Anti-Branding Brand

The Classic Blackspot shoe, via brandchannel.com.

A hand-drawn anti-logo and a red toe tip dot (for kicking corporate ass). Isn’t this itself a brand? One that promises to rail against the big bad corporation and stay true to non-conformism – sure. That’s the brand promise.

Brandchannel.com reported recently about this anti-brand effort, saying that, “it seems odd that anyone should be against branding. Brands are merely a badge, a promise of quality, an assurance of consistency.”

And this anti-brand shoe is no different.

The Blackspot campaign was in response to the use of sweatshops. The shoes are made at a Portuguese union shop, hours from 8am to 6pm, a 1.5hours, and pay over the minimum wage. Other working conditions are clearly outlined on the Blackspot site.

The Adbusters site describes the campaign:

Blackspot campaign was born almost three years ago when we decided to stop merely criticizing the status quo and actually do something about it. It was born on the back of Nike, capturing the attention of the global media as a lively attack on the brand idolatry and sweatshop production methods of that multinational. Encouragingly, over 25,000 people are now wearing Blackspot shoes. Earth-friendly, anti-sweatshop, and cruelty-free, Blackspots are the only shoes designed to give Big Business what it needs the most: a swift kick in the brand.

So even if this anti-branding effort is itself a brand, does it really matter? Maybe the point is more about transparency in terms of your favourite brand’s promise. What are you standing behind and why does it matter?

Do you know everything about the brands you support? Do you make a point of standing behind brands that make a difference? Do you think a campaign like Blackspot can open people’s eyes?