Obey Giant
Obey is one of my favorite brands... Ever.
Shepard Fairey is brilliant. He cleverly uses his art as a way to integrate political issues into pop culture, and he does it in style. He's brought the psychological mechanisms of marketing and even brainwashing, to the forefront of our collective consciousness with his Andre the Giant street-art campaign. He accomplished this mainly through exposing how repetition is a powerful tool, so powerful that it can in fact make an obscure and seemingly mundane symbol, become a household brand recognized around the globe.
I've been wearing Obey since my high school days, when I was just a lil' emo girl trying to find her place in this crazy world (Lol, but for real though). I've always been a rebel, since I was a little girl. My family has VHS tapes of me somewhere, 5 years old with messy hair, rips in my shirt, running around like a wild, miniature cave-girl. As I grew up, I fell in love with skater-punk counterculture. I still carry that punk attitude in my heart today. <3
To me, Obey is a punk brand. For instance, Obey took the steps to become Fair Trade, a coalition that treats their workers from around the world humanely (What a concept). They do not support child labor and they provide their workers fair wages. There is nothing more punk rock than opposing the status quo, especially when the status quo means selling your soul. It pains me to know that we're here in this material dream-world (America) consuming products that cause such suffering as a result. It's incredible to know that brands like Obey are taking the steps to change that. I love it! That makes me so happy.
