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Company Logos & Mind Control Stories

Mind control stories. Just the phrase has a sort of ominous sound to it, doesn’t it? But unless we live alone on a remote island or mountain, we’re all subject to control, or at least influence, of our mind in some ways. Plato noticed this 2400 years ago when he compared us to prisoners chained in a cave, who saw only what was reflected on the cave wall in front of them. When one intrepid soul escaped into the sunlight and returned to report on the freedom available to all, he was scorned by the other prisoners who refused to see past their conditioning.

Comedians like George Carlin and Gallagher are funny precisely because they can see the absurdities that surround us. Browsing through eBay recently, the foolishness of paying extra money to have company logos on our belongings struck me as being particularly odd.

Mom, just had a baby? Check her out of the hospital in her very own pink sleeper and cap set with an eBay logo on it, while Dad drags his insurance card out of his $20 PayPal debit card holder (made of 100% genuine smooth grain leather).

To celebrate the birth of your new daughter, get your Ralph Lauren Polo shirt for only $75 – you can add your own monogram, but you still get the little polo rider - and for a mere $128, you, too, have the privilege of advertising Guess jeans . You can even have Calvin Klein’s name on yourundies, at $28.50 each. Dad can tell what time it is with his Tommy Hilfiger watch and when checking out of the hospital, don’t forget your $298 Land’s End luggage

What brilliant marketing this is: we pay to advertise somebody else’s products for them. How amazing that consumers buy into this. Why do people pay premiums for this ‘privilege’?

* Do we perceive that the status of a famous name will rub off on us and somehow make us more important?

* Are we so enslaved to fashion or style that we follow the herd because it’s safe, because a product is “in”?

* Or do we just not stop and think about what we’re doing? Are we truly like the fish who asked a fellow fish, “What is this water stuff that I hear about all the time?”

* Or some other reason entirely?

Bottom line: shouldn’t merchants pay US to advertise their products? Think about it.

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