No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies

321 Pages·2000·1.86 MB·English

by  Naomi Klein

Preface
Born in Montreal in 1970, NAOMI KLEIN is an award-winning journalist and bestselling
author. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including the Nation, New
Statesman, Newsweek International, the New York Times, Village Voice, Ms., The Baffler,
and Saturday Night. She writes a weekly column in the Globe & Mail, Canada's national
newspaper. She is a frequent media commentator and has guest lectured at Harvard,
Yale and Mew York University. Naomi Klein lives in Toronto. No Logo was shortlisted for
the Guardian First Book Award 2000.

Reviews:

'Naomi Klein brilliantly charts the protean nature of consumer capitalism, how it absorbs
radical challenges to its dominance and turns them into consumer products.'
MADELEINE BUNTING, Guardian

'The bible for anti-corporate militancy.'
Select

'This entertaining exposure of corporate culture resonates with disillusion.'
CHRISTOPHER HIRST, Independent

'Personable and well-informed, prescient, necessary and ultimately optimistic, No Logo
paints a vivid picture of spirited, creative rebellion.'
WILLIAM GEORGIADES, Literary Review

'Naomi Klein catches the anticapitalist mood so well it seems unbelievable that No Logo
was written before the "Battle of Seattle". She expresses brilliantly the rage that so many
people feel about what is going on in the world, giving us ammunition against the bosses
and governments.' JUDITH ORR, Socialist Review

'Zipping between corporations, countries and human rights violations with all the self-
assured effortlessness of a multinational transferring capital between currencies, Naomi
Klein's convincing analysis of the rise of the superbrand -Starbucks, Nike, Ikea, Gap,
Blockbuster et al -reveals a world where labels are hungry for every inch of space.'
The Face

'A touchstone of sanity' 'A brilliant book'
Red Pepper PETER YORK, The Times

Packed with facts and arguments and gratifyingly cross with not just corporate culture,
but our own eagerness to buy into it, No Logo couldn't have been better timed.'
Independent on Sunday
'No Logo should be read by anyone who thinks that the Seattle demonstrations were an
aberration.' Economist

'Athletic, expansive and an antidote to sloppy thinking . . . It's impossible not to notice
the prescience of her argument.'
AUSTIN BUNN, Sunday Herald

'A brilliant account of how Nike, Starbucks, McDonalds etc. branded the industrialised
world, and how the most exciting strand of radical politics is now bound up with resisting
their kulturkampf. . . Fantastic and inspiring.' Select

'Unerring and serious . . . This is a juicy, salty book.'
FERDINAND MOUNT, TLS

'No Logo is a comprehensive account of the potential monster that the global economy
has created and the actions to thwart it. So brands watch out, there is a loud and strong
message here!'
ANN PARKER, Marketing

'A passionate, well-written and thoroughly researched book.'
JIM DUNNE, Sunday Business

'No Logo is a siren going off.'
Overload

'Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight,
along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful fighters already out
there. No Logo is an invigorating call to arms for everybody who wants to save money,
justice, or the universe.' GLORIA STEINEM

'What corporations fear most are consumers who ask questions. Naomi Klein offers us the
arguments with which to take on the superbrands.'
BILLY BRAGG

'Essential millennial reading.' RICHARD BENSON, Limb by Limb

American and Canadian reviews:
'Klein is a gifted writer; her paragraphs can be as seductive as the ad campaigns she
dissects.' New York Times Book Review

'Naomi Klein's trenchant book is the perfect introduction to and explanation of those
stunning events [in Seattle] . . . this book is the very essence of cool.' Globe & Mail

To understand how branding drives the global market, you couldn't ask for a better guide
than Naomi Klein.' Toronto Star
'A dense, fact-filled publication that makes plain the jargon spouted by all who put profit
before basic human needs. . . with its far reaching vision and clear presentation. A well-
conceived primer on the machinations of the modern consumer world, No Logo is
required reading for anyone who thinks people should not be treated like machines.'
Eye Weekly

'Nothing short of a complete, user-friendly handbook on the negative effects that '90s
uberbrand marketing has had on culture, work, and consumer choice ... an encyclopaedic
compilation of the decade's fringe and mainstream anti-corporate actions and mind-sets.'
Village Voice

'A powerful and passionate book.'
National Post

'An incredibly important, timely read and a powerful call to arms.'
Calgary Straight

'No Logo finally puts in perspective what the newest generation of fed-up consumers and
anti-corporate activists have been trying to verbalize for the past 10 years.' Ottawa
Express

'Generation-X intellectual Naomi Klein could become the next Douglas Coupland with
her No Logo. She anticipates a revolt against corporate power by younger people
seeking brand-free space. Even if the revolt is not in the works yet, her tart writing might
inspire one.'
Report on Business

'At once an impressive journalistic analysis and an impassioned rallying cry.' New
Brunswick Telegraph
You might not see things yet on the surface, but underground, it's already on fire.

-Indonesian writer Y.B. Mangunwijaya, July 16, 1998
NO SPACE
NO CHOICE
NO JOBS
NO LOGO

NAOMI KLEIN
For Avi

First published in Great Britain by Flamingo 2000
Copyright ® Naomi Klein 2000
Naomi Klein asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
ISBN 0 00 653040 0
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The four-year process of taking No Logo from an idea to a finished book has been
exhilarating. It has not, however, been painless and I have relied heavily on the support,
understanding and expertise of those around me.

It has been my great honour to have as my editor Louise Dennys, whose intellectual rigor
and personal commitment to freedom of expression and human rights have sharpened
the arguments in this book and smoothed my rough edges as a writer. She transformed
this book in magical ways.

My research assistant, Paula Thiessen, has tracked down many of the most obscure facts
and sources. For more than two years she worked tirelessly collecting the statistics that
make up this book's many original charts, extracting facts from cagey retail chains and
cajoling government agencies around the world to send unpublished reports. She also
conducted the book's photo research and has been a calming influence and supportive
colleague during what is often lonely work.

My agents at the Westwood Creative Artists, Bruce Westwood and Jennifer Barclay, took
on what many would have seen as a risky project, with boundless enthusiasm and
determination. They searched the international book world for kindred spirits who would
not just publish No Logo, but would champion it: Reagan Arthur and Philip Gwyn Jones.

The exceptional team at Knopf Canada has been warm-hearted and cool-headed no
matter what the crisis. I am grateful to Michael Mouland, Nikki Barrett, Noelle Zitzer and
Susan Burns, as well as to the talented and dedicated team of editors who have
strengthened, polished, trimmed and checked this text: Doris Cowan, Alison Reid and
Deborah Viets.

I am deeply indebted to John Honderich, publisher of The Toronto Star, who gave me a
regular column in his newspaper when I was far too young; a space that for almost five
years allowed me to develop both the ideas and the contacts that form the foundation of
this book. My editors at The Star-Carol Goar, Haroon Siddiqui and Mark Richardson-have
been enormously supportive through leaves of absence and even wished me well when I
left the column to focus my full attention on this project. The writing for No Logo began
in earnest as a piece for The Village Voice on culture jamming and I am indebted to Miles
Seligman for his editorial insights. My editor at Saturday Night, Paul Tough, has
supported me with extended deadlines, research leads, and No Logo-themed
assignments, including a trip to the Roots Lodge, which helped deepen my
understanding of the Utopian aspirations of branding.

I received valuable research assistance from Idella Sturino, Stefan Philipa and Maya Roy.
Mark Johnston hooked me up in London, Bern Jugunos did the same in Manila and Jeff
Ballinger did it in Jakarta. Hundreds of individuals and organizations also cooperated with
the research, but a few individuals went far out of their way to ply me with stats and facts:
Andrew Jackson, Janice Newson, Carly Stasko, Leah Rumack, Mark Hosier, Dan Mills,
Bob Jeffcott, Lynda Yanz, Trim Bissell, Laird Brown, and most of all, Gerard Greenfield.
Unsolicited juicy tidbits arrived by post and E-mail from Doug Saunders, Jesse Hirsh,
Joey Slinger, Paul Webster and countless other electronic angels. The Toronto Reference
Library, the International Labour Organization, the Corporate Watch Web site, the
Maquila Solidarity Network, The Baffler, SchNEWS, Adbusters and the Tao Collective list
serves were all invaluable to my research.

I am also grateful to Leo Panitch and Mel Watkins for inviting me to speak at conferences
that helped me to workshop the thesis early on, and to my colleagues on the This
Magazine editorial board for their generosity and encouragement.

Several friends and family members have read the manuscript and offered advice and
input: Michele Landsberg, Stephen Lewis, Kyo Maclear, Cathie James, as well as Bonnie,
Michael, Anne and Seth Klein. Mark Kingwell has been a dear friend and intellectual
mentor. Sara Borins was my first and most enthusiastic reader - of both the proposal and
the first draft —and it was the ever-fabulous Sara who insisted that No Logo must have a
design that matched the spirit of its content. Nancy Friedland, John Montesano, Anne
Baines and Rachel Giese stood by me when I was nowhere to be found. My late
grandfather, Philip Klein, who worked as an animator for Walt Disney, taught me a
valuable lesson early in life: always look for the dirt behind the shine.

My greatest debt is to my husband, Avi Lewis, who for years greeted me every morning
with a cup of coffee and a stack of clippings from the business section. Avi has been a
partner in this project in every possible way: he stayed up late into the night helping to
evolve the ideas in this book; accompanied me on numerous research escapades, from
suburban monster malls to Indonesia's export factory zones; and edited the manuscript
with centurion attention at multiple stages. For the sake of No Logo he allowed our lives
to be totally branded by this book, giving me the great freedom and luxury to be fully
consumed.
CONTENTS
Preface .................................................................................................................................. 2
Reviews: ............................................................................................................................ 2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................ 8
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 12
A WEB OF BRANDS .................................................................................................... 12
NO SPACE .......................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 20
NEW BRANDED WORLD ............................................................................................ 20
CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................. 36
THE BRAND EXPANDS ............................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................... 60
ALT.EVERYTHING ....................................................................................................... 60
CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................ 77
THE BRANDING OF LEARNING ................................................................................. 77
CHAPTER FIVE .............................................................................................................. 91
PATRIARCHY GETS FUNKY ........................................................................................ 91
NO CHOICE ..................................................................................................................... 104
CHAPTER SIX .............................................................................................................. 104
BRAND BOMBING .................................................................................................... 104
CHAPTER SEVEN ........................................................................................................ 114
MERGERS AND SYNERGY ........................................................................................ 114
CHAPTER EIGHT ......................................................................................................... 130
CORPORATE CENSORSHIP ...................................................................................... 130
NO JOBS .......................................................................................................................... 148
CHAPTER NINE .......................................................................................................... 149
THE DISCARDED FACTORY ..................................................................................... 149
CHAPTER TEN ............................................................................................................ 173
THREATS AND TEMPS .............................................................................................. 173
CHAPTER ELEVEN ...................................................................................................... 192
BREEDING DISLOYALTY ........................................................................................... 192
NO LOGO ........................................................................................................................ 204
CHAPTER TWELVE ..................................................................................................... 204
CULTURE JAMMING ................................................................................................. 204
CHAPTER THIRTEEN .................................................................................................. 225
RECLAIM THE STREETS ............................................................................................ 225
CHAPTER FOURTEEN ................................................................................................ 234
BAD MOOD RISING .................................................................................................. 234
CHAPTER FIFTEEN ..................................................................................................... 248
THE BRAND BOOMERANG ..................................................................................... 248
CHAPTER SIXTEEN ..................................................................................................... 261
A TALE OF THREE LOGOS ....................................................................................... 261
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ............................................................................................... 284
LOCAL FOREIGN POLICY ......................................................................................... 284
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ................................................................................................. 300
BEYOND THE BRAND .............................................................................................. 300