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The Brand Name for People Opposed to BrandsNew Balance sneakers are favored by anti-globalization protesters, but once black-and-white choices are fading to gray.
The New Balance walking shoes are not the nicest ones in the store. In fact, they're quite ugly. They don't have a drop of the charm oozing from Nike or the panther-like nobility of Pumas or the soothing colorful brilliance of Adidas. Unlike the latest, alluring fashion of delicate sneakers, most New Balance shoes have a chaotic and coarse design. They look wide and heavy and the logo - the letter N - appears to have been printed on them randomly. Any sense of harmony is shattered.
But when these shoes were purchased two weeks ago, they were the only conceivable option - at NIS 350 in three installments. The hand and the eye may indeed have been drawn to other shoes - nice and tempting - but the head said: No. It's prohibited.
Only New Balance has acquired a reputation as a fair company: it's the only company that still manufactures sneakers in the United States. Nike is seen as the epitome of global evil. Adidas and Puma are reportedly just as bad. There is no alternative, the only choice is New Balance.
This is the brand name for people opposed to brand names. "I surveyed the shoes worn by protesters," wrote a reporter recently in a Florida newspaper article on the anti-globalization protests
more: www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/4750... (107)
September 8, 2004 | Viewed 20,946 time(s)
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