You Can Literally Sell Anything to Anyone with the Right Marketing

[Ryuzaki]

I just watched this video... it was on Reddit entitled "You can sell a hipster anything..." so I clicked play.

Basically, from what I can tell, the hipster community glorified the sub-culture of the north west and north mid-west, with a hint of colonialism and americana. This means flannel shirts, beards, and trying to smell like a forest.

So these hipster dudes are literally cutting logs, splitting them, and then taking scalpels to them to precisely cut them with grooves and rub ginger and whatever into it so it has a certain cedar/hipster smell.

Then they sell a bundle of three or four of these logs for $1,200.

People are buying decorative, artisanal firewood for four-figures...

People will pay exorbitant prices to pretend to have a certain lifestyle and upbringing and to be a part of an in-crowd. You're literally more authentic if you go to Goodwill and buy a 25 cent flannel shirt and some jeans, throw on some steel toed boots, and hack a few pieces of logs with a hatchet. But people don't actually want to be woodsmen, they want to pretend to be woodsmen.

And there's a whole boatload of people getting rich off of it. They're selling beard combs, beard oils, shirts and pants for $500, and logs of wood that I throw in the stove without thinking about it... for $1,200.

We have no excuses.

There are needs that are being filled, even if they aren't pragmatic in any way. Insecure people will spend crazy money to put on a mask, especially if you call it art or appeal to their ideals and fantasy visions on their heads.

Disclaimer: if this is some joke that I'm not in on, everything I said still holds true. These folks go to the mall and spend $300 on a pair of shredded jeans and boots with chainsaw oil stains on them. I've been in home decoration stores with crap like this, driftwood, and even buying rocks. Make money.

 

[lion1978]

and logs of wood that I throw in the stove without thinking about it... for $1,200.

Now you know not to burn logs just s(m)ell them to the hipster crowd, they want to smell like they have been hard at work in the woods with the other lumberjack, but they are also "like OMG then I'd have to break a sweat, no way"
but yes you are correct you can literally sell anything , if you touch on the right emotions and psycological triggers.

These folks go to the mall and spend $300 on a pair of shredded jeans and boots with chainsaw oil stains on them.

It's funny isn't it how much money people are willing to spend to look cheap.

 

[contract]

$315 for a t-shirt.

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Brunell...S__GooglePLA&gclid=CIXLkf6j-8wCFQ2QaQodeu0C_A

That's a Jersey t-shirt, made with Cotton.

It's not a special fabric, the cut isn't made in house or designed in Italy, etc. There is absolutely nothing even remotely unique about it. I know what manf sells that same shirt, and it runs about $4 without a bulk purchase involved.

Another note:

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Brunell...Medium-Wash-Jeans-Indigo/prod158230069/p.prod

$595 for Cotton jeans, cotton. No selvage, no raw denim, no dyes, just run of the mill cotton jeans.

I get the whole "style" thing, but those jeans are really outdated. There is nothing remotely fashionable about them. I should know... Compare them to Wrangler, $20 jeans if you will. Not a single thing, even a cool rivet or stitch pattern, can be found.

...

At least with women's handbags they have unique designs.

But even those are pure marketing aimed to make other women jealous of other women.

Some of those bags go for well over $20,000 - $60,000 EACH.

Same deal with women's shoes.

....

Lately, there's been a huge lack of innovation and push for letting marketing sell as the innovation. People today will buy anything even if an iphone with a new color and marketed as the special edition, etc. I'm okay with that though, more money for me.

 

[Nat]

The video is satire, by the way. Damn good satire I might add.

But, your point still stands.

 

[lion1978]

I have to go ahead and make the "real man deoderant" 33% gunpowder sent, 33% sweat smell. and finaly 33% motoroil sent.
I'll call it RMD I can already see the campaigns:
RMD- the smell of a real man. LOL

 

[Potatoe]

The video is satire, by the way. Damn good satire I might add.

But, your point still stands.

It's by This Is That, sort of like a Canadian version of the Onion, funded by the government. Their radio show is great, they get people all riled up and calling in to give their opinions on these fake stories.