Thursday 16 December 2010

Wednesday 8 December 2010

The Brand Brain

Last few days, I met up with a few old friends to catch up on old times and what's new with them. One of them was in town for a holiday and also to do some shopping. We met up at a shopping centre and by the time I got there, my friends were already in the fitting room of a branded boutique trying out some clothes. Fortunately (or Un) I managed to resist the urge to try out and more importantly buy new clothes.

Then we walked into a branded bag boutique and as we were browsing through some bags, I met a relative from my home town who happened to know one of my friends too. After all the pleasantries, they talked about the bags in the boutique and their plans to buy one through a mutual friend / relative who is staying in the USA. In my mind, I feel thankful that I am not staying in my hometown where almost everyone I know are brand conscious and would go to great lengths (even borrow money) to have 'the branded' bag or clothes or shoes and what not.. Don't get me wrong.. I'm not against Brand Consciousness or the like..

Personally I just can't appreciate the fact that I have to spend thousands to get 1 branded bag where as with the same amount of money I can donate to the orpahanage and a lot of kids can benefit from it in terms of food, clothing, education and other basic necessities as compared to only me alone who is 'enjoying' the bag. The other thing is that once you get into the brand brain, unconsciously you'll be dragged into a 'race' to see who has the latest or limited editions or most expensive or rarest and the list goes on.. and the race will never stop.. and that is fodder for the capitalists..or economic stimulus.. Whichever way it is, I ask myself is it the brand or the brain that is more important?

16 Ways to Kick Bad Habits

16 Ways to Kick Bad Habits