Can Consumers Escape the Market?

Today in class we discussed the article "Can Consumers Escape the Market?" which we were suppose to have read.  I read all of it but the last couple paragraphs in the discussion section at the end.  I did not care much for the article and found it very hard to interpret the overall and basic ideas because the things that stuck out to me were the description of the people who attended Burning Man.  The ideas that I picked up on were that the attendees wanted to separate themselves from the brands they usually wear/are visible during their day to day life.  The week long festival is a time for them to forget about fitting in based on their "brand" and connect on a more personal level.  The concept is good, however, I feel like 'they' (attendees)  put so much focus on masking out brands that they are really paying more attention to them.  Taping off the brand of camper, tent, sleeping bag etc. seems a little excessive.  I feel like with the nudity and all the "free" entertainment, the last thing participants would be paying attention to were brands.

It is exhausting just trying to think about "de-branding" everything.  The article even says that brands can be found in tribes in the Amazon which have the least contact with "the outside world" and are living much like their ancestors have for the past thousands of years.  I agree with Muniz and O'Guinn in the article who "urge us to believe that communities built upon an explicitly commercial basis, brands, are legitimate communities 'and generally a good thing'" (pg. 22).  Communities can be based on so many factors and many of us belong to several different communities at one time and join many more throughout our life.  To make a big deal out of "de-branding" seems kinda silly and a waste of time to me, however, I would enjoy the Burning Man experience.

Black Friday

I spent Thanksgiving this year with my boyfriend John and his family in Great Falls, MT this year.  This was my first Thanksgiving without my family, which didn't bother me, but it was also my first Thanksgiving in a town with a population greater than 7,000.  In Lewistown, Black Friday exists however, the majority of the serious shoppers travel to either Billings or Great Falls for the deals. 

We had a Thanksgiving lunch at his mom's house at one, and dinner at his dad's house (which is on the other side of town) at four.  We were stuffed to the brim with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie and left to head back to his mom's house around seven.  If you have ever been to Great Falls, I'm sure you have been down 10th Ave, which has the Holiday Village Mall, Target, JoAnn's and other shopping venues.  At seven o'clock on Thursday, there were already large lines of people at Herberger's and Target!  It blew my mind.  I knew people waited in lines to get into places but I had never seen it for myself and certainly wasn't expecting them to be lined up so early!  A very teeny tiny part of me wanted to experiece the Black Friday shopping rush.  I decided to save myself the stress and anxiety and passed on the opportunity.  I did decide to go shopping Friday afternoon once the rush was over.  While the mall was crowded I was actually surprised by how few people were shopping.  I'm assuming that the serious ones were done by then and at home sleeping and the shoppers that were at the mall when I was there were there for the same reasons I was; to see if there was anything on sale that I didn't really need but couldn't pass up.  I did end up getting a dress and a blouse for a meer $30 so I was pleasantly pleased with my shopping trip. 

Someday I will brave the chaos and join a team to dominate the Black Friday shopping endeavor but until that day comes I will continue to observe and read about everything that happens in the paper.