On Sale at Old Navy

In his article “On Sale at Old Navy: Cool Clothes for Identical Zombies” Damien Cave discusses the negative effect big store chains such as Old Navy can have on a society. He argues that established companies that make profit off of pushing identical, cheaply made products sold at “reasonable” prices convince consumers that they are getting a bargain when, in fact, they are contributing to the growth of a company dead set on making millions while failing to ensure quality. According to Naomi Klein, an author who collaborates with Cave, “Consumers are being scammed. Stores like Old Navy and Ikea are duping millions, inspiring mass conformity whole pretending to deliver high high culture to the masses”. Customers are made to think, at first, that they are getting a great deal, when in reality, the article of clothing (or furniture) is made so that it will disintegrate in a short amount of time, securing the replacement of the original purchase, thus contributing to the dependency of the customer to the place of business time and time again. In the long run, the higher quality, more expensive item would probably have been cheaper.

http://freshome.com/2014/03/06/broken-furniture-functionality-kills-fun-lennart-van-uffelen/

 In addition to these companies cheating the consumer out of their money, they are also aiding to the death of individuality. Cave states “What's really happening...is that clever marketers are turning us into automatons who equate being cool with buying cheap stuff that everyone else has”. Klein adds to this idea by making such statements as, “It's mass cloning that's being masked in a carnival of diversity. You don't notice that you're conforming because everything is so colorful”. When you look at the number of large retail stores selling practically the same item to a multitude of people around the country, or even the globe, it's hard to deny the duplicate effect it has on the way we present ourselves. In a way, does it not seem that we are becoming more like the infamous Old Navy mannequins standing windows of the store. We hail from different races and backgrounds, but all stand in storefronts clad in the same cheap, nondescript attire, oblivious to the underlying intentions of the business occurring behind our own backs.

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