Make your own choice - We’re not so brand-mad after all

FIGURES just released about our shopping habits show that we are less impressed by brands than was once imagined.

We prefer own-label foods when we go to fill the supermarket trolley, which contradicts Ireland’s image as Europe’s most brand-conscious nation.

Earlier this month, the Future Foundation released research showing we were the most brand-conscious nation in Europe. They found that brands were “important” to two-thirds of 15- to 24-year-olds. Almost half of those aged between 25 and 39 and a third of 40- to 54-year-olds agreed with the proposition.

This willingness to subjugate the great charms of individuality to the promptings of today’s snake oil salesmen greatly diminished the colour in our lives.

So, it is reassuring that a degree of independence of thought can still be found in the aisles of our supermarkets. As each tribe has its own war paint each subculture has its own fashions and it is reassuring to know that there is still a tribe whose purchases are informed by pragmatism rather than by fashion.