We Are Walking Bill Boards For Corruption

We, as average everyday citizens of our towns, cities, states, provinces, countries and well, the World are guilty of aiding and abetting TPTB on a daily basis and we don’t even think twice about it. Probably because the way in which we’re guilty of it, many don’t even realize it is happening or how it happens.

So I will attempt to explain the above statement.

As I look around me on any given day I notice that we are bombarded with ads, slogans and logos in a myriad of forms from bill boards, magazines, newspapers, signs, decals, blimps, commercials, product placements in tv shows, movies etc. So much in fact that we have become numb to it and accept it all as part of our surroundings, part of the scenery if you will.

So how are we contributing and actually helping the Elite gain their foot holds? Simple...We ourselves are their greatest form of advertising and PR. And we actually pay them to allow us to promote them.

We are walking bill boards for corruption and greed and we even do it with pride. From Nike to Adidas, Calvin Klein to Fruit of the Loom, Ford to Wal-Mart and beyond.

So many of these companies have chosen to do business in lesser developed nations where they enjoy tax havens we complain about, cheap labor (many times these are children) when we are jobless and horrid work conditions with no one to answer to. And these are the companies we are supporting and even advertising for?

It absolutely amazes me how we can see the reports of child labor, how we can see that these companies pollute and destroy as we pay higher taxes to clean up the mess they leave behind. Our water, rain forests, air, jobs...all being stolen out from under us...and we help them do it.
How can anyone in their right conscience support companies such as Shell, Exxon, Wells Fargo, Nike, Coca-Cola, Good Year, IBM, McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Kodak, Verizon, Microsoft, Ford, United Airlines, Sears, Monsanto, Kraft, Texaco, Pfizer, Nestle, GE, GM and so much more that to go on would only serve to bore many with another list?

We all know what they do, how they do it, what they are guilty of and yet, we buy the hats and t-shirts, the shoes and purses, the stickers, posters, ashtrays and fridge magnets. We wear the clothes with a sense of pride, put that sticker on our car to be seen and we hang the posters to show how cool we are.

So many times we ask ourselves and others what can be done about these monsters and how can we stop them from raping our planet and stealing our children’s futures. Simple...

Stop Promoting Them!

It really is as simple as not wearing that trucker hat because you collect them. What’s wrong with a simple non-branded hat instead of a SHELL logo? Why not just a plain t-shirt instead of GM or IBM plastered all over it?

Sneakers...really? We have all seen the vids of people pushing and shoving, trampling and beating each other to get the latest pair of cool kicks to come out. What’s the matter with a smaller brand that isn’t guilty of child labor? And to pay a premium price for the privilege of advertising for the monster? This is absolutely nuts.

Do you really need to be surrounded by ads, logos, banners, stickers, magnets, clothing...all on our bodies and in our houses? Our children advertising for the monsters and we are the ones wrapping them in ads?

Ok, I think I made my point so what does it accomplish? Will it shut them down? Nope. Will it hurt them if all of a sudden we started to shed ourselves of their ads? Absolutely!

When we surround ourselves with it, decorate our houses with it, take pride in wearing it, we are supporting it. Our children see it and fall for it. Now they are the ones wearing the logos. Giving free PR to a company that doesn’t even know they exist, let alone care. Walking bill boards for the monsters stealing our futures and killing us slowly.

If we continue to do it, our kids just see it as acceptable. And it’s not acceptable. In fact it is really screwed up.

Anyways, that’s my Sunday Rant. The message?

Stop being a walking bill board for the very monsters that are killing us. If you want to make at least a small statement, less is more.

Peace

That may be true for you. Please do not speak for me. I do not purchase "big label" items. I also buy used, second hand, thrift wherever possible. I agree with your sentiment though. I wish everybody would stop buying from these evil corporations.

Even when I was in my 20s, I refused to buy clothes with the brand name or store emblazoned all over them.. To me, that is free advertising, and they should be paying for it. People are stupid for buying that crap just so they can brag to their friends which stores they shop at. Big whoop, jack.

It's hard to buy shoes without some kind of branding, but I still try to get them with the minimal amount that I can. I do have brand names on clothes, but it is my choice because I use and like the companies - Taylor Guitars, Marshall Amps, House of Blues...

I'll tell you what. I promise to pull my pants up far enough so you don't have to see my Fruit of the Loom logo, dastardly evil corporation that they are. But I'm not about to rip the logo off my Chevy just to make a statement.

Every once in awhile I'll go into an Old Navy and ask them how much they'll pay me to wear one of their shirts (those monstrocities with the huge Old Navy logo). The kid behind the counter will tell me that they don't pay people to wear them, you have to buy them. I say something like "What? Are you sure? That can't be right". etc.

This thread motivated me to start making my own clothes. I mean, why stop at the labeling? Why not make your own?

This is how people did it for most of history, it can't be that hard.

I'm going to learn.

Thanks, OP.

Originally posted by ZionSmasher
This thread motivated me to start making my own clothes. I mean, why stop at the labeling? Why not make your own?

This is how people did it for most of history, it can't be that hard.

I'm going to learn.

Thanks, OP.

With any luck...your clothes will become a big hit...then other people will pay you to wear your company name....

All kiddng aside. I think it's great you want to make your own clothing. The best place to start is with a good sewing machine. You can pick up a good model used one on ebay....It's fun and saves you so much money.

Des

Originally posted by Aleister
Every once in awhile I'll go into an Old Navy and ask them how much they'll pay me to wear one of their shirts (those monstrocities with the huge Old Navy logo). The kid behind the counter will tell me that they don't pay people to wear them, you have to buy them. I say something like "What? Are you sure? That can't be right". etc.

I will never understand how we came to be paying companies for the right to advertise for them and make them even richer.

Masterful branding isn't it?

Peace

Originally posted by ZionSmasher
This thread motivated me to start making my own clothes. I mean, why stop at the labeling? Why not make your own?

This is how people did it for most of history, it can't be that hard.

I'm going to learn.

Thanks, OP.

Just don't start making mu-mu's...

Can't have that on the streets.

Any move towards taking down the branding machine is a positive one IMO. Post pics of your finished product when you have something.

Peace

it snuck up on us and now we're too tired and too jaded to notice for the most part.....or we're drinking too much flouride and gmo


do what I do - buy your clothes second hand and/or only keep enough clothes for the week and do laundry more often

but then I'm one of those rare females who hates to spend money on clothes/shoes/makeup.... I haven't had a brand new outfit in over 5 years - same with my shoes - and not likely to get anything new for another 5 years - and haven't worn makeup regularly since I was .... nope, never wore it regularly.... briefly when I was a teenager - I didn't like it.


I know what you mean though. I remember back in the day when Pepsi came in a glass bottle with a styrofoam label - first thing I did was rip the label off and tell my friends I refuse to advertise for free. So S&F for you!

Originally posted by Forevever
it snuck up on us and now we're too tired and too jaded to notice for the most part.....or we're drinking too much flouride and gmo

do what I do - buy your clothes second hand and/or only keep enough clothes for the week and do laundry more often

but then I'm one of those rare females who hates to spend money on clothes/shoes/makeup.... I haven't had a brand new outfit in over 5 years - same with my shoes - and not likely to get anything new for another 5 years - and haven't worn makeup regularly since I was .... nope, never wore it regularly.... briefly when I was a teenager - I didn't like it.


I know what you mean though. I remember back in the day when Pepsi came in a glass bottle with a styrofoam label - first thing I did was rip the label off and tell my friends I refuse to advertise for free. So S&F for you!

You seem to have a grasp on what we need and what we want. There is also what we are peer pressured into.

5 yrs without a new outfit and I'll bet you are none the worse for wear.

Applause for you!

Peace

This is just one of those things that I just don't get. I'm with everyone in this thread: you want me to advertise for you, you PAY ME, not the other way around.

I've advertised something or someone that I want to support. I've worn something blue to reflect Child Abuse Awareness. I've worn t-shirts with images designed by friends (or myself, to advertise my own t-shirt business). I've worn hats that feature the name of the company that I've worked for/with.

But I could never imagine wearing some corporate logo. Why? What would be the purpose? I feel no personal connection with Nike, and I feel no pride in wearing that stupid little swoosh design on my chest. Maybe others do? Maybe it's a social pressure thing and one needs to wear it to be popular? Maybe some celebrity wears it, and wearing the same design makes them feel a connection to the celebrity? I really couldn't say for sure.

But one thing is for certain. There are THOUSANDS of individual artists out there who make t-shirts, hats, stickers, etc that are tons more awesome than the lazy, unimaginative corporate designs we see everywhere.

When Black March came, instead of telling everyone to boycott Hollywood, I posted a new independent band on my Facebook every day. I wanted to SHOW people that there were alternatives to the mainstream. I bet I could do the same with t-shirts.