Our society is constantly changing especially in the fashion area. People in society are always concerned with what the new looks are what colors are in, and what jewelry is going to go well with the clothing. In fact just today, my boss complimented me on my orange shirt and corral colored flats then followed up by stating that those colors were in for the upcoming season and a co-worker of mine responded saying “She is chic.” In the clothing department we have brand names and then we have the “Wal-Mart” or “target” brand. What is the difference some might ask? Well really there is no difference the clothing is most likely made from the same low income country where people are getting paid minimum wage. The only difference is there is a little logo on the other shit and is priced more. The same goes for the food department, for example Aldi’s and Jewels. Jewel may have the “brand” names of food products where Aldi has the generic brand of that product yet make the packaging look almost the same. Not only do these brands look the same but they also taste the same.
To relate brand names versus generic brands Bordieu discusses the idea of taste and distinction. Bordieu defines distinction as a social force that places different values on different things and in this example it is food. Bordieu defines taste as an individual’s personal preference. For example some may like the taste of Pepsi which is a brand name as compared to the Aldi brand which just says Cola. Each person has their own individual reasons or their own “taste” in terms of clothing and food.
As explained earlier a good example of distinction is to compare products in this case I am going to compare cereal. I am going to compare Honey bunches of oat which is the “big brand” and compare it to the Aldi brand. The regular honey bunches of oats consists of flakes with almonds and it is a blue and yellow box. For the Aldi brand the box is also blue with the same product inside but the only difference is the name the Aldi brand is called Honey crunch and oats. As a small experiment I bought both brands and tasted them. Other than myself to avoid bias I had my roommate and other friends taste both of them not telling them what either one was and their response when I was asked was that they both taste the same. Social distinction is placed on the Honey bunches of oat cereal as the “good brand.”
Choosing the more expensive brand represents taste individuals have and in fact I know a lot of people would prefer the more expensive “brand name” of products rather than a generic brand. Maybe it might be because they do not want to look cheap but me personally I do not care the brand it is essentially all the same. The reason why so many people prefer the good and expensive brand names is because society puts high meaning on brand names and that does not only include food but clothing as well. However going back to the idea of taste, not everyone in society follows society’s norms for example the people that would prefer to shop at Aldi rather than Jewel. Although society says we should buy this brand we have the choice (“taste”) to purchase whatever brand name we prefer.
To relate brand names versus generic brands Bordieu discusses the idea of taste and distinction. Bordieu defines distinction as a social force that places different values on different things and in this example it is food. Bordieu defines taste as an individual’s personal preference. For example some may like the taste of Pepsi which is a brand name as compared to the Aldi brand which just says Cola. Each person has their own individual reasons or their own “taste” in terms of clothing and food.
As explained earlier a good example of distinction is to compare products in this case I am going to compare cereal. I am going to compare Honey bunches of oat which is the “big brand” and compare it to the Aldi brand. The regular honey bunches of oats consists of flakes with almonds and it is a blue and yellow box. For the Aldi brand the box is also blue with the same product inside but the only difference is the name the Aldi brand is called Honey crunch and oats. As a small experiment I bought both brands and tasted them. Other than myself to avoid bias I had my roommate and other friends taste both of them not telling them what either one was and their response when I was asked was that they both taste the same. Social distinction is placed on the Honey bunches of oat cereal as the “good brand.”
Choosing the more expensive brand represents taste individuals have and in fact I know a lot of people would prefer the more expensive “brand name” of products rather than a generic brand. Maybe it might be because they do not want to look cheap but me personally I do not care the brand it is essentially all the same. The reason why so many people prefer the good and expensive brand names is because society puts high meaning on brand names and that does not only include food but clothing as well. However going back to the idea of taste, not everyone in society follows society’s norms for example the people that would prefer to shop at Aldi rather than Jewel. Although society says we should buy this brand we have the choice (“taste”) to purchase whatever brand name we prefer.