Quote:
Originally Posted by Revlis
It's a form of status seeking... It's little more than an attempt to appear wealthy, or "IN"...
All you have to do is watch TV and you'll quickly see this pathetic "You are NOT cool unless you buy 'X'." Marketing ploy. It's obvious and it's everywhere. Problem is that so many Americans are so culturally crippled that many do not even know they have been sort of suckered in, while others are so desperate for imagined respect that they will spend thousands on shit they don't need in a misguided attempt to buy respect, class, or appear somehow better off than the next guy.
Clothes, Cars, Watches, even addresses are all used as little "Badges" of Cool.
Watching this board is a comical or tragic parade of the Status seeker many times. It's primarily US phenomenon I think. It's the lack of any real culture, any real sense of self that causes so many Americans to seek out every little bit of status symbol they can find. In a Culture where Money is looked at as it's own end, and the wealthy are viewed as somehow special it's only a matter of time before folks start trying to emulate their behaviors.
It's reaching epidemic proportion in the States though. Fast food culture, "artists" singing about their "Bling" and "Benzes", and hordes of fools putting the 24 inch chrome wheels on their Escalades cause "Fiddy" does it... WTF? It's not about whats in your head, it's not about having a real personality. It's about presenting an image that the TV told you is cool, that gets "bitches", represents just how "hard" you think you are, and is proof that you are "Ballin".
If we are listing bullshit labels though lets not forget the worst or the silliest of the Labels....
Hollister
Abercrombie
Lucky
Louis Viton
BMW
Mercedes
Lexus
ROTFL Chrysler 300 and Chargers He he he...
Dolce and Gabbana
TAG Heuer
On and on.
In large part I'm sure that all of this goes back to the basic human need to feel "Better" than the next guy. Christians VS Everyone, Ford VS Chevy, BMW VS Everyone.... It's just typical my shit is better than your shit and you can tell because my logo says so. 
Or something like that.
Travel overseas or get out of certain areas in the US and you'll find that much of the label whoring looses all meaning, a Rolex impresses nobody out in the sticks. 
Everyone needs to learn to enjoy their own shiny shit because they like it, not because someone else might think you're cool because of it. |
You make a lot of good points
, but everyone that I have ever met/seen from europe, including my vacations in Italy, has shown to me at least that they are the biggest label whores on the planet.
When I think of a label whore I think of all things associated with fashion, and even if you include automobiles, a lot of it comes from Europe. I think autos are different though because although some tools buy a car as a status symbol, I think that a huge group of enthusiasts buy a car for what it can do, not what badge its wearing. That is why I sold my E46 for a Honda S2000. I was pretty aware that a Honda badge didn't have more snob appeal
, but I could care less because the car offered a better driving experience.
I kind of got off on a tangent, but my main point was that Americans are certainly not the only ones who buy crap to feel important or accepted, there is plenty of eurotrash doing the same. The only difference is that they have to pay more then us to do it.
