Fuck Brands
They do not give a shit about you or Prince.
Remember: Corporations are comprised of honest and good people, but it is, at the end of the day, a business. Pick any business and understand the fact that it chooses it’s moves carefully. It will only do something as long as it believes that something will benefit it— it wants to relate to you, it’s goal is for you to think of it.
Prince died recently. I’ve heard he was a very talented musician. I never listened to him much, but I’m sad that people lost someone they thought of as an icon. Death is always sad.
I hopped on Twitter to see what people were saying. They were saying mostly the se thing…
“Wow, I can’t believe it … the world has lost a legend … #RIP …”
I was happy to see that. Seeing that gives me hope for things. Seeing that collective wave of empathy from millions of regular people was beautiful— then I scrolled down a little further…
That’s a little weird and unecessary, don’t you agree? So, why are they doing this? Because they want you to think of them.
That’s a fucking branded condolence— which has to be the most disingenuous thing ever.
When you think of Prince, what comes to mind? Probably your favorite song of his, that one time you saw him in concert — something personal and unique to you. I can tell you what you don’t think of: brands.
You do not think of Cheerios, Four Loco or Hamburger Helper. Not once. But you did when you saw that tweet. What they are doing is not outrageous; they can do whatever they want. But it does come off as very fake and suspect.
Don’t misunderstand. All I’m saying is that their branded respects are fucking stupid. This is like that one person on Facebook who always complains about their problems — they, like these brands want the attention. This is simply free advertising.
If you defend these brands, you are wrong. These brands are irrelevant businesses trying to pry their way into the conversation.
