
Being in advertising, we found this pretty interesting…
Self-confessed brand-addict, Neil Boorman, decided to give up all branded possessions for a year. That meant torching his designer wardrobe (in a very public bonfire) and not buying anything branded for a whole year. Instead, he reverted to shopping in charity shops and buying from market stalls.
His reasoning?
‘I suffered from a condition known as obsessive branding disorder - a combination of compulsive shopping and a reliance on status symbol brands for the maintenance of one's self esteem.’ He didn’t buy clothes, gadgets or even food for ‘the basic functions that they performed’. He ‘bought them for the way they made [him] feel’. Boorman thought that, by avoiding the high street, he would consume less for leisure and more for his own basic needs.
Apparently he managed to stay largely brand-free, save the odd emergency shop for Andrex toilet rolls. Read about his experience here.