Do a Google search for “shoes say a lot about you” next time you are in the Shatford Library or the learning assistance center. The results say a lot about a society battered over the head with adverts from every direction.
In today’s landscape, where individuality and self-expression has been highjacked by multinational corporate brands like Nike and Vans, consumers are buying into the image of the brand, not the substance.
“You can go to these brand temples like Niketown, and you can get a piece of the story, the narrative, the dream behind that brand,” says Naomi Klein, author of No Logo. “But when you get home, it is just a pair of sneakers.”
Blackspot shoes, however, are not just a pair of sneakers.
Unlike the shoes we buy today, which come with a corporate logo, or a brand identity, Blackspots come with what the company calls an “anti-corporate logo,” a blank spot where one would expect a swoosh or a star. The “anti-corporation” encourages its shareholders to create their own personal logo, or to leave it blank as a form of protest against corporate America.
That’s right, shareholders. “Buy a pair and use your unique identifying number as your password to the online member zone, where you’ll be able to discuss the future of this venture with Blackspotters from around the world,” says the company’s website, adbusters.com.
“If we succeed in this venture, we will have set a precedent that can transform other industries. Imagine: a resurgence of independent coffee shops to take business away from Starbucks. Or a restaurant that uses only locally produced food.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PCC Trustee Hilary Bradbury-Huang could wear these shoes without a guilty conscience. The uppers are made of 100 percent organic hemp and the soles are made from recycled car tires.
Unlike the big corporations, who rely on sweatshop labor to manufacture their shoes, Blackspots are produced in a union friendly Portuguese factory.
According to Kale Lasn, CEO of the Blackspot team, “Together we can create an authentic, non-corporate cool and change the way the world does business.
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