The present day obsession with brands have left today's "aspiration class" riding the materialistic wave. The aspiration of climbing up the social ladder is fulfilled by brands. The growing number of malls and billboards in our cities spoiling the natural surroundings is a direct outcome of this demand. What we don't realize is that even if temporarily these brands help us increase our social standing (fueled by money), they at the same time make us more lonely. Marketers project brands as a way to fulfill dreams, as a way to be happier. While this gives us the temporary pleasures of a worldly life, it takes us away from close relations. We devote more of our time to earn more, which fulfills our materialistic desires. The outcome is that this pursuit distances ourselves from relationships and makes us lonelier.
Ironically, this loneliness is overcome by again indulging with brands.