Rita Hammer, chapter 5, question 6

In chapter five, the author discusses the concept of "branding." He discusses how capitalism creates a "deathly spiral of competition," forcing producers to come up with a plan that will convince consumers that their product, essentially the same as everyon else's, is in someway different, or better. By paying large amounts of money, producers make their brand recognizable, or rather appear to be the better product. Companies do this in several different ways, but one obvious example is by paying a famous person a lot of money to use their product in a commercial or during a sporting event, leading buyers to believe that that specific brand is the best. Overall, the concept of branding is necesarry, in that it provides people assurance that they aren't being ripped off.
Growing up in a househould where generic brands are purchased on a regular basis, the idea of branding interests me. To me, it seems obvious that you would by the generic, or cheaper gallon of milk at the grocery store, rather than the brand name, costing $1.50 extra; however, wheeler did a good job explaining why the idea is necessary. Wheeler says, "branding helps to provide an element of trust that is necesarry for a complex economy to function." I have an aunt who is a pharmacist, and has always been frustrated at the fact that people still demand the brand name drug, rather than the generic, because if you just take 2 seconds to flip each bottle over they contain the exact same ingredients, one is just more expensive; however pharmaceuticals are a different story compared to other products. Sometimes the generic brands don't taste as good or aren't the same quality, ultimatley having less value. The extra $1.50 for kemps milk may be worth it for some people when considering the taste; however, I've grown up drinking the generic kind, making me think the generic tastes better. In the end, it 's all about what one feels comfortable with, or trusts when deciding to respond to the idea of branding.