Why Branding Is Bad for Democracy
Here’s another thought for the day, riffing off of Wednesday’s:
We love branding. Helping companies develop identities, in fact, is one of our favorite things.
But you know us — we think too much. So it occurred to us this morning (as we pore over logo alternatives for a client) that branding just might be bad for democracy, in some ways.
How so?
Well, one of the things we try to do in branding is to create an emotional attachment to the brand. We want it to have a personality, and thus, we want people to personify the brand in their minds.
But brands aren’t people. And neither are the corporations they represent.
Corporations, by law, are chartered for the purpose of making money for their shareholders. They have the same rights under the law that people do, but that’s where the similarities to people end.
But real people — in the United States, in particular — seem to think corporations act (or should act) like they do. With humanity. Factoring in all sorts of values in their decision-making beyond the profit motive.
It just doesn’t work that way, though — because it can’t.
Here’s an example we gave in a previous post, regarding the problem of sex and violence in the media:
Hmmm….so why does the problem never seem to get better? Quite simply, it’s because a small number of publicly traded companies control most of what our children see and hear — and the business of these corporations is to make money, not shape our children’s values.
I don’t blame the media conglomerates for this. Remember, these corporations are owned by you, the public. And in a free market system, a corporation’s mandate is to maximize return to its shareholders. If you held stock in Viacom, for example, how would you react if the company hired a born-again Christian CEO who announced that he was pulling the plug on MTV’s sexy rap videos, vowing to make similar changes across other operating units? Well, you might be outraged or delighted — but either way, you’d dump the stock.
That’s just how it works, gang.
Don’t blame the corporations; it’s not their fault.
We’re the ones who’ve delegated responsibility for our social welfare to corporations. The blame, therefore, rests with us.
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