Corporate Vulnerability: Alternatives Journal interviews Naomi Klein

NK: It is. Shopping today is all about product fetishization. Palatial, temple-like superstores are built where we can bow to these running shoes, and it's rather absurd. That's why I think Seattle was really inspiring, because when you think about the images that Seattle left us with - the smashed faades of these branding temples, you had the police protecting Starbucks and French farmers handing out Roquefort cheese in front of McDonald's - it's all about deconstructing the fetish of the shiny faades of these brands. And that does affect consumption, because the reason we consume is because we're in the thrall of these brands. Even I get seduced. There's so much beauty and creativity being poured into the fetishization of these products. This de-fetishization is the best counter to that. A lot of activists, particularly young activists, are increasingly angered by this sense that any form of rebellion can be co-opted and turned into a marketing pitch. And when even that reaction is then marketed, you feel even more claustrophobic. I know I do. I'm enraged when I get phone calls from marketers saying they want to start a line of No Logo clothing, or something like that. But that's the only thing they know how to do. Everything they've learned in school, has told them that there's nothing that can't be bought and sold. Any idea is just a pose, a style, there's no conviction. They don't know how to deal with genuine conviction. That's the way capitalism works. And that's why the only way that these issues are going to be dealt with is through across-the-board regulatory responses. So I don't think there's the slightest, most remote chance that these companies will scale back from branding, even though they know it's getting completely out of control and inspiring backlash.