Nike. Hermes. Pepsi. Versace. Starbucks. Mercedes. Armani.   You know these names, and so do millions of people worldwide. They are “brands,” exclusive trademarks used by manufacturers. Brands are a multibillion dollar economic juggernaut that drives the global economy.

Brands may be great for business, but they’re bad for the soul. They used to be about quality and style, and a good brand meant a reliable, high-quality product. (And a brand that lost its reputation was mocked – I remember when a certain car company was ridiculed by saying it’s name stood for “Fix or repair daily”). But contemporary brands are more about image than quality. The logo on the front of a polo shirt is a substitute for personal identity.

It’s usually wise to avoid judging a book by its cover (or as the Mishnah puts it, judging a wine by the bottle). But with brands, we’re encouraged to believe that changing our cover will change our personality. Ads imply that a brand’s image will become our own. If we drink Pepsi, we will “think young,” and if we buy an Apple computer, we will “think different.”

Nike sneakers proclaim that you are a proactive person who will “just do it,” and true love requires a diamond, because “a diamond is forever.” As Susan Fournier, a Harvard University business professor, put it: “People look at brands as carriers of symbolic language and forget that a brand’s first purpose is to close the sale.”

Brands are junk food for the soul. The search for identity is a powerful spiritual force that encourages people to live meaningful lives. Even when people have all their other needs met, they still need to create a spiritual identity.

As the prophet Amos says: “Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a hunger to hear the words of God.”

But a store-bought brand identity substitutes ersatz meaning for spiritual depth.

The glamour of brands makes them far more attractive than old-fashioned spirituality. People contort themselves in order to buy a Porsche or a Rolex. Among young, upper middle class couples, there is what I call a “baby versus BMW dilemma.” Should they have another child and live more modestly, or should they have fewer kids in order to afford “the ultimate driving machine?” In a materialistic, brand-intoxicated culture, too many people choose BMWs over babies.

Like junk food, brands are a tasty little pleasure when enjoyed in moderation. But brands aren’t a substitute for a healthy spiritual diet.

You can’t fill your soul with fashionable but hollow designer vanity.

Unfortunately, too many people have sold their souls for a logo.