Are brands the new icons and idols of our leaderless era?

Question

Meaning, do German cars, American Cola and computers, Fashion wear, French perfumes and bags and Swiss watches (to cite only the tip of the iceberg) play placebo to compensate for the meaningless puppeteers of the 20th and 21st century? Have we started to follow hyped products to replace historical figures? Are we so desperate for a path to follow, a model to ape that we use material things to make believe that we are worth more with them than without? Do we really have to fall in such a marketed trap? Can´t we judge people on what they feel/know instead of on what they have? Don´t we have vision... ideals... anymore?

Answer 1

Yes, yes, yes - in the so-called developed world. Some also still settle for the previous hyped mass-market products of various sky-god religions. I don't think they are any better off than the material-stuff worshippers. And in the so-called Third World (as though it is somewhere else) people only have time to cling to old gods and struggle to survive - as "Westerners" do who think they need a swimming pool and SUV. But we luckier folk don't have to fall for it, and many do not. In the more opulent secular societies, I percieve an increasing "critical mass" slowly determining their own values, priorities, and world view. They're exploring Tibettan Buddhism (which is training the mind, not worshiping Gods etc); they're active in Green issues and the politics of dissent; spending time with family and friends and on what's truly important to them rather than what might impress others, satisfied with enough to meet their needs instead of created wants - and finding they're richer in every way. So there's hope, if not much while the brain-washed 'fraidy-cats knee-jerk for familiar outdated political parties and religions that tell 'em the sky will fall down if they don't. But I think the fog might be lifting as the real sky really falls down. I don't know whether we can change enough before the crash, though! Good luck.

Answer 2

Icons and products run our lives like a fine fiddle.
Marketing is so specific on who it targets it is scary.
From what you wear to what you eat and drink is constantly pried into your conscience.
I read where you see a McDonald's advertisement, TV, billboard or just paper, 118 times per day. That has a huge effect on your outlook.
The media has us watch and choose items we may never need but yet we are suppose to have.
Yes we have fallen into a ring that keeps us going around.
We have a tendency to judge others based on what we see on the TV and hear on radio.
We have ideals, they are just masked.

Answer 3

We're living in a materialistic age. I, for one, refuse to buy into it.
Everything has been trivialized by the marketplace. This race to accumulate more and more needless junk is destroying our planet and it needs to slow down. Are people's lives so empty that they can only validate themselves by what they possess?
My icons are people with great courage who dare to tell the truth even if they're persecuted for it.

My secret is to refuse to watch commercial television.