Seven Ways to Break Free From Corporate Influence

I remember when Youtube was mostly ad-free, when most Internet video was ad-free. These days, when I want to watch a decent episode of Harvey Birdman, I also have to sit through 6 replays of the same Google Droid ad. I know so much about the latest gadget large corporations want to sell me, and so little about what goes on in our government. Our priorities are completely skewed.

We know about most of what to buy through ads and the media. Ads also send us other messages: what to wear, how to act, what to like, what attitudes and beliefs to uphold.

When I lived in LA, I knew all about the latest movies, TV shows, and designer trends, thanks to pervasive billboard advertising. When Ed Hardy got popular, I knew why: months before everyone had his tattoo shirts, every other billboard on Sunset Ave. was displaying an Ed Hardy logo, large and proud.

In our communities, we see strip malls, fast food joints, and franchise markets. Most vacant city lots are turned over for corporate development. The presence and influence of corporations in our daily lives is almost everywhere. If you live in a big city like LA or New York, I think it’s safe to say corporate influence is omnipresent.

What kind of messages are these stores, ads, and images sending you?

Most likely, they’re telling you to buy the next coolest brand, so you can stay ahead of the trend.

Most likely, the store or ad wants your money or personhood. Ads sell an image. In the case of Ed Hardy, some image terms that come to mind: hardcore, fashionable/trendy, alternative/punk, into tattoos and possibly piercings. I imagine this person also loves to drink hard alcohol, frequents bars and clubs, and loves pop culture, celebrities, and trendy people. I can also imagine a lot of companies that will consistently profit from this person’s lifestyle. I think you know what I mean.

There are ways to help make sure that you don’t fall prey to advertisers who seek your money and personhood:

1. Don’t expose yourself to advertising. Learn to see all ads as an attempt to take your money without providing true, equivalent value in exchange. When ads pop up on Internet video, mute them and do something else while you wait for it to finish. When ads turn up on TV, mute them and do something else, or change the channel. If you recognize something as advertising, don’t pay serious attention to it, and try not to read it too much.

2. Don’t buy stuff you don’t absolutely need, especially from large corporations. If you do love to shop, support local independent businesses and secondhand markets.

3. Are you a professional? Avoid working for large corporations. Start your own innovative business incorporating the triple bottom line: people, planet, profit. Start connecting with like-minded professionals that could potentially become mentors, allies, or future business partners. Twitter is an amazing tool for connecting like-minded, social change-oriented professionals. Start a blog and build your platform.

4. The best way to mitigate corporate influence is to prevent corporations from entering your city, or further proliferating their businesses. Instead of watching a vacant lot turn into another mall, push your local city leadership for a Mom and Pop shop, a park, library, or city garden.

The next time you visit your town strip of cafes and shops, think about what it would look like if there was another library or park squeezed in. There would be more space for people to simply gather and hang out. It would be another chance for a neighborhood barbecue, lunch, or a simple visit with coffee or tea. You could have a chance to get to know your community a little better, perhaps make some new friends, and build resilience in the meantime.

Briefly, community resilience is the ability to deflect negative influences {that lead to crime, social degradation}, and nurture a collaborative, prosperous atmosphere. When you know your neighbors, you’re more likely to collaborate with them in times of distress. You’ve built up trust over time, you’ve nurtured a long-term relationship. When trouble strikes, you have no trouble going to your friends in the community for help. And they have no trouble helping you out either.

Any public lot that promotes community engagement is one that promotes bonding, which is the basis for building community resilience. A community that is invested socially through relationships and engagement in public events, is more connected and able to survive dangerous and difficult times. It is also more able to come together and deflect inhibitory influences.

5. Change the conversation. Instead of talking about the latest app you downloaded to your smartphone, or the designer purse you saw in that catalog, talk about the latest book you read, or how amazing the sun felt when you were sitting in the park.

6. Don’t eat fast food. Ever. Learn to see fast food restaurants just like advertisers: they are only out to get you addicted to unhealthy food {at great cost to the environment and public health}, so they can take your money. Feeling tempted? When you cave and bite into that burger, think about all the chemicals that went into it {read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, if you haven’t}, all the cows that suffered in gigantic feedlots full of manure, disease, and antibiotics. Think about all the consequences of eating your burger – the epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Perhaps you won’t want to eat it again.

7. Convenience will kill you. And me. Convenience is a sensual seductress that wants nothing but death, a succubus. We want convenience so bad, we’re willing to throw away our true beliefs and personalities, as well as our personal, community, and environmental health every time. Watch this video and get inspired.

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