After walking through a day when I am tasked to notice the brands all around (and even at that, I left a few out for the sake of saving a bit of reading for others), I realize how bombarded we are with brands, everyday of our lives. It comes to mind how completely unrealistic it would be to remove brands from our world. Not that they serve any kind of real purpose, but companies want people to be aware of them which results in putting their name on everything we use.
Brands are a great example of social justice because they "show" others what their perceived status is. If an individual has a brand name product, like iPod or Northface, then it may serve to show that person is part of a higher SES family. It shows the balance, or imbalance, of people and how they are born into their financial status. One student may work two jobs just to pay for rent and school while another is given a trust fund to pay for those things. Naturally, the student working hard to pay for college probably doesn't buy too many things that aren't needed to get by, whereas the student given the money to pay for school could squander their money on brand name products.An important thing to note here, is that companies are not only selling their name, but also a way of life. For instance, Coca-Cola sells the idea of peace, love, and happiness in today's people, rather than being just a black fizzy drink. Walmart sells the prospect of being a family store, where everyone in the family can get what they are looking for in one stop. It impacts our views of self worth and identity by the products we wear. If someone is using an iPod, it shows they are "on the cutting edge of technology and hip to the new evolving world around them." People judge themselves, and others, based on the name brand products they keep around.
This notion of branding really affects the globalization of production because many companies outsource their work to other countries to save money, due to cheaper labor costs. This creates a whole new set of social justice issues. For the laborers in other countries, they are treated poorly and paid unfairly, and don't gain any of the profits they are making from the products they create. Without the workers cooperating and standing against the injustice together however, there will not be any change to come in this outsourcing market. Other laborers can even undercut their opponents, thus getting even more grossly used than their predecessors.
In conclusion, brands run our lives, whether we like to admit it or not. They determine our biases and our views of others, as well as ourselves. Wherever we look, we see brands advertising themselves, and enticing us to purchase their name (or way of life). We can't avoid the brands, so the best we can do is at least educate ourselves about their choke hold they have on us as consumers.
