We are the Cattle of many a Corporation.

The more brands you wear, the less *you* are defined, and the more you are owned.  We’re all guilty with aligning with brands, it’s natural.  But what does it mean?

Brand:

Brand may also refer to:

• Torch, a piece of burning wood
• Livestock branding
• Human branding
• Brand (magazine)
• Brand (play), a play by Henrik Ibsen
• Brand Brewery
• Another term for trademark
• Wood branding
• Green brands
• Vehicle title branding
• The Brand, another name for the Aryan Brotherhood

Branding:

Branding may refer to:

• Livestock branding, the marking of animals to indicate ownership
• Human branding, as body modification or punishment
• Branding (BDSM), bonding of the partners and marking of a submissive
• Wood branding, permanently marking, by way of heat, wood (also: plastic, cork, leather, etc.)
• Vehicle title branding, a permanent designation indicating that a vehicle has been “written off”
• Brand, a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service
  • Brand management, the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand
  • Employer branding, the application of brand management to recruitment marketing and internal brand engagement
  • Nation branding, the application of marketing techniques for the advancement of a country
  • Personal branding, people and their careers marketed as brands
  • Co-branding, associates a single product or service with more than one brand name
  • Branding agency, a type of marketing agency which specializes in creating brands
  • Faith branding, the application of marketing techniques to religious institutions or individual

Def for Livestock branding with words changed:

a technique for marking [consumers] so as to identify the owner. Originally, [consumer] branding only referred to [large] brands … though the term is now also used to refer to other alternative techniques such as [niche] branding. Other forms of [consumer] identification include inner lip or ear tattoos, earmarking, ear tagging, and RFID tagging with a type of microchip. The semi-permanent paint markings used to identify [hipsters] are called a paint or colour brand. In the American west, branding evolved into a complex marking system still in use today.

It’s interesting, isn’t it?  Is it a coincidence these terms for modern marketing and consumer manipulation are also the same ancient terms for ownership of livestock?  Does it make you think of previous talks you and I have had (you the reader, with your eyes drifting over this text, branded in it’s own conservative font)?  It makes me think of memes, as humans as the vehicle for expressions or ideas, and that we are simply housing autonomous information while we wait for our mortal lives to shuffle the coil…. while these brands perpetuate, grow, and own…. demographics, people, communities.

The brand you wear is not much more than a company searing their identity into your skin.  As a consumer, you may be more like livestock than you know.  If any individuality existed within you, be assured you are whittling it away with every new logo you wear.  You disappear under the weight of assumption.

Being yourself takes more conscious effort than previously thought.  Once again, it’s a battle.  You cannot passively fight this war for self-actualization.  It’s you, or you’re them.

Don’t you love our Western Way? – The Clash