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What are readers saying about No LOGO: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies (Bestselling Backlist)?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-10 06:37:12.
(Language: English)
 
Different perspective.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-05 06:00:43.
(Language: English)
 
Good points. Way to repetitive.
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Dawson Preethi posted a review at 2009-03-12 12:37:49.
(Language: English)
this Naomi Klein's work is really an intelligent and analytic research on the faces of capitalism in modernity. i always find reality on each page of her work and i am delighted with this thesis, i treat this as a thesis that more than it means just being a thesis. i quoted many of the facts in my essays from this NO LOGO, i would so debt on Naomi shedding light on us about the hedden ajendas covered in so called brand marketing virus.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-28 02:06:09.
(Language: English)
An extremely interesting insight into the workings of modern capitalism. Might not provide a "coherent alternate framework", but in my humble opinion that does not drag the book down at all. Klein does not give you an "answer" on how to live your life in this branded world, she simply informs you of the current state of affairs, and in the process highlights the backside of the most famous brands. Actually this book also works quite well in describing the mechanisms and thoughts behind branding processes aswell, and is a good starter if you want to learn why and how brands are built in the first place. Yes, this is an ideological book, and yes, it is not perfect in any way. But I will say it is a very good read, and tasteful food for thought. Recommended.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-13 07:09:40.
(Language: English)
This book has been sitting on my To Be Read shelf for, oh, 8 years now. I bought it back in my early university days (when it first came out) but just never managed to find the time to read it. And I haven’t yet. Not the whole thing, anyway. I read one section for my book club last month, as we were all sort of out of other suggestions and kind of wanted to tick this one off our mental list. It turns out that my sympathy for all things anti-corporate, and my desire to whole-heartedly embrace activism of any sort died a couple of years back. I just didn’t care, and I’m sure that I went out for MCDonald’s wearing Nike and driving a car that I filled up with shell has shortly after I put the book down. It’s certainly not any faults within the book that caused the lack of interest. It was well-written and seemingly well researched. Naomi Klein certainly wrote a timely piece. And that’s likely the problem: it was far too timely and has now become dated.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-10 06:09:49.
(Language: English)
Paved the way for Michael Moore and other thinkers who view the world as one organism..... this particular view highlighting the dark side of globalisation. Overall a great eye opener. Helped make the term sweatshop a buzzword and permanent part of our lexicon. Made me think twice before buying Gap, Nike etc (in addition to the fact I don't dig the style of most of their range anymore anyway)
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-11 04:25:21.
(Language: English)
I really enjoyed the exposure of the "corporatocracy" but felt the time since the book's was first published impacts its relevance. Her afterword makes reference to the September 11th attacks and unintentionally segues into her more recent work, the Shock Doctrine. The basic message is very sound, and I hope more people take the time to read this sort of work with the hope of adding conscience to price and availability while shopping.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-20 04:16:18.
(Language: Swedish)
Samhällskritik som öppnar ögon. Givande läsning om bland annat rätten till det offentliga rummet.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-29 01:02:24.
(Language: English)
Passionnant pour comprendre comment les financiers et la marketing de la marque ont remplacé le marketing produits et le R
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-22 08:45:28.
(Language: English)
Although a bit daunting in scope as well as size, Klein creates a well researched and substantiated discussion on globalization and branding. She is at times guilty of demonizing companies such as Nike and I would have preferred a bit more impartiality but let's face it, these are stirring topics and her passion to create change is quite evident. As others have commented on though, Klein does not provide alternatives or solutions although I do not believe that was her goal she preferred instead to create interest in these topics and allow the public to create change.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-06 07:49:38.
(Language: English)
Fantastic.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-06 07:14:49.
(Language: English)
Not normally the kind of book I read but it's so insightful and interesting that I can't recommend it highly enough It shows the grimy side of globalisation, the young girls who work for a pittance in distant countries, the deals brokered between dictatorships and corporations, the sheer amount of money that goes into trying to change the way people think and most importantly the moves made in the 70s that allowed the situation to become as it is now
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-19 05:42:28.
(Language: English)
First 2/3 of the book is an excellent analysis of marketing and corporate transformation of the landscape though it wanders off at the end. Klein makes a very common assumption - that protests are an effective way to change something. I have to disagree with this. Protests make people feel like they are doing something, but they have a minuscule effect, if any. We have been demoted from citizens to consumers. To that effect, every dollar we spend is how we "vote" in today's world. Granted, government subsidies often negate the effect of consumer choice (despite the current government's proposed love of the "free" market). Still, as an individual, I can choice what to buy and where to buy it to a large extent (or to stop buying as much stuff, period - or buy it locally and used). I can turn off the TV (or get rid of it). I can do research to find out if the "green" products promoted to me are really the same old crap from P
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-28 07:22:22.
(Language: English)
Klein's book is the epitome of "okay, okay I get it" journalism. She hammers her points home with the cynical rhetoric of a stereotypical coffee house teen, jammering away at the horror of having everything around her "owned." There is a lot to be concerned about in the world of commercialism and branding, no doubt about it. The problem here, however, is the Klein shies away from reacting to the roots of this capitalistic reality. Whereas Linda McQuaig, another Canadian author, describes the same situation with tremendous courage and intelligence, Klein seems to be aiming "No Logo" at teens and youngsters that live for pretentious ego building. Klein asserts that young people are brilliant and won't succumb to brand seduction in one chapter, then complains that they do in the next. The entire book comes across less like a strong polemic that serves to move to legitimate action and intelligent reactions and more like a whiny expose on box stores and Starbucks. It's all a little too much and her acerbic nature in attacking the issue distracts from any lucid point she makes. It's too bad, too, because it could have been a great book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-28 10:19:07.
(Language: English)
When I was reading this book, I could not get rid of a deja vu feeling. And then it dawned upon me. Her style and ideas are very similar to bolshevik agitators of pre-revolutionary Russia. They, too, have stirred the workers\' and peasants\' masses with loud slogans and revolutionary ideas. But, as a result of bringing these ideas into life, has human unhappiness been really abolished? No. The revolution brought Russia only more unhappiness, atrocities, famine, more oppression and deaths. Leftist ideas do not work. (They do if you want to receive a grant or publish a book, but as a solution, for real life, they don\'t.) There is no need to explain this to me or someone like me who grew up in a socialist state. However, talking to people in Canada I was surprised to hear them praising "free healthcare" that socialist countries provide. I am sorry to say that this comes from insufficient knowledge about how things really were in socialist economies. For example, I am sure no one of them would like to have a root canal without anaesthesia. None of them would like to live with their mother-in-law for twenty years without any possibility of moving into your own apartment. No one of them would like to have one bedroom for the whole family. Yes, officially the housing was affordable. But in fact you had to be entered on a municipal waiting list and wait. And wait. And wait… Besides, you would not be entered into the municipal waiting list unless you have less than a certain number of square meter per person (in my time, it was 5). To give you some idea, an average Canadian home has about 180 square meters. It means that 36 people had to be living in the house this size before they would be allowed to enter the municipal waiting list. Does that sound like paradise to you - or more like "1984"?Mikhail Bulgakov, a Russian author, wrote a book, "Dog\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s heart", about a dog who got a human brain transplant. (You can find an English translation here: http://www.lib.ru/BULGAKOW/dogheart_engl.txt) The dog started changing and eventually looked like a man. The newfangled man proved himself extremely rude, obnoxious and ignorant. The dog-man started expressing extreme leftist ideas. He proposed the simplest solution to people\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s inequality: "Take everything away from everybody, then divide it up . . ." Of course, it was instantly clear to the readers that his ideas were ridiculously unfeasible. However, when similar ideas start coming from better-washed and more articulate people, other people don\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t deride them that easily. But history proved that "take everything from everybody…" principle does not work. And the people who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.Simple solutions never work, because life is not simple. The problem is that simplistic solutions appeal to people who do not have a habit of critical thinking. And that\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s how fascism starts. When Klein incites ghetto teens to go and picket Nike headquarters with demands like "Decrease the sneakers\\\\\\\\\\\\\' price to 30 dollars AND give your profits to community centers AND raise the workers\\\\\\\\\\\\\' wages", it is ridiculous. Why 30 dollars and not 25 or 35? Has Klein made any calculations based on real expenses of the sneaker manufacturing company? Probably not, at least she does not say so. Does she know what happens when a company is forced to sell its wares at the prices lower than cost? Two things can happen: either the company closes down and the people lose their jobs, or the company has to be subsidized by the government with money taken from our taxes. Do you feel like subsidizing sneakers manufacturing this morning? Of course it is ridiculous. But it is scary, too. Because it is very easy to brainwash someone who has no real experience in life and no habits for critical thinking. Hitler started with Hitler-Jugend. Utter crap
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-11 02:17:51.
(Language: English)
When I read this book in the context of the war on terror, I can't help but wonder if Klein's critiques branding and consumer culture written in 1998-99 were really all that important considering the changes the next decade would bring. Ultimately, I think this is well worth the read, if for nothing else, just to give you an idea of what it was like to see historically disparate groups come together during the late 90's to oppose Free Trade and Globalization.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-13 01:00:24.
(Language: English)
There are a lot of good things to say about this book. It is very popular, and has been very influential. One of those books that sort of floats around in the intellectual atmosphere without people noticing, it carefully describes the rise of brands, and the tentacles these giant corporations have sprung, first over our (western) societies, but also the impacts they have across the world, in sweatshops etc. The book is not very extensively sourced, so chasing up where you can find more is difficult. She says a few people influenced her, but sourcing is fairly minimal. Klein writes well, avoids jargon, sloganeering and so on. Her influences are generally within the libertarian left, particularly the situationists, Chomsky and Herman and non-authoritarian left organisers. She also casually cites an amazingly obscure Bertrand Russell book. As the book focusses on brands, it is limited in not dealing with other aspects of the global economy, governments etc.
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Claudio posted a review at 2009-12-20 01:53:26.
(Language: Portuguese)
Excelente pesquisa e ótimo texto que revela as relações contraditórias da produção de valor agregado além do custo de produção. Este livro também contém uma análise lúcida da complexidade dos fenômenos políticos, econômicos, sociais e culturais que mantém a maioria das pessoas no limbo do desejo não-realizado nunca. O que chamamos de sistema capitalista, mas um capitalismo muito mais tentacular e sutil do que sua descrição poética feita por Marx há tanto tempo, que simplificou o problema a uma luta de classes. De fato, com a expansão do consumo e aumento da reificação do processo de produção, o sistema se reinventa, até incorporando as críticas mais ferrenhas de seus oponentes, e suas crises mais agudas, como combustível de renovação. Naomi Klein é uma jornalista que cobre suas bases e desenvolveu neste e em seu livro seguinte, o excelente "A Doutrina do Choque", uma técnica de texto fluido, muito semelhante a um ótimo documentário político, com idéias claras sob seu ponto de vista pessoal, contribuindo para a expansão do conhecimento sobre a importância do contexto histórico real em qualquer análise ou prática política.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-05 12:07:59.
(Language: English)
Naomi Klein makes you want to get up and fight the power. She calls this a book about a growing movement that is going to change things. Unfortunately, ten years later things are even worse and any of the movements that have become big enough to make a difference eventually become what the despise. The most interesting parts of this book are when Klein moves away from the movements and examines the economics of brand, product and service. While none of the information is particularly new she makes some unique connections and looks at things from new angles. Recommended.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-17 02:33:16.
(Language: English)
Eye-opening look into the true effects of globalization and the branding of our culture which, when one has grown up with it, seems natural. The book is a little disjointed and almost feels like 4 books in one, but the overall message stays intact. The ending seems to try and put a positive spin on what is an otherwise bleak situation and feels a little disingenuine. Other than that, the book is one of the best accounts of the damaging effects of multinationals on the global cultural landscape that I have found and the perfect starting place for anyone interested in the issue.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-12 03:44:14.
(Language: English)
Let's see if I can get this right.In the last 20 years, brands have become more important than manufacturing. So what does that mean? Companies focus on producing ideas instead of product. Nike and Walmart outsource their manufacturing to sweatshops. Microsoft uses temporary employees to do non "corp competency" jobs to avoid paying benefits (sometimes for years at a time). CEO's lay off thousands (which doesn't hurt the brand but does cut costs) and improve stock price. Barnes and Noble opens another superstores instead of paying more than minimum wage. As a guy in Advertising, it's hard to read this book. I didn't agree with all of it, but on the whole I think she is right. Never have so many been so disconnected from the wealth their companies creates. Klein's solution is to empower workers. I agree. but the road is long. And her ideas here are vague. One thing I'm sure of is that American capitalism is winning -- and we're the problems of that are serious.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-11 05:55:04.
(Language: English)
O melhor livro do Paulo Coelho na minha opinião.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-27 11:31:52.
(Language: English)
No Logo es un libro imprescindible para entender el inicio de los movimientos de antiglobalización; explica con cierta lucidez el por qué de éstos y sus argumentos de fondo. En lo personal me sirvió mucho para dejar de etiquetar a todo movimiento globalifóbico como de socialistas anacrónicos o idealistas sin causa, y reconocer que muchas de sus crÃticas son ciertas. Aunque el libro sea reconocido como la “Biblia†o el manifiesto de la antiglobalización, hay que entender que Klein (como Marx, guardando proporciones) no esboza una nueva vÃa o las formas en las que el proceso de globalización deberÃa de llevarse a cabo, sino que simplemente hace un análisis crÃtico sobre las multinacionales y sus efectos en la nueva sociedad globalizada. Su queja es hacia las marcas, las condiciones de trabajo, y la reducción de opciones (por eso No Space, No Job, No Choice). Primero Klein critica el que las grandes corporaciones destinen cantidades estratosféricas de recursos a la creación de marcas que nos venden estatus o una identidad previamente fabricada (intelectual, alternativo, cool, etc.) El problema no es la marca per se, sino que su presencia es tal que la gente se siente sumamente infeliz sin ellas. Después Klein analiza cómo el crecimiento de las grandes corporaciones afecta negativamente el mercado laboral de los paÃses pobres y ricos. Su villano favorito es Nike, que a través de contratistas en paÃses pobres hace los zapatos bajo condiciones infrahumanas y a sueldos ridÃculos. Dice, y con razón, que los paÃses pobres atraen la inversión extranjera esperando que ésta se traduzca en transferencia de tecnologÃa y en la creación de industrias domésticas, pero que el esperado derrame económico es casi nulo, pues la materia prima es importada y los bienes terminados son vendidos en los paÃses ricos, donde sà hay un mercado de consumo para un tenis de 70 dólares. En los paÃses ricos, Klein señala que el creciente sector servicios contrata a los jóvenes por medio tiempo y honorarios, sin beneficios ni seguridad laboral, mientras despide a aquellos con antigüedad y mejores salarios, al estilo Walmart. Se alarma al descubrir que los trabajos temporales en Estados Unidos se incrementaron 400% de 1982 a 1999. ¿Qué pasará cuando éstos jóvenes se retiren? Klein concluye que los grandes corporativos han hecho crecer la economÃa global a través de despidos, fusiones y adquisiciones, consolidaciones y outsourcing, mientras que el porcentaje de gente directamente empleada por las compañÃas más grandes del mundo decrece. Las empresas son como una entidad con vida propia, cada vez más despegadas de la sociedad como un todo. Al final hace un llamado a los gobiernos y organismos internacionales para hacer a las corporaciones responsables ante sus trabajadores, la sociedad y el medio ambiente. Pide que la sociedad civil sea el contrapeso que obligue a las corporaciones a trabajar de nuevo de y para la sociedad y no sobre la sociedad. Es interesante que Naomi Klein terminara de escribir el libro en 1999, antes de la primera gran manifestación en Seattle frente a la OMC. Es asombroso que logre predecir que algo nuevo estaba por suceder, que tanto malestar debÃa agitar a más de uno en el mundo y que el Internet serÃa el medio que facilitará la comunicación y proliferación de los llamados movimientos antiglobalización, o la revolución posmoderna.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-23 07:38:49.
(Language: English)
I picked this book up expecting all the hype to be at least partly justified - alas, I was disappointed. Sure enough, it's a critique of modern day capitalism and its obsession with 'the brand'. It comes up with some emotional examples of exploitation that can make your blood boil. It expertly plays on the emotions of its reader in a way only a journalist could. But it falls flat. It's heavy on idealism and critique of the status quo, but provides no coherent alternative framework. It lambasts multinational corporations, but is copyrighted and published by a multinational corporation. And 'no logo' seems to have become just another brand, with branded goods sold under the label of an anti-brand platform. If you want to read a book with a far more intellectually coherent critique of globalisation and the way 'free trade' has enable exploitation of the poor in emerging economies, read Joseph Stiglitz' Globalisation and its Discontents. This book was a Disappointment with a capital 'D'.
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Emily posted a review at 2007-08-20 06:50:45.
(Language: English)
You know those rich white kids who vandalize the GAP during WTO meetings? You know those people who subscribe to Adbusters and think they understand it? This book is for stoned pseudo-hippies and Drew Barrymore, not anyone who wants to fight with facts and strategy.I wish I had one of those sweet Third Wave feminist-type jobs. The kind where all you do is knit on the train and write critiques of things and cry "zeitgeist!" every once in while when you've not been paying attention, without ever offering any real dialog or options or solutions. Yeah. I want one of those. But without the knitting. Knitting is for bitches.
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