‘Brand loyalty, loyalty to the brand is paramount’
It starts early, like learning to walk or sucking that soother into milked oblivion.
As soon as the senses have been developed and primed:
‘brand loyalty, loyalty to the brand is paramount,’
say it with me as though we are trapped in an Orwellian elevator
counting the floors we are told are rushing by, but never witness.
And what stays with us is always the invasive species,
latching on, building appetites and limits, destroying potential.
Replacing creator with consumer, what a slippery little eel of a trick!
Slogans instead of sentiments truly felt, products and their placement.
Armies of jingle writers and focus groups that dwarf any once
great Napoleonic offering. Revenue streams no longer those idyllic
little fishing holes your grandfather took you to on weekends, in secret.
When the sun across your neck and arms and legs felt like
a strengthened reprieve. And what bounced off the water was some
marvellous simple truth revealed, if only for a moment and to you,
who by chance, was born again.
Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle through his garbage. His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly, Borderless Journal, GloMag, Red Fez, and Lothlorien Poetry Journal.
PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL
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