When brands were marks on cows, they were useful.  And still are, in terms of marking a product within a category in such a way that you or I can have confidence in what we are buying.  Tools for trust.

But when branding becomes an exercise in getting more money for the same amount of work and material, based on marketing and advertising of image, it becomes a drag upon the economy. The real economy that we all forget about.  Not the one that is in the press lately, the one that is in “crisis”, but the one that is defined as “the system for the efficient allocation of resources”.

Branding now largely exists as a way to get more money from people than they would otherwise spend for the equivalent product.  How can this be good for the world?