Consumer Republic dares you to consider this: The power to save the world lies with the consumer. The foundation of Bruce Philp's message is this single, inarguable truth: Brands make corporations accountable. They are the only leverage the average consumer has with which to make a company behave itself. Expensive to create, essential to making money, and more public than anything else a corporation has or does, a brand is an enormously valuable and fragile asset to them. And we consumers have the power to make it worthless. As someone who has worked on the inside, Philp knows exactly how this power can be made to work for us. Through this book he will inspire you to make every dollar you spend count. To buy less, maybe, but demand better. To make better choices. And then to speak up when you're happy and when you're not. Pin every one of these acts to a brand, Consumer Republic promises, and corporations will be forced to cooperate in making our way of life sustainable. Abandon brands, and we'll surrender the marketplace to scoundrels. Take control of them, and we can save the world.From the Hardcover edition.