# Why do people pay to be walking billboards, and other clothing rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 7, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770 "2003-05-07T21:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/21 "2003-05-08T04:49:22Z")
I have the same issue with brand or corporate names on clothing. Don’t like 'em. I have precisely one Arizona Jeans Company t-shirt, which I almost never wear. It totally made my day a bit over a year ago when I walked into Sports Authority and found a whole shelf of blank t-shirts of various colors at marked-down prices. Those t-shirts make up the majority of my summer shirt wardrobe. I actually probably use a couple more, but not badly enough to go get them. However, if I do, I will definitely look actively for the t-shirt brand, since I’m happy with them. Funny how not having a logo inspires more brand-name loyalty on my part… ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/22 "2003-05-08T05:24:44Z")
What if they’re wearing the label ironically? Is that okay? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/23 "2003-05-08T05:32:14Z")
I’m with the OP. I won’t pay for clothes with advertising on them. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrTuffPaws \* > \*\*Unless it is free, I buy plain colored shirts. No logo, no writing, just cloth. > > Yes my integrity buckles to free things. \*\* Nothing wrong with this either, **MrTuffPaws**. You aren’t compromising your integrity. You get a free item of clothing, and the company gets its advertising. _That_, I don’t mind. A simple business deal, and quite fair. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/24 "2003-05-08T05:39:40Z")
I read an article in Salon once that suggested that when persons of lower socio-economic status begin to make some $$, the first thing they do is purchase some designer thing with a logo on it. The logo makes the item easily identifiable as expensive. The arguement is that if a person is from a more economically disadvantaged background, they wouldn’t be able to itentify something like merino wool, or a Tiffany bean, or a double knitted cashmere t-shirt just by looking - the logo needs to be there to display status. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s one explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/25 "2003-05-08T05:49:13Z")
I think the only advertising T-shirt I own was free from the local telephone company. (I also own an advertising peaked cap, from a casino, but this also was free). Paying more than $10 for a T-shirt sucks big time, and I won’t pay more than $20 for one with a cool design on it – not advertising, though. Reason: it looks tacky, drek and utterly boring. ---
**Author:** ![bo989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@bo989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bo989)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/26 "2003-05-08T06:04:54Z")
I have to disagree with the OP. Nothing more important than looking good and being trendy. Okay, I’m being slightly tongue-in-cheek. But not really. I’m young and need to look good. Clothes, including brand names, are an important part of looking good. I personally think names emblazoned across the front of a shirt are tacky, but a lot of kids my age don’t. And all the power to them… we’ve all gotta establish our places on the social totem pole (hopefully as high as possible). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Hand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mr.Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Hand)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/27 "2003-05-08T06:14:35Z")
Traditionally, advertising is thought to have two purposes: informational and persuasive. It is informational in that advertising familiarizes people with the products on the market and therefore reduces their decision costs when deciding what to consume. In this sense, a certain amount of advertising would be efficient to the extent that $X of advertising decreases consumers’ decision costs in the aggregate by \> $X. We might postulate that Abercrombie and Fitch labeling on clothing is efficient (and therefore socially desirable) if its existence decreases consumers’ decision costs in the aggregate greater than the cost of the advertising itself. (By “cost of the advertising,” I mean not only the cost to the advertiser of labeling the shirts and putting ads on television, but also the costs to people such as **birdgirl** who are offended by the sight of certain kinds of advertising.) Advertising is also thought to be persuasive, in that it operates to convince a given consumer to purchase the advertised product over other products in the market. This kind of advertising is probably inefficient, in that it’s just a deadweight loss so long as it doesn’t result in any corresponding gains. Here’s a thought, inspired by **alice\_in\_wonderland**. Advertising is also good that people purchase to consume independently of the related good. For example, I’m thirsty and want a beer. I go and purchase Coors Lite. Not only do I consume the beer, but I also consume the advertising associated with the brand (“and what about those twins?”). By consuming the advertising, I mean that I get to feel better about myself for associating myself with the advertising (or maybe I just like thinking about blonde twins). My welfare has been increased twice: once by the consumption of the beer, and once by the consumption of the advertising. In this sense, advertising for Abercrombie is not only efficient, but also creates wealth. We can surmise that it is wealth creating because people would only consume advertising if their gain from doing so is greater than the price they pay for doing so. Yay Abercrombie! ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/28 "2003-05-08T07:26:01Z")
This reminds me of a girl at my Uni who contacted a company (Davindoff? I’m not sure) and was able to get them to fund a car. It had the company logo all over it, and all she had to pay for was petrol and perhaps insurance. Does it surprise anyone that she’s the head of the students marketing association? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/29 "2003-05-08T13:47:26Z")
This is part of the reason - [http://www.theonion.com/onion3604/name\_brand\_clothing.html](http://www.theonion.com/onion3604/name_brand_clothing.html) ---
**Author:** ![severin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@severin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/severin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/30 "2003-05-08T14:32:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gerome \* > \*\*I was once walking down Chapel St, Melbourne’s main centre of trendy young things trying to look amazingly cool. I was, for some reason, clothes shopping there and happened to notice a whole rack of t-shirts that had the web address of the company emblazoned across the front. I thought to myself “what the fuck? who would wear that and literally be a walking ad for the website?” > > I walk outside and see three different people wearing this shirt. They all looked like employees of the label, for cryin’ out loud. God, I hate fashion sometimes. \*\* Heh, when you wlak down Chapel or Flinders street you come across a lot of people wearing Quiksilver boardriders. Most of them look like they can’t even swim… A question I always wanted to ask: What’ the big deal is with ENYCE?? I saw someone wearing it in a TV show and they censored it. ---
**Author:** ![severin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@severin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/severin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/31 "2003-05-08T14:33:38Z")
doh! shouldn’t have clicked submit so fast. wlak = walk …wearing ‘Quiksilver boardriders’ **shirts** ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/32 "2003-05-08T14:38:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by birdgirl \* > \*\*Inspired by this thread: If the Shirt fits, read the words first: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=182453](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=182453) > > Why do people pay $39.95 to buy a T-shirt emblazoned with “Hilfiger,” “Nautica,” “Abercrombie & Fitch,” “American Eagle,” “Old Navy,” “Gap,” or some other such clothing company. Don’t they realize they are spending way too much money on an overpriced T-shirt that just makes them a walking advertisement for the company? > > I don’t even know why anyone would want to walk around with some guy’s name across their chest (“Tommy Hilfiger,” “Ralph Lauren,” etc.) Do people honestly think this looks good or is fashionable? I refuse to buy any piece of clothing that has the company’s name anywhere other than the tag (which I promptly cut off when I get home). You already paid enough for the article of clothing; should you now be expected to be a free walking billboard for these designers? > **most people just want to show off, show the world they can afford to buy a brand…pathetic if you ask me…** > > Which brings me to another big rant of mine: Has anyone noticed that clothes from the aforementioned companies all look exactly the same, and are usually way overpriced? (execpt for Old Navy, they’re cheap). All the people who wear these clothes (many of them trying-to-be-trendy teens and college students) look the same, like they were punched out of the same cookie cutter. > **yup. it’s strange. They all eant to be non-conformists, but if you want to belong to their exclusive clicque, you need to be non-conforming in exactly the same way. And this is rebelling…how, exactly? I agree, they all look strangely alike. In Dutch we call this: eenheidsworst 🙂** > > And don’t even get me started on the women’s clothes these companies sell. It seems their only customer base is girls age 13-22. It’s all skin-tight, low-cut T-shirts and micro-mini skirts. Have you seen these skirts? They would barely cover your crotch when you’re standing…I can’t imagine what happens when you sit down. All the pants are super-low waisted, so you have no choice but to look like Britney Spears and feel like your pants are always on the verge of falling down. > **well, women only need to wear clothes to look sexy, I mean, what outdated notion do women have anyway, wearing clothes for warmth and decency? sheesh! 🙂 Seriously, most designers are men, and thus will cloth women according to what they think a woman should look like. The mini skirts are just a fashion fad, it’ll blow over (pardon the pun). I happen to like hipster, so sorry there! (hipsters = low waist trousers)** > > Oh and it’s shorts season now, have you seen these shorts? Bootie shorts or Daisy Dukes don’t even accurately describe them. They are so short, they might as well be underwear. It’s hard to find a pair of shorts these days that doesn’t require you to shave your bikini area to wear! (Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle are the worst offenders with the shorty skirts and shorts.) > > Oh and have you tried to shop for underwear lately? It’s all thongs and G-strings. This is the new fad. What’s really trendy is to have your brightly colored thong visible above your low-waisted tight jeans. 13-year-olds are wearing these outfits. I went out to a nice restaurant near D.C. recently and nearby there was a table of 20-something nice-looking professional women sitting there, all with their G-strings visible above the waistline of their hip huggers. I thought this was disgusting! > **it does look ridiculous. But low waist thongs are hard to find 🙂 I like things, I think they’re very comfortable. But it is becoming mandatory, nearly, and that’s not right, i agree.** > How does a young women find nice fashionable clothes these days without looking like a billboard or a hooker? It just drives me crazy! \*\* one answer: make up your won style. I usually dress very simply, and I’ve no problem finding the clothes I like. Just make up your mind before you go shopping, what it actually is you want to buy, this time around (do you need a pair of trousers, are you just looking to get a few nice tops, do you need shirts?), and then focus on that, and that only. Walk by all those shops that have fab displays, but have price tags to go with it. Go to chains, and go for the plain clothes. You can combine to no end, and plain (meaning without print, and in a simply, non-dateable style) clothes don’t go out of fashion. I don’t know if they’re in the states, but one of my favourite chains is H&M, ever heard of them? They’re Swedish. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/33 "2003-05-08T18:16:26Z")
I love Old Navy - I can buy tons of summer clothes there really cheaply. I don’t seem to have any trouble finding things that don’t have names on them - I have maybe one or two shirts with a logo or store name, but I don’t purposefully avoid them either. As far as finding quality, non-name brand clothes for all body types, these aren’t the stores to shop in. They are specifically marketed to young people and stock clothes for them - which is why they all look the same. Kids want to look the same, but with the illusion they look different. The advertisers want adults to hate the styles, it makes them more appealing to kids. The clothes are for them. Some are worse than others, you can still find basic, non-logo things at Gap, for instance. Sometimes too, you get what you pay for. I’ll pay more for items I will wear again and again, and finding pants with a 34" inseam is enough of a challenge that if I find some good ones, I don’t care who I’m advertising for! ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/34 "2003-05-08T19:21:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\*I read an article in Salon once that suggested that when persons of lower socio-economic status begin to make some $$, the first thing they do is purchase some designer thing with a logo on it. > > The logo makes the item easily identifiable as expensive. The arguement is that if a person is from a more economically disadvantaged background, they wouldn’t be able to itentify something like merino wool, or a Tiffany bean, or a double knitted cashmere t-shirt just by looking - the logo needs to be there to display status. > > I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s one explanation. \*\* Yep that just about nails it perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/35 "2003-05-08T21:41:18Z")
[Ahem.](http://adbusters.org/creativeresistance/spoofads/fashion/tommy/) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/36 "2003-05-09T02:44:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*Great, now I’m confusing **Biggirl** and **Birdgirl**. > > \*\* You ain’t the only one. _Hey, when did I write that? Oh!_ ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/37 "2003-05-09T03:50:29Z")
What astonishes me are those folks who \* tattoo \* corporate logos onto their flesh. I cannot fathom the reasoning behind it. I’ll admit it: I have plenty of T-shirts with “famous maker” logos. I bought them in Mexico for about a dollar apiece, and somewhat doubt their authenticity, but they’re great to clean house and paint in and make nice pajama tops. Obviously branded clothing is nothing more than a way to advertise that a person has enough disposable income to waste on display. It’s visual bragging, frankly, designed to impress others with the amount of money one has spent on such a non-productive item. I’ve often wondered about idealology T-shirts as well. Does the wearer think that anyone will change their opinion on an issue based on seeing the shirt’s message? Today, a woman came into my museum for a tour with her children. She, and the four kids all wore various “Abortion KILLS” t-shirts. Regardless of what you feel about the sentiment expressed, I found it vaguely unsettling to see these shirts on children too young to read them. I also wondered why the mother felt that a museum outing was the perfect place to express her views on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@Dragonstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonstar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/38 "2003-05-09T04:18:10Z")
I wear logo clothes sometimes. I’m a difficult fit for jeans as I’m at the upper end of the misses clothing; too small for womens, have a short inseam, but am not a petite. I love Calvin Klein jeans but refuse to pay to have them shortened and Calvin refuses to make them in my length. Liz Claiborne jeans fit me and I recently discovered that so do Tommy Hilfiger. Tommy jeans were 40% off, and a sweater I liked was marked down to $15.97…the next time I went shopping I found a pair of jeans that was marked down to $19.97. BTW, these are normal jeans, not the low rise. The Tommy logo on my stuff is a tiny little flag. I don’t like the overt logo merchandise. As far as underwear, I like Victoria’s Secret cotton. They make several styles, not all of which are thongs. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/39 "2003-05-09T04:52:56Z")
A dear friend once custom-made me a beautiful “Anticrombie and Bitch” t-shirt. I wore it with pride. All other logos get obliterated unless the item was free and I support it (for example, my assorted tote bags with progressive political party/pressure group logos). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770/40 "2003-05-09T15:12:26Z")
What I don’t get is designer underwear. Presumably if you’re in a position where your pants are off, the person you’re with is not going to leave based on the brand of undies you’re sporting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-pay-to-be-walking-billboards-and-other-clothing-rants/173770.md?page=3)