Commercialism

[JohnsonJones]

I took my one of my grand daughters shopping on Saturday.  I was struck by some of the shirts and sweaters that I saw in the store.  They were walking commercials for other things.

This is not new, it's been around for decades, but it struck me how prevalent it is and how willing we are to pay to advertise for someone else.

Here are a couple examples...

There was a shirt with Marvel Superheroes on it.  It was being sold for ~$22.  If we bought that, it would be advertising the Marvel brand with those superheroes and they would make money off of us paying for the opportunity to advertise for them.

With it being Halloween, they had some sweatshirts with a Simpson's Halloween type message on it.  Why would I pay to advertise the Simpsons, but there it was.

Various sports gear such as Nike had it's brand on some shirts and such.  Obviously wearing it would advertise Nike, but what does it do for me?  I get to pay for the privilege of wearing their brand and advertising it to others?

It struck me, why are we paying these companies to be walking billboards for them?  Why does my grand daughter (and others obviously) want to buy this stuff?  What does it do for them?

We have so much stuff that we can wear as walking advertisements these days.  I might wear one if they give me the clothes for free, but over the decades it seems it's been ingrained in Western society that it is cool to wear others advertisements on our clothes and pay them for the privilege. 

I am thinking and wonderng why we do this?

[Ironhold]

Clothing of this nature signals who and what the wearer ostensibly supports or is interested in.

 

That being said...

Never wear clothing that features text written in a language you don't speak or read. 

Back in the late 2000s / early 2010s, a popular trend was for people to wear clothing with Japanese text printed on it. This came to a brief halt when it was discovered that many of these clothes had messages mocking the wearer for cultural appropriation and not actually knowing Japanese. 

[NeuroTypical]

On 10/25/2022 at 4:38 AM, JohnsonJones said:

It struck me, why are we paying these companies to be walking billboards for them?  Why does my grand daughter (and others obviously) want to buy this stuff?  What does it do for them?

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Good old fashioned capitalism, teamed up with peer pressure, and the desire to be loved and accepted, has monetized the feelings behind the notion.  Turned it into something like this:

"omigosh I love the Avengers! And I gotta have the new Black Panther shirt, because I support BLM!  C'mon grandpa, you don't want me to be some social pariah, do you?"

Not that hard to understand if you think about it.  How many of these bumper stickers did we see in the last 2 years?

Edited October 26, 2022 by NeuroTypical

[Backroads]

I see your point that these things can definitely be taken too far. 

And yet your examples of Marvel and The Simpsons... both are very popular things, cultural things that people love and can share in. I have my own share of nerdy clothing. I absolutely am supporting other people's businesses, people who are probably making a little to a far lot more than me. I am, in a way, proud to do so. Wearing a Harry Potter or Firefly t-shirt makes me happy, and in some cases has led to starting conversations and making new friends. Wearing the "merch" of smaller organization has helped me find those in these niche quirky fandoms. The bigger ones, so what if they're making tens of millions of dollars or more off of me? I like them and the happiness they have brought into my life. The smaller ones, it may be blasé to say, but I'm supporting a small business. 

For this matter, I don't really wear stuff that is merely namebrand (though I do have a Carhartt hoodie that says as much hanging around) because even if they're quality just wearing a name doesn't really suit me much. 

But the stuff that brings happiness... I'll wear it. 

[NeuroTypical]

I've built an entire personality around flashing symbols so eclectically, that only .5% of the people I encounter will recognize that I'm doing so.  Which reminds me, I'm back in the office now, time to stick my boi back on his shelf: