e all buy and buy and buy.

Bye and bye, we still buy.

If the axiom holds true
that the whole is made up of the
sum of its parts, then our entire
society is made up of one large
heap of material goods
purchased over the years. And it
is. A person (for better or worse)
is judged by the things they have.
The more you have—and the
more brand names on the
items—the better person you are.
For greater than 360 days every
year, people jam shopping malls
buying anything with a logo on it.
Merely to say how cool they are,
or how much money they can
waste, people spend insane
amounts of money to buy a T-
shirt with a little advertising
banner on it, rather than the same
shirt with no free advertising for
less money. Holly knows a_ girl
who was given $100 to buy a
winter coat, over and above the
$25 a week she was given for
clothes, who instead bought a pair

 

ONE

CONSUMER. AT. A TIME

of GAP jeans and a single GAP
shirt instead of a winter coat for
herself. She needed the winter
coat, but felt that
the hundred other
pairs of jeans were
not enough. And
what even boggles
the imagination
even more, are
specialty stores—
like the ones
opened by Levi's
where you can
spend upwards of
$60 on a pair of
jeans. The exact
same jeans, with the little Levi's
logo on them and everything, are
as much as $20 cheaper at a
department store. But still people
will buy from the Levi's store, just
so they can tell their friends they
did. And they have to tell them,
because you can't tell where a pair
of jeans was bought from any
other by looking at them. People
are incredibly stupid this way.

TAKING OVER THE WORLD

STATUS

MOVEMBER 27, 12938

 

Stores like GAP have cashed in
on the trend of everyone wanting
a brand name put on everything
they buy
from
clothing
to per-
fume to
you
name it.
By open-
ing
stores
where
little tags
are sewn
into the
back of shirts or pants where
nobody would see them, they can
charge nearly twice as much for
the same shirt as any other store.
Incredibly stupid.

So why do these stores get
away with it? Because people want
to fit in. They want to be accept-
ed, and the only way to

stop shopping.

Malls, an eyesore on any land-
scape, pay tribute to the minions
of stupid people. Malls in
Alberta are open until nine every
night during the week, and malls
like Metrotown are going the
same way. Malls are open 362
days a year. Closing only for
Easter, Christmas Day (but not
Eve, or Boxing Day where the
most shopping takes place) and
New Years Day (where people are
too hung over to walk anyway).
Malls know there is money to be
had from people who simply can-
not wait until the weekend to get
that pair of shoes. There is some-
thing to be said for a society that
prides itself on being a greedy,
money grubbing nation.
Unfortunately, the word is “sad.”

There is reprisal, however. For
one day out of the remaining 362
shopping days, everyone can Buy

Nothing. Adbusters magazine
(www.adbusters.org) has started a
campaign whereby for the entire
day of November 27, we (as in
you and me the other [2 coun-
tries who participate) should not
take part in any way shape or
form of consumerism. Simply
put, Buy Nothing Day. We
encourage you to cast off your
chains of market structured con-
sciousness, and go rogue for one
day. Just see what it feels like to
not spend any of that money
mommy and daddy gave you.
With this idea in mind, we
(mostly I) have put together some
spoof ads to remind you about
what advertising is all about, and
the true messages conveyed there-

in.

 

do that, apparently, ts

to buy things. Non-

QUO

 

The two greatest
entertainers of all time
have come together to
author a new Cookbook:

ENGLISH
BANGERS and
M"A*S* Hi

 

 

 

 

Dont' forget to send your Christmas packages with us.

CANADA

We've been strike free for

 

 

Page 8 November 25 1998

The Other Press