Sometimes, it’s pretty obvious that certain products are siblings, but have you ever considered their cousins? Basically, there are a a ginormous number of brands that are controlled by only 10 multinationals: Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, P&G and Nestlé. Although this infographic is around two years old and may not reflect the adoption of other brands under new parents, it definitely shows the extent of ownership worldwide.

If you’re surprised, you’re silly. Why? Because if you think about success – adopted so apparently in the tech world – it is achieved when you sell your company for an exorbitant fee and live off the earnings, in the hope of creating a new product to sell once again.

Unfortunately this causes a number of problems world wide. Because of the size and influence of these companies, they have the ability to impact political, social economic and health decisions worldwide. So in a attempt to combat this issue, it is important to buy brands that aren’t associated with these parent companies. Although a difficult task as most of them have become a part of our lives, now that you are aware of the impact be concious about your consumer position. Just saying.

And, although this infographic only shows the goods industry, ninety percent of the media is controlled by six companies and 10 banks on six countries hold $25.1 trillion of the world’s wealth.

[source: convergence]