I guess with all this talk about how collections and collectibles have become these items that some of us ascribe incredible amounts of meaning to…the next question that came into my head is kinda wil

I guess with all this talk about how collections and collectibles have become these items that some of us ascribe incredible amounts of meaning to…the next question that came into my head is kinda wild..but I’ve been mulling it over in my head a few weeks now and I can’t shake it. Matter of fact, once the thought got put into my head, I started noticing it EVERYWHERE. It made me wonder…are ‘brands’ substitutes for a new type of ‘religion’?

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A brief aside:
I’m pretty sure the homie @goodbirger had a similar experience, but from the ages of 17-19, I was heavily involved in a fundamentalist Christian church. It was like a ‘fun, social, hip, young, come-as-you-are’ kinda thing and to be honest, it was somewhat liberating for me to have something to lean on. Until…it wasn’t.

I'm gonna gloss over the details, but I'm no longer into it.

That being said…it left a mark on me. Religion did. And when I see it now, I remember it as a moment in time where I was trying to make sense of my world…

So now that you know that bit about me, just know that I’ve been that dude crying in church. I’ve been that dude waving my arms with my eyes closed singing to god.

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So I open up IG, and I know a lot of it is just jokes…but when I see dudes literally BEGGING on their hands and knees to purchase certain sneakers…it makes me wonder…is there something deeper going on here?

IRL I’ve seen kids literally *exclude other kids* because of shoes on their feet.

I know that a whole hell of a lot of us hit up SNKRS as almost a weekly ritual - folks saying they’re trying for things that they don’t even want.

And what about these people going to shows to get their shoes signed by Yeezus and Travis Scott (remember that dude who turned down 6 figures for those TS AF1’s?)

I’ve had people…like grown adults…tell me…that there is a lot you can tell about a person by the type of brands they choose to identify with.

So I began to ask myself…where have I seen this kind of fanaticism before?

And I don’t mean this to be disrespectful in the least…but…when I read a study recently that tried to find a scientific link between brands and religions…what do you think this study showed?