In times gone by, brands meant something, customer loyalty was a kind of collective bargaining.

Today, everything is fast-fashion. Companies trade brand names like twin sisters trade clothes. If a brand still holds any kind of value in the marketplace, it’s more likely to be sold and cashed out as a premium label applied to cheaply made shoddy product than it is to be built up with better reputation for the future. Products themselves are carefully designed to self-destruct to create future demand. The market needs to be restructured to put total cost of ownership AND disposal front and center in the purchasing selection process.

On the other hand, it would just be nice if they can avoid starting the Mad Max Apocalypse until after I’m dead, thanks.