Brands are not our friends

Tim Burrowes

April 20, 2009 7:33

Not only do I not want brands to try and be my friend, normally I want them to leave me completely alone.

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Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.

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3 COMMENTS

Anonymous 21 Apr 09

Right you are. Now what?

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AdGrunt 21 Apr 09

Click the link, read the piece, make a comment?

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AdGrunt 21 Apr 09

Oh yeah, make a comment.

He’s right. There is no brand that I want as my “friend.”
If you think of brands as your friends, then you probably need to get out more.
If brands want to be my friend, then they’d better start ponying up on the transactional front… and I want to be in permanent credit.
Apart from that, the simple rules of friendship apply. Don’t lie. Don’t rip me off. Don’t take me partner. Make me feel better about you and myself. Have lots of fun together.

And let’s not go into when we get drunk…

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