Brands and consumer choice

The first big consumer-advocacy programme in the mainstream media was, IIRC, Fair Go - which has gone from strength to strength.

There are now fairly weak imitations, such as Target. Excuse me while I go ingest some formaldehyde.

So much of Consumerism (as opposed to consumption) is about brand. Which makes this article in the Herald interesting.

While advocates of branding claim that it is about what their products provide that is different from others, branding IMHO is more about perception rather than reality.

In one sense it is an attempt by producers to exploit the inherent laziness of consumers by distracting away from issues such as nutritional content. Those chewy snack bars are a prime example of something that is marketed as healthy but is probably worse for you than a couple of pieces of fruit.