The above image, entitled The Illusion of Choice, is an interesting illustration on the intricate relationship of ownership in between brands that at a first glance would seem to be nothing but competitors. Whoever put this together did a great job, and if you know who, please let me know so I can share credit. The relationships are not all up to date, and there are many brands missing, but it still reflects the current state of affairs in our consumerist society, we are all living in an illusion of choice.
I’ve been aware of such reality since when I first started working in the advertising industry, but even today, I cannot avoid feeling disturbed with the fact that independently of our choices, our money always end up going to the same few places. If you think a bit about that for a while, you’ll end up feeling pretty much the same.
If you want to learn more about this topic, then I recommend watching this video by the famous American comedian George Callin, just remember to wear earphones as it contains more than a good share of vulgar language. Finally, I could not add the above link without crediting David Airey, who blogged about this very same topic back in 2012, and where I found the link to George Callin’s video, thanks for that David!