Christian author and speaker Skye Jethani wrote about his kindergarten-aged daughter's homework assignment: Help your child identify as many logos as possible. Jethani said that without hesitating, she identified Pizza Hut, Target, and Lego. At home, she collected the logos of Disney, Jell-O, and Goldfish Crackers. Later, while drinking a glass of water, she proudly shouted, "That says IKEA!" She spotted the tiny logo imprinted on the bottom of the glass.

Jethani reflected:

Should it scare me that my five-year-old had memorized more corporate brands than Bible verses or even names of relatives? Also scary was the fact that no one taught her to identify logos. We didn't have corporate logo flashcard drills at home. Zoe internalized these logos simply by living for five years in a brand-saturated culture.

This sort of brand marketing has been so effective that the average ten-year-old has already memorized between 300 and 400 brands. When these children become adolescents, each with an average of $100 of disposable cash to spend every week, they will select from these brands to construct their identities—identities they can eat, drink, smoke, drive, play, ride, and wear.

The spiritual value of shopping is not lost on marketers. Douglas Atkins, author of The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers, states plainly that, "Brands are the new religion."