Bonfire of the Brands

Plenty has been written about Neil Boorman and his bonfire of the brands. The premise, for anyone unfamiliar is that Neil will burn all his worldly possessions that he deems none vital – meaning everything but his Apple iBook.

Russell Davies, a PSFK favourite and all round top man, attended the ceremonial burning of the brands and took some great photos and also provided some very interesting commentary on the whole affair:

“Neil’s opening oration followed the same simplistic line; brands are a con etc and it all made me begin to wonder if Neil’s not falling prey to exactly the forces he’s protesting against.

“I bet his publishers are starting to think they’ve got another No Logo on their hands and they’re selling Neil to news outlets as exactly that – the latest rabble-rouser, the latest source of cheap news in the Business Pages. That’ll create some publicity, stir up some WOM, get decent placement in the bookshops, guarantee sales. And what’s that they’re doing? Marketing. And what are they building? They’re creating A Brand. All the simplifaction, obfuscation, hype and bluster he’s having a go at, right there in the marketing of his own brand.”

Russell’s post: