Mom! None of the jeans in my drawer fit! I think I need a new pair. Well, I'll have to get you some from that company you like; John Cool Guy when I go to Wal-Mart. But those kind of jeans aren't cool anymore! I want some new American Eagle jeans! Those are too expensive! John Cool Guy jeans are just the same, and I think that they look just as cool. But mom, John Cool Guy jeans are lame, and besides, American Eagle is name brand, everyone has them!
Name brands, what are they, and how do they affect your life? Despite what some people may think, name brands are everywhere, and affect you in more ways than you're probably aware of.
Maybe clothes aren't your cup of tea. That's fine, but that still deosn't mean you aren't affected by brand names. Let's say you are into sports. If you got a brand new pair of Nike liquid gel shoes that weren't even available on the market yet, would you be excited to tell all of your friends? Of course you would! But what if you got a pair of shoes from some brand you've never even heard of, like Jike's, or Badita's, or even Threebok, and they looked exactly the same as all of the other average shoes out there. Let's be honest here, would you really be as eager to show them off? No, of course not. This is just one of the ways that name brands work and operate.
So how do name brands become so popular? Well, it could be done in a number of ways. Mabye a huge celebrity owns a brand, like G-Unit, and Shawn John. It could also have to do with the advertising; for example, the iPod nano. The comercial just sucks you in so well, by making the nano seem so tiny, and so affordable, with so many cool features, that you just have to have it! And so does everyone else. Which is yet another way certain name brands become so popular. One kid at the school has a nano, shows it off to their freinds, and pretty soon, the friends get one, and so do their friends, permeating the iPod like some contagious disease. Other brands however, like Farrari, and Lamborghini, have been around for such a long time that we know about their legendary quality. We also tend to think that the more expensive something is, the cooler, or better they are.
So lets rewind a bit. Remeber American Eagle? Of course you do, I can see that some of you are wearing American Eagle shirts. What makes them so popular? Why do so many people, boys and girls, buy these shirts? In order to understand this phenomenon,
I created a survey sheet with four shirts, 2 American Eagles and 2 Wal-Marts. I asked people to pick their favourite shirt. However, I removed the American Eagle logo so people would not be influneced by the brand name. Shockingly, 95% of the people asked chose the clothes from Wal-Mart! After I told them this, I asked them what their thoughts were. Most people said that Wal-Mart actually looked the same as American Eagle. When I showed them the difference in prices, they were shocked. American Eagle cost 40 dollars, while Wal-Mart only cost 13 bucks. Yet when I asked if they would actually ever buy the clothes from Wal-Mart, they said no, because the name brand fabric was a higher quality, and everyone owns American Eagle.
I guess when it all comes down to it, that's the main reason everyone buys name brand stuff. To fit in. I guess if everyone liked Wal-Mart, it would become a name brand. But that just makes me wonder, if people would go through such great lengths to get the cool name, just to fit in, then what wouldn't they do to fit in?
Hi honey I'm back. Geuss what I got you? American Eagle! Oh. What's wrong honey? Nothing, it's just that.... American Eagle isn't so cool anymore. What do you mean? Well... John Cool Guy is where it's at. I really want some, after all, it's a name brand, and everybody has one!
