Marketing and Fascism as One
Sometimes I wonder if they're not really out to get us. I mean, more so than is patently obvious by just watching the news and seeing what's going on around us. I'd written up a long entry before, and then MT did something it hasn't done in a really, really long time: it sent my entry into the void. Normally, when I'm ranting I'd probably just let it go and say heck with it. But this one is particularly important, so I'm going to write the entry again. See if the bastards can keep me down!
I'm just outraged at FIFA, at Budweiser, and most of all, at our world... a world that allows PEOPLE'S PANTS TO BE CONFISCATED IN THE NAME OF THE CORPORATE GOOD. Here is a BBC article about what I'm talking about. The gist of it is that FIFA forced about a thousand Dutch fans to strip to their underwear because they were wearing pants given to them by a brewery other than Budweiser. They claimed that they needed to protect their sponsor's interests.
Look, I'm all for marketing. Advertising works, I know. It's a necessary evil of our corporatocracy, and for the most part, I've made peace with the corporations' addiction to bombarding everyone's lives with their slather.
But there should be no place, no time, no excuse, no circumstance under which a corporation, or anybody, should feel it is their right to censor. Not to mention to force people to strip. This is fascism. And this is what we've allowed our world to become. In my previous entry I mentioned that it is through our complacency that we have allowed things like this to happen, and if this doesn't open up your eyes to what you are allowing these corporations to do, I don't know what will.
Just to be sure I'm clear: I am not against marketing. I am not really even against corporations and their need to advertise. What I am speaking out against is allowing those corporate interests to trump individual freedom. In my world, corporations would pay to sponsor an event like the World Cup, with the understanding that they get billboards, product placement, space along the sideline, logos in public places, etc... What they would not be getting is a fascist police state that makes sure that everyone entering the arena is wearing only their brand. The line must be drawn here!!!!!
The problem is that we live in a world where a corporation like Budweiser can expect to have this right... that somehow, just because they paid a bunch of money, they can now tell regular people what they can and can't wear into a stadium. If they are so afraid of someone else's logo making it onto my TV screen, they have a few choices: they can give away pants too, and maybe people will choose to wear their pants instead of the other brewery. But if they don't, too bad. They can try to get the TV broadcasts censored post-production. I'd like to see that... in the future, any shots of the stands will just be blurred out. Hahhaa. Whatever. I laugh but I could see it happening in this fucked up world of ours.
What this comes down to the rights of people vs. corporations. Individuals should always have more rights than corporations, but this is not how our world works. Corporations can do things that people can't... like force them to strip... because we've allowed them to through our tacit support. Stop buying Budweiser... it's crappy beer anyway. This may be a little thing, but it's not. Tell these evil people that you're not going to tolerate having to strip for them. Tell them that they are fascists, because that is exactly what they are. And tell them that you're not going to support them with your dollars anymore.
Corporations understand only one language: money. It is through our money that we can force these seemingly impregnable giants to behave. So next time you watch a World Cup game, crack open a Bavaria instead. And keep on keeping on with the Bud boycott, not to mention the McDonald's boycott.