The Rebel Sell

Here's a necessary corrective to Naomi Klein's neo-puritan line on logos and brands, from two Canadian writers. The Rebel Yell makes the obvious point that even an awareness of corporate shenanigans can, itself, be a great brand - witness Micheal Moore, and Adbusters' own new 'blackspot' sneakers, which gives the writers their cue. From the review in the Toronto Post:

culture jamming (a largely Gen X activity of critiquing corporate culture with its own symbols) is philosophically no different than what the boomer generation professed when turning on, tuning in and dropping out. That's okay. GenXers can console themselves with hope they won't sell out like the hippies-turned-yuppies.

Except for Heath and Potter's next point — that the largely maligned hippies never sold out. In fact, their philosophy of hedonism and experiential wisdom always fit quite well into the capitalist marketplace. Finally, the authors argue that counterculture, the undercurrent of thought that unites the '60s radicals and the culture jammers, is, at best, a nice way to sell new products. At its worst, it represents a way of thinking that over the past 40 years has consistently exacerbated existing social and environmental problems and produced worse conditions.

There's a great supporting site on the book, with a fulsome author Q&A.