It’s a story about us, people, being persuaded to spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need to create impressions that won’t last on people we don’t care about.
– Peter Jackson, at TEDGlobal 2010
It started with Coach, Godiva Chocolatier, and Cadillac. “Accessible luxury”, it was called. Brands that used to be known as luxury goods started making cheaper versions of their products for the masses. Soon after, other long-time luxury brands like Mercedes and Louis Vuitton jumped on board with $23,000 “luxury” cars and $100 wallets and keychains. There were a number of stories like Tiffany & Co., which rescued itself by selling a shitload of $100 silver necklaces.
Then something weird happened. The buying habits of a huge segment of American society began to shift. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, nobody had big screen TVs and most people didn’t pay more than a couple hundred bucks for a television. But in the mid-2000’s, a whole segment of the population went out and dropped thousands of dollars on LCD and plasma TVs. Where people used to scoff at paying a couple of hundred dollars for a Coach purse, teenagers were now buying Louis Vuitton bags at double and triple the price. You can’t even find jeans under $100 in a lot of stores these days.
What the hell happened to people’s judge of value? A $600 Louis Vuitton logo purse, which made of plastic, is no more useful than a grocery bag. $300 jeans don’t last longer or look better than $25 Levi’s. Hell, they usually don’t last as long as Levi’s because some asshole already took a sandblaster to them. But, people’s judge of value didn’t change. What they valued changed. People started to value what strangers thought about them more than they valued something’s intrinsic worth or usefulness. People got more pleasure out of how an object made other people feel than how that object made them feel.
The above quote, Fight Club-esque as it may be, is revealing. These “accessible luxuries” are things we don’t need, bought to create impressions that won’t last on people we don’t care about. Are your friends going to think better of you because you bought a $700 purse or $200 jeans? Well, fuck you. Those are some pretty terrible friends you’ve picked. If it’s not for your friends, who’s it for? The hostess at the restaurant? The angry 400 pound TSA agent yelling at you for taking your shoes off? That’s ridiculous.
Buying for vanity can be fun. It can be instant gratification. But it’s a bad decision. Long-term, deep gratification is better. Buy tools. Invest in yourself. Bank cash. Then you’ll have the opportunity to use those tools, skills and cash to create meaningful impressions that last, on the people you care about most.
.