"But why, I wondered, was the arrival of the Trader Joe's tote so inevitable in the first place? Tote bags used to generically signal eco-consciousness; now the message has become much more targeted and naturally, given an online discourse obsessed with categorising people into types and tribes fraught. A tote bag is no longer just something you receive for free with a purchase over 40: it's seen as a personal statement and even a billboard for your individual brand."
"A tote bag from Daunt Books, Shakespeare and Company, the London Review of Books, the New Yorker or Fitzcarraldo Editions may earn you points for reading, but see them detracted for obviousness. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods impress upon the observer your easy familiarity with North American produce. And a man carrying a Mubi bag risks being marked out as a boorish film bro or performative male."
"It may have started with totes from known brands selling items you at least need to carry, but the craze for merchandising has now spread to lesser-known and even local establishments and well beyond bags. Condoms from Toad Bakery. Photograph: Toad Jolene, the north London bakery, sells not just totes but branded hats, socks, scarves and even oilskins. You can cherish the memory of a meal at St John with a tea towel, T-shirt, engraved waiter's friend, or a pig-shaped pin"
Tote bags and branded merchandise have become explicit personal signals rather than simple eco-conscious carriers. Trader Joe's-branded totes spread from London to smaller cities, carrying cultural and geographical associations. Specific branded bags communicate reading habits, travel familiarity, culinary preferences, or membership in cultural tribes, and can provoke gendered or performative judgments. Merchandising has expanded from major retailers to local businesses, extending beyond bags into hats, socks, tea towels, T-shirts, engraved tools and novelty items. Unconventional products tied to eateries and bakeries further illustrate how merchandise functions as a form of identity signalling and social shorthand.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]