Loyalty to Terrible Brands
OK, so our subject today will be ongoing loyalty to people, objects, and especially brands that suck. Why, for the love of all that is good in the world, do we content ourselves to be ruled by these things that so obviously do not have our own best interests in mind. I left home today and drove to the gas station—the same station that I go to every time I need to fill up—only to find that it is closing down all of its pumps as I am pulling into the lot. This station is always doing this, always closing at unexpected times, always leaving pumps out of service, and always screwing up my schedule. And when it is open, the pumps are slow, the quick pay machines are always broken, the staff is always rude. And still, I continue to go there week after week and give them my money, remaining ever complicit with their business model that causes me so much grief.And it isn’t just this station, it is the radio I listen to, the bank I use, the email service I subscribe to. None of these things ever perform well, none of them truly help me as much as competitive services would, and yet I continue to go to them.And it’s not just me. Look at Starbucks, doing better than ever, though companies like Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds have consistently outscored them in coffee taste tests. Look at Microsoft, with 88% market share built on an operating system that is as clunky as it is ugly. Maybe it’s our obsession with fitting in, with solidarity, with familiarity that drives it, maybe it’s the sheer stupidity and unwillingness of most people to change a well-worn routine, and maybe companies know this to be the case and exploit it accordingly.The loss of my business probably won’t cause the corner Arco to shutter its doors (beyond their current program of once or twice a month, depending on the phase of the moon and the alignment of the planets), but it is a start, and a step for me in a better direction toward a better way of living.
(Not songs of loyalty alone are these,
But songs of insurrection also,
For I am the sworn poet of every dauntless rebel the world over,
And he going with me leaves peace and routine behind him,
And stakes his life to be lost at any moment.)
—Walt Whitman
August 28, 2008 at 7:09 am
True enough about nonsensical loyalty to crap brands. Fear of change, lack of initiative in finding an alternative that makes more sense, sloth….all true when applied to brands. Not true when applied to people. Loyalty to people is beautiful. “Forgive seventy times seven.” Loyalty to those you love stems from a general belief that they are worth the effort. Even when my heart is stomped on, I endure the pain and ride things out because I remember and cherish the memories of times when things were good. I know the good times will come again. They always do. People are fundamentally flawed but we have to live with each other. We aren’t here to make things perfect and we shouldn’t expect perfection from our friends.