Summary

Klein begins her guide to resisting shock politics by stating outright that Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election by “becoming the ultimate brand” (15). In order to understand this assertion, one must understand the power of branding in the current age of marketing. Klein claims that since the mid-1980s, corporations have adopted the idea that to be successful, they “must primarily produce brands as opposed to products” (24). Thus, corporations like Starbucks and Apple are not merely selling coffee and computers, but membership to a tribe that holds itself accountable to a set of ideals or values; thus, they can manufacture and sell their brand, a cheaper commodity to produce, and let contractors in low-wage foreign countries manufacture their products. According to Klein, Donald Trump built his business model around this idea of a “hollow-brand” that owns little...