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We should not be defining ourselves simply by the logo on our cars. In doing so, we hand our identity and our self-worth over to companies whose existence are geared not towards quality of life, but towards profit.

Source: Neil Boorman, Bonfire of the Brands

We’re all attracted to a certain product because of its brand. My allegiance to Volkswagen is a long-standing one, and I don’t really know why, for me, the German company’s products stand wing mirrors above cars offered by rival manufacturers. It’s even more of a brand thing when other, cheaper, VW Group products from Skoda and SEAT are as good as the more expensive offerings from their parent company. You are, quite literally, paying for the badge.

It can be argued that Neil Boorman’s book, Bonfire of the Brands, is more relevant now than when it was first published. A story of one man and his quest to live a brand-free, and arguably more ethical life, it hit the book shelves last year.. But, the values and self analytical quests contained within it fit snugly with the credit crunched and unnecessary spending world of 2008.

Boorman was a brand charlatan before writing these 244 pages, with logos plastered over everything he owned, and touching every part of his life. Of course, they appeal to all of us for all sorts of different reasons, but believing that brands had come to stand for much more than the quality or origin of the products as they did when the first branded goods were sold over a century ago, Boorman set out to find out why.

Arguing that although advertising messages bombard us from every street corner, every TV and cinema screen, and every magazine and newspaper, Boorman states the obvious in that we don’t have to adhere to the ‘consume more’ and ‘this will make your life better’ messages. And that’s before the non-ethical values that perpetuate from the ‘more, more, more’ and ‘got to have that’ society are brought into play.

Boorman’s analysis of the effects brands have on society is well-researched, and it turns from a quest searching for the answers to how brands work, the effect they have on the consumer-driven society, and how they control us, to a deep-thinking self analysis. He discovers his brand addiction manifested itself at an early age, and is something he has almost hidden his real self behind for most of his adult life.

Anecdotes and entries are interspersed with brand histories, Boorman’s own therapist reports, and his research, which turns up some interesting theories and questions. One such thought is that consumers believe the lies and messages beamed out from advertising so much that it almost brainwashes them into buying that product or service. With similarities to propagandas of war, that product or service may enhance your life, but did you really need it until you saw the commercial on TV or in the press?

As the title suggests, in the ultimate act and the last stage in his branded life, Boorman burnt £20,000 of his logoed goods on a high-profile bonfire in central London. From then on, he pledges to live brand-free for at least a year, untouched by the empty promises most branded goods offer. As well as the preparation for the sacrificial fire itself, the reader is taken on the author’s journey to find more ethical ways of buying clothes, sourcing food, and even mixing homemade cosmetics.

Some would call Boorman’s burning of his branded possessions and this subsequent book headline-grabbing voyeurism, but it’s not only enlightening, but engaging, too. Largely written as diary entries pre and post-bonfire, Bonfire of the Brands equips the reader with at least some of the tools he or she should need, if a brand-free or brand-reduced lifestyle appeals.

Starting as a blog at the beginning of his self analytical journey, Boorman’s book is mostly an easy read, and while buying brand-free T-shirts and food at overpriced markets won’t make a difference in the bigger picture, the book is at the very least an insightful and thought-provoking essay into the world of commercialism and sociology.

• Bonfire of the Brands: How I Learned to Live Without Labels by Neil Boorman, Canongate Books Ltd 2007, ISBN 978 1 84195 987 0