CREDIT: CANDIS BROSS
Your logo is best used to wipe the butts of the annoying brand-worshipers in the world.

With the Lenten season nearing an end and Easter, the most important Christian holiday, upon us, there is no better time than now to see how false idols have come to be venerated across the globe. The all-mighty corporate and the multitudes of sports team logos have become something people worship and revere.

The world is full of brand-whores who proudly display corporate logos and insignias that line the pockets of the well-to-do blindly and faithfully. As if wearing a swoosh or the colours of a new generation or cheer for a last place NHL team give us some type of higher purpose. Should we even care?

Interestingly Psalm 135:15-18 of the Christian Bible reads, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them!”

Even here at Fanshawe we are not immune to logo worship. Take a look around and your eyes will most likely land on some corporate logo, whether it’s Fanshawe’s, the FSU’s or some multinational company logo. And with any logo there are rules and policies that will govern its use; a bible of sorts that commands when, where and how it can be used.

I can only imagine what it was like when the scribes emerged from the inner sanctums of whatever back office with their version of the King James Bible and out into the cascading rays of sunlight through the vestibule and into the corporate boardrooms. I can hear the angels singing, like Charlton Heston descending the mountain with the Commandments in The Ten Commandments. The unwritten 11th Commandment being some sort of dictum reading like, thou shall not use our logo without the express written permission blah blah blah or something to that effect. What a revelation.

And with any movement there are disciples and zealots. Those people who jump up and down yelling, “Look at me, see what I see. It’s crooked. I am the most devoted. Take my money.” As if making the biggest donation or loudest noise entitles someone to some heavenly reward, a number one fan foam finger or a pat on the head from a supervisor. Good sleuthing, Sherlock. Elementary, Watson. Or some sort of dialogue that equates to meaningless patter.

I wonder what would happen if a Fanshawe logo miraculously burned into some schmucks toast randomly, but it’s slightly distorted or out of proportion, or heaven forbid tilted? Does said use lie outside Fanshawe’s own logo use manifesto? Do we destroy it, or see it for the miracle it is and put it behind glass in H-Gallery for all to see? Kind of like that potato chip a few years back with what people thought was Jesus’ face. Thankfully the temptation to eat that sour cream and onion chip wasn’t as great as the need to share it with the world. But if it had been say salt and vinegar, would that chip have survived?

In all seriousness Logomaniacs, the world is full of logos, emblems, flags and identifiers. None more important than the next, and each is just a speck in the universe. Logo reverence needs to be put in its place.

Happy Easter or whatever holiday you may be celebrating in the near future.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.