The Campsite Rule

From (semi-)subtle messages to direct orders

Axel — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:01:24 +0000

Remember the days when you would do something (albeit, something challenging / crazy) because you wanted to, because you set a goal for yourself ?

Like when I decided to run my first marathon. That was the Paris Marathon in 2004. It was a challenge to myself, and I trained for months to complete it. Of course, I was so miserable during the race that I swore to myself that I would never, ever, run another marathon. And of course, immediately after I crossed the finish in just under 4 hours I thought “I can beat this next time!” and promptly signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Because I wanted to.
Well, it seems those days are over. I almost choked at the email I just received, with the subject:

VW Wants You to Run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Sir, yes, sir! Now a brand is practically giving me orders. As if it wasn’t bad enough that a brand was manufacturing demand, invading public space with logos and messages, sabotaging its own products to plan their obsolescence so that I would buy them again, making me feel inadequate, and generally brainwashing me into buying their product, now they WANT ME to do something. We have apparently passed a tipping point: we used to decide which brand we would purchase, which choices we would make; now it’s the brand that decides what we do. VW wants you to run the Chicago Marathon. I’ll line up and await further orders.

Also, note that what used to be the Chicago Marathon is now the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (after being the Lasalle Bank Chicago Marathon for a while). In fact, let’s take a look at the world’s largest marathons:

The ING New York City Marathon
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon
The Virgin London Marathon
The real,- Berlin Marathon (yes, the brand name is spelled real,- with comma and dash, which is probably the second worst rebranding ever after a-b glöbâl – and that was fictional)
The Boston Marathon (*phew*)
The Paris Marathon (*PHEW*)
The Honda Los Angeles Marathon presented by K-Swiss
The Chevron Houston Marathon
etc, etc… the list goes on.

Save for just a few big marathons (which are doing very well even without corporate sponsorship, thank you very much), it seems that participating in any of those makes you immediately subscribe to the brand that carries them. The city where the marathon takes place becomes almost irrelevant. I already disagreed, but vaguely understood, that sports arenas had corporate names – professional teams have sponsors. But when I run a marathon, for myself (not for VW), what’s in it for me that it is sponsored by a big bank? All I get is yet another marketing invasion on something that has nothing to do with the brand that it carries.

I really liked the Chicago Marathon – I ran it twice, both times setting a personal record and really enjoying the run. But this message really makes me never want to run it again. Shame.

Pyrénées – Day 8

Axel — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:00:47 +0000

Lac Saussat (1921 m) – Hourquette des Hounts-Secs (2267 m) – Col de la Coume de Bourg (2272 m) – Luchon (620 m)

Pyrénées – Day 7

Axel — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:59:11 +0000

Granges d’Astau (1120 m) – Lac d’Oô (1504 m) – Col d’Espingo (1967 m) – Lac Saussat (1921 m)

Pyrénées – Day 6

Axel — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:57:36 +0000

Germ (1339 m) – Couret d’Esquierry (2131m) – Granges d’Astau (1120 m)

Pyrénées – Day 5

Axel — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:54:09 +0000

Saint-Lary Soulan (860 m) – Couret de Latuhe (1586 m) – Germ (1339 m)

Pyrénées – Day 4

Axel — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:52:09 +0000

Refuge de Barroude (2373 m) – Port de Barroude (2534 m) – Parzan (1140 m)

Pyrénées – Day 3

Axel — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:50:02 +0000

Cabane des Aires (2100 m) – Col de la Sède (2651 m) – Col de la Géla (2708 m) – Refuge de Barroude (2373 m)

Pyrénées – Day 2

Axel — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:49:09 +0000

Cirque d’Estaubé (1900 m) – Cabane des Aires (2100 m)

Pyrénées – Day 1

Axel — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:46:19 +0000

Gavarnie (1375 m) – Hourquette d’Alans (2430 m) – Cirque d’Estaubé (1900 m)

Hostages of Consumption

Axel — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:57:44 +0000

On saturday in Paris, customers stood in line in 95°F weather for the immense privilege of… buying shoes. Not even spectacularly fashionable, rare or luxurious shoes: this is just your normal store in your normal neighborhood. In this time of soldes (yearly sales), shopaholics everywhere unite to purchase things they generally didn’t know they needed – but are getting a superb deal on (or so they think).

Think this is the line into a trendy night club? Think again.

This reminds me of when I was living in Chicago and the first H&M store opened there. People were lining up AROUND THE BLOCK on opening day to be sure that they would be among the first to purchase something there. As if the store wasn’t going to be there the next day, or the day after that.

We have fallen victims to manufactured demand. As Naomi Klein points out in No Logo, brands and consumerism have taken us over. Rather than them servicing us, it is we who have been socially trained to give them our money, and receive some trinket in exchange. We respond to signs promising large discounts by immediately feeling a need we didn’t have before. And we’re even ready to suffer for it by standing outside in scorching heat.

Consumption: the new opiate of the people.