Saturday, September 01, 2007

LOUIE LOUIE..............................VUITTON

LUXURY IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE.

IT ONCE MEANT A COSTLY ITEM THAT WAS SLOWLY CREATED BY
A MASTER ARTISAN WHO EMPLOYED ONLY THE FINEST MATERIALS.
THE LABEL SAID ‘SPECIAL’, AND THE RESULTING MERCHANDISE WAS JUST THAT.

LUXURY WAS EXPENSIVE.

IT WAS EASY TO TELL WHO HAD WEALTH. THE LABELS SPOKE.

A RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK, DELUXE, DECLARES THAT THE AGE OF LUXURY IS OVER.

IT SEEMS THAT SOMETIME DURING THE LAST FEW DECADES, SOME CORPORATE PROFITEERS BOUGHT OUT THE HOUSES OF LUXE, SUCH AS LOUIE VUITTON, AND DIOR, AMONG OTHERS.
THE BUSINESS FOCUS WENT FROM THE PRIVILEGED BLOODLINE TO THE MIDDLE-MARKET BOTTOM-LINE.


THESE CONGLOMERATES DISCARDED THE CRAFTSMEN, AND STARTED CHURNING OUT THE PRODUCT WITH THIRD WORLD WORKERS USING SECOND-RATE MATERIALS.

THEY DID KEEP ONE GRAND TRADITION…
{THE ONE THING SO MANY FOLKS CRAVED}
… THE “MYSTIQUE OF THE GREAT BRAND NAMES”.
YES. THEY SALVAGED THE LABELS.

REALIZING THAT THOSE LABELS WERE AN UNDEREXPLOITED ASSET, THEY EXPANDED THEIR PRODUCT LINES TO INCLUDE PERFUME, HANDBAGS, BATH TOWELS, SUNGLASSES, SNEAKERS, AND SUCH.
ALL HAD THE VALUABLE LOGO CONSPICUOUSLY DISPLAYED.

THEY PUT THEIR MONEY, NOT INTO THE MERCHANDISE, BUT, INTO ADVERTISING.
WITH THE HELP OF MADISON AVENUE, HOLLYWOOD STARS, AND PRODUCT PLACEMENTS, THE PUBLIC CLAMORED FOR MORE.

MUCH OF THE MASS-CLASS LONGING TO LIVE LA VIDA LOGO COULD NOW BUY THE STATUS SYMBOL ITEMS WHICH WERE BEING MASS-PRODUCED.
FEW COMPLAINED THAT THE GOODS WERE NOT SO GOOD.
THEY GOT WHAT THEY WERE PAYING FOR…A PIECE OF THE CHIC DREAM.

OTHER ENTREPRENEURS, REALIZING THAT THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS MARKET FOR IMAGE WITHOUT QUALITY, STARTED BANGING OUT KNOCK-OFFS OF ALL THE DESIGNER WARES, THEREBY CREATING A COUNTERFEIT LUXURY GOODS MARKET.

THE CONSUMER---THE CONSPICUOUS CONSUMER---THINKS, ' WHY BUY THE EXPENSIVE, OVER-RATED PRODUCT, WHEN THE CHEAP CRAP HAS THE SAME PRESTIGE?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

This weeks Time magazine, has Mikhail Gorbachev in a full page, back cover ad for Louis Vuitton. I agree with you 100%,no one cares about quality anymore. This is why Hillary Clinton is going to be our next president, she is not the real thing, she is a made up product of Madison avenue and the media and most Americans are too stupid to know the difference.

quicksand said...

INTERESTING POINT. SO, YOU SEE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DESIGNER LABELS AND POLITICIANS.

AS TO GEORGE W BUSH...WHERE WOULD HE BE RIGHT NOW WITHOUT HIS FATHER'S DESIGNER LABEL?

Anonymous said...

He would still be ahead of you and I. He is a Harvard MBA. We are not. You could call him stupid all you want but he would put both of us to shame.

quicksand said...

HECK...........I WASN'T EVEN WRITING ABOUT BUSH HERE. BUT....SINCE YOU RAISE THE ISSUE........I WONDER, DO YOU THINK THAT HE GETS INTO HARVARD WITHOUT THE FAMILY LOGO? REALLY?

Anonymous said...

I didn't bring up Bush, you did. You asked, where would he be without his fathers label.I told you that I don't like him and didn't vote for him but he is not stupid.
I don't know how he got into Harvard, but it might have something to do with graduating Yale first. He was also a jet pilot, dummies don't fly jets.He owned the Texas Rangers, He was Governor of Texas and he was President for two terms. That is a hell of a lot more than you and I did with our lives.

quicksand said...

REVIEW:
I WROTE ABOUT LABELS.
YOU BROUGHT UP HILLARY AS NEXT PRESIDENT.
I USED YOUR ARGUMENT AND APPLIED IT TO BUSH.

I STAND BY MY COMMENT THAT BUSH WOULD NOT, IN MY OPINION, HAVE DONE THE THINGS YOU LIST, INCLUDING GETTING INTO YALE, WITHOUT HIS FAMILY PEDIGREE.

THANK YOU FOR COMPARING MY LIFE TO THAT OF A PRESIDENT.

Anonymous said...

How about the ulitmate label crossover trick: The Ford Explorer.....Eddy Bauer edition!

quicksand said...

BRANDING WORKS IN POLITICS AND THE MERCHANDISING WORLD TOO.

WE'RE LIKE BRANDED CATTLE.

Anonymous said...

to quicksand...

Speak for yourself! I don't even have a tatoo.

quicksand said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
quicksand said...

FRIEND OF MR. BEN,

YES, YOU ARE PURE AND INKLESS.

BUT, ONE QUARTER OF WE AMERICANS ARE SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINES.

NOW, IF YOU TAKE 300,000,000 AMERICANS, DIVIDE BY 4...[EXCLUDE THE KIDLINGS].......THAT'S A LOT OF INK.

NOTE: A LARGE PART OF THAT ARTWORK IS SITUATED JUST NORTH OF MANY RUMPS.

Anonymous said...

to quicksand:
far from pure, just inkless

Anonymous said...

what does louis vuitton have to do with the next election/previous elections?

Anonymous said...

Elections have always been about labels: Pinko, liberal, conservative, right to life, pro-choice, soft on crime, tough on crime, gay, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Morman etc. etc. etc. It's so much simpler to address labels than complex issues.

quicksand said...

THE PREOCCUPATION WITH THINGS LIKE LABELS LEAVES PEOPLE TOO DISTRACTED TO DEAL WITH THINGS LIKE OCCUPATIONS, MAYBE?

Anonymous said...

Americans can sell anything.... from pet rocks to presidents. it's all in the marketing. Universities are filling classes with courses on marketing everything from A-Z (such as your public library, not just jean s and pocketbooks). We market ourseleves looking for a job and so does Hillary. Hey, she's gotta eat too.

quicksand said...

HERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MARKETING LABELS....ATTACHED TO PRODUCTS...
NOT PRODUCTS.