What Do Buddhists Think of Pervasive Buddha Branding?

New year, new tenuously legitimate diet rooted in spirituality. The Buddha diet is one of January's horde. Ostensibly rooted in sensible, restrictive eating, it's also one of the latest examples of consumer society co-opting asceticism to sell stuff. The book Buddha's Diet is climbing bestseller lists; Buddha bowls, the once left-field food-truck lunches, are coming to Marks & Spencer (branded as nourish bowls); and the 15-strong chain of Buddha Bars has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Nothing, it seems, is safe from this blasphemous gravy train.