I've never understood personally and something which has plagued me my entire life. I'm extremely fashion/style conscious but I refuse to wear/buy anything overtly branded. Similarly, I've never understood the entirety of buying something simply because someone else has it or some brand name is on the tag. As a semi-crunchy neo-hippie (given my educational background, I'm practically a socialist by default) there is a part of me that wants you to donate everything. But the symbolism of what you're doing, the big giant "f*ck you" you're giving to brands everywhere means a lot to me. I know you've gotten a lot of crap from people about this whole extravaganza. But let me just say that if I were living back in London and not in NY (a girl can dream...), I would be helping you light the fire!
Thanks for doing this. It gives me hope!
I just wanted to comment (something I never do) because this entire site and what you're doing is extremely close to me. I wrote my master's thesis on people's interactions with fashion brands; what they mean, what they say, how they're used and interpreted. It's something I've never understood personally and something which has plagued me my entire life. I'm extremely style conscious but I refuse to wear/buy anything overtly branded. Similarly, I've never understood the entirety of buying something simply because someone else has it or a particular brand name is on the tag. As a semi-crunchy, disproportionately-well-dressed neo-hippie, there is a part of me that wants you to donate everything. But the symbolism of what you're doing, the big giant "f*ck you" you're giving to brands everywhere, means a lot to me. I know you've gotten a lot of crap from people about this whole extravaganza. But let me just say that if I were living back in London and not in NY (a girl can dream...), I would be helping you light the fire!
Thanks for doing this. It gives me hope!
how about the last words of sydney carton in tale of two cities....
'it is a far,far better thing that i do,than i have ever done,
it is a far far better rest that i go to than i have ever known"!
kind of fitting only his sacrfice was having his head chopped off..but im sure there are some parallels somewere?!
good luck for tomorrow i'll been in the front with my knitting!!
Just one question.
How are we going to be able to see how you cope with a zero brand lifestyle?
Are you going to allow yourself the one brand of Internet Explorer or Firefox to keep blogging?
Really like the idea behind what you are doing - just hope it doesn't kill you.
Have you read No Logo? Why not make some scant recompense for the damage you have helped cause to this planet through your lifelong addiction to brands by donating your unwanted possessions to charity rather than burning them?
You are totally, irredeemably out of order.
-Phil Bitis, London
The really awful thing is that there are millions of other sad, shallow buggers like you out there. Hope this shows courage, rather than just a talent for self-promotion.
Hi Neil,
I am anticipating the burning with an unusual amount ot awe. Perhaps its the expectation of a crowd reaction, possible as passionate as the reaction in cyberspace! I commend you on your journey into the unbranded future, and am interested in how long you will be able to survive...in a world where even the unbranded becomes an unbranded brand!
A little quote which I feel may be of some interest...
"The first stage of the economy's domination of social life brought about an evident degradation of being into having - human fulfilment was no longer equated with what one was, but with what one possessed..." (Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord)
Good luck in becoming 'what one is'!
Hi Neil
A little quote that may be of interest...
"The first stage of the economy's domination of social life brought about an evident degradation of being into having - human fulfilment was no longer equated with what one was, but with what one possessed..."
Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle.
May i wish you every success in becoming 'what one is'... no mean feat when even the unbranded has, in some instances, become branded unbranded!
Looking forward to it tonight and I'm trying to plan my outfit so as not to include any brands of note lest I get caught up in the moment and want to contribute an item of clothing to the fire and then find myself in an ackward situation.
I really think it's brave what you're doing and intend to blog about it!!
Yo Neil
That was very entertaining!
I have put up a non-edited video up on You Tube so if anyone wants to see what happened (via some very shakey camerawork) then please go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I55DZXmIntw
Daniel
you, sir, are a twat
what a selfish idiot. You should have given it to charity. You are an environmentally and socially reckless fool.
brands 1.0.1 - could this help?
brands are trust marks.
brands help people associate values and provenance and care, or the complete polar opposites to these things, to the stuff they find and look to choose from around them.
brands help people understand that one thing is produced by people trying to do a good thing v. people trying to con you and destroy the world.
brands are codes for conduct of the people who make stuff.
therefore brands help people.
an unbranded thing can have come from anywhere, it could have been made recklessly, selfishly, dangerously.
should david and claire hiatt give up their howies brand? should we expect consumers to buy stuff on price or are you expecting them to glean whether one pair of jeans is better to buy than another based on what? . . . the documents it comes with? the info on the tag? ps the story then becomes the brand -'the one that says its not made with bleaches is the one to buy' becomes the 'no bleach' brand.
people want and need signs of differentiation because with difference comes variety of experience which allows choice to be informed.
complete rejection of brands is a nonsense.
if something comes to you from adbusters what do you think?
do you rate it? why? its from adbusters, that's why, that's if your collective understanding of that brand suggests you should rate according to your tastes.
brands convey value because they connote expertise and probable performance.
ask unicef, oxfam, greenpeace, oh yes and adbusters.
if this truth is evident here it is universally true across all products and services.
if fashion brands are a problem to you then maybe what's annoying you, and lighting the fire, is your anger derived from your judgement of the value they have to others.
are you that arrogant to say that the ralph lauren shirt isn't worth 65 quid? yes you are paying for the logo, but if the logo is there legally, you are paying a t-shirt with a symbol of meaning attached. if you value that meaning and the t-shirt to the value of 65 quid, you buy, if not you don't. Why don't you want to let people decide, I wonder?
you are a brand.
understand the language, you are fanning the flames of ignorance.
ps hope the book/film/lecture tour/consultancy career/limited edition magazine/installation piece does well.
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