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.