Abbey Tibesar
“The Corporation”
1. One man in the movie said, “Branding is not marketing—it’s production.” If you think about that
statement, it’s very true. Without the marketing of a product, there is no product to be made. We no
longer make the choices of what we are going to buy, the corporations make those decisions for us. They
market their products in such a way that we think we’re making the choice, but the corporation has
made the choice for us. As Sam Gibara, Former CEO and Chairman of Goodyear Tire, explains, “If you
really had a free hand, if you really did what you wanted to do that suited your personal thoughts and
your personal priorities, you’d act di.erently.” Branding and marketing of products is so crucial to a
corporation that they’ve engrained the images into our minds without us even being aware of it. The
subliminal and undercover messages that are in our faces all throughout our days, have become
something that we don’t notice any more, however our brains pick up on all of it. The more a company
can brand their images of their products into our minds, the more their company produces, and the
more revenue they make.
2. The Initiative Corporation spends $22 billion worldwide placing its clients’ advertising in every
imaginable – and some unimaginable – media. One new medium: very young children. Their “Nag Factor”
study dropped jaws in the world of child psychiatry. It was designed not to help parents cope with their
children’s nagging, but to help corporations formulate their ads and promotions so that children would
nag for their products more e.ectively. Initiative Vice President Lucy Hughes elaborates: “You can
manipulate consumers into wanting, and therefore buying your products. It’s a game.” Today people can
become brands (Martha Stewart). And brands can build cities (Celebration, Florida). And a corporation
