Stuart Elliott: Brands Point the Way in Unusual Election Year

In 2002, Adbusters, the activists who oppose the commercialization of culture, introduced what they called the corporate America flag, with the stars replaced by logos for ubiquitous, dominant brands such as Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, McDonald's, Nike, Philip Morris, Starbucks and Walmart. At the time, it seemed like artful agitprop, but given what's happened since then -- and especially the wild and wacky goings-on the past year -- I've come to believe it was prophetic ... though not quite in the manner the anti-ad crowd had hoped.