Multi national companies all over the world continue to exploit us as consumers. By disguising the multinational aspect of their company to make it appeal to a local crowd. Hiding the truth of possible cultural and ethical exploitation that is behind the bigger picture.
Anti branding is a movement around the globe that works against brands to spread the disapproval and dissatisfaction of their actions. In hope that it will show us consumers the truth behind their big cheery corporate smiles , in anticipation that we will step up and realise what they are doing and stop consuming their products.
But the questions is , it the big multinational companies that are the problem or is it us? We still buy their products and consume them even though a child might have died in the making of that PS2 , or that those cigarettes that you buy might be being promoted to 10 year olds in developing countries with no money and stability, but we buy them anyway. We all have different relationships with brands and choose to trust them. It is our job as Graphic Designers to realise brands aren't all good. Neither are Anti-brands.
The answer is that we need to address our culture. Anything we do has a reaction somewhere in the world. Lets use our power of influence to change this!
An example of famous Anti branding
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This image is a literal representation of the scandal in which Coca Cola took water greedily from poor villages who needed it to survive. It was created by an Anti-Brand activist called Carlos Latuff in 2009. It is of a business man from Coca Cola drinking with a straw out of a well in which an obviously poor woman with nothing on her feet has walked to collect water. Her face is horrified as the man who may provide work for her community, makes a mockery out of her by drinking out of the well with his giant straw, probably taking all the water. All she needs to do is fill up her small vase. I think the perspective of this image is important as the Coca Cola man is much bigger than the women and looking down at her as if he is more superior, taking the water for granted.
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My Anti-Brand logo:
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The role of an anti-brand campaigner is to visualise the scandal and its effects on the world, in such a way that its shared with a wider community more quickly than any text based story. My anti brand logo uses a shock factor to get the viewers attention and make them think about the deeper issues in fast food chains like Mcdonalds. It is based around the massive amounts of food waste created by mcdonalds , and how they are doing nothing about it when they could be feeding thousands of people with the food they waste. The slogan "I'm lovin' it" is meant to be an ironic statement, showing that people in the third world and not receiving the same enjoyment from Mcdonalds, than the people in the first world.
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