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So why has the Chanel version gotten people so het up?... ... Chanel does lay out all the contents of the calendar on its website, so it’s not a secret what anybody is getting for their money. It’s not apparent that their offering is any more flimflam than that of other brands.
But because it was new, and because it cost so much [$825], and because it was Chanel, with all the mythology built into the name, the stakes and expectations may have been higher. And the sense of betrayal when those expectations were not met, greater — and, it would seem, the desire to publicly pile on in response, irresistible.
Those who profit from perception can also lose because of it. What Ms. Harmon opened up wasn’t just a new mini perfume. It was a new reality, now completely out of the box."
Here's Elise Harmon's viral TikTok video, showing her unboxing the Chanel Advent calendar. Here's Chanel's presentation, revealing what you get for the money (click to enlarge):
Note that it starts with Day 5 (like the #5 perfume) instead of Day 1.
Here's some detail on that Tiffany package.
I can't see getting outraged at this. I think it's funny — brilliant packaging and mind control. Isn't this about men who have enough money to want to save time and impress some woman who they know loves a particular brand? Who can feel the slightest bit sorry for them?
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19 comments:
'I can't see getting outraged at this.'
The outrage for many of us is the commercialization and secularization of Christmas.
Happy Holidays...
I don't get it. People are pretending to be upset that high-end luxury goods are high-priced and deliver prestige rather than value? Of course, the whole point of a luxury good is that it can't be justified from a value perspective.
On the other hand, it IS fun to make fun of luxury goods, so I guess everybody gets something out of this. It's frivolous fun for everyone. What would society be if it didn't include frivolous fun that doesn't really hurt anyone (beyond wasting the money of a few people who have too much money).
I can't see getting outraged at this. I think it's funny
But of course. After all, it's an insult and profanity of God and religion.
Outraged? Bored is more like it. I studiously ignore any article that includes "The worlds most expensive [fill in the blank]". Why do I care? You can literally write one of those every day for the rest of your life and not run out of topics. It's clickbait for someone I assume or they wouldn't write them, but not for me. Are they selling envy? The fact some have sunk as low as turning religious themed items into materialistic buffoonery isn't really surprising.
I'll look away again when they write about the "worlds most expensive" Menorah/Rosary Beads/etc.
I didn’t see the Basquiat painting or the four foot cabinet. Couldn’t find an image on the internet, either. It looks like a Chanel perfume bottle. Seems very overpriced
Oh. Disregard my previous comment. I got my luxury brands confused. Tiffany might be worth it if the calendar has jewelry in it.
For that kind of money the shipping box had better come with Keira Knightley or Kristen Stewart inside
"I can't see getting outraged at this. I think it's funny — brilliant packaging and mind control. Isn't this about men who have enough money to want to save time and impress some woman who they know loves a particular brand? Who can feel the slightest bit sorry for them?"
Precisely.
Why do people feel it imperative to find outrage with others stuff? Be aware of your own lives. If something like this, being purchased by someone else, affects you so much, you need to re-examine your own life. Enlarge it.
The little doors are the main fun of an Advent calendar. The Tiffany version doesn't have them. It's a big cabinets with wrapped and numbered presents in it. Not very Advent calendar-ish.
time to make up new word - faux-trage
The advent calendar celebrates the days approaching Christ’s birth. Each has a special meaning.
This is the money changers in the manger.
Why you find this repetitively amusing might also suggest introspection, if not restraint.
Do Hanukkah and Ramadan next. I dare you.
Meade, this might be a hint.
…four pounds of back bacon, three french toasts, two turtlenecks…and a beer…
…who makes that calendar? Roots?
Back in the day leftie media would fawn all over the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog. Without shame…
'Do Hanukkah and Ramadan next. I dare you.'
Yes...Jews, Christians in general, and Catholics in particular are easy targets in the U.S.
By insulting them you are unlikely to get blown up or beheaded.
Start posting drawings of Mohammed and see where that gets you...
Men don’t buy these for women. Perfume collectors or “luxury” collectors, and young women who have their first real money to blow buy them for themselves. I collect niche and vintage perfumes so am familiar with the perfume community. Some of these beauty advents are apparently a good deal for people who like specific brands. It’s not my thing but I enjoy looking at the packaging of some.
The Chanel packaging and items were some of the chintziest I have ever seen. The items are literally things a brand would give away at a trade show to people they didn’t think could afford their products but might hype them up on social media. A beauty calendar from your local department store would have better quality items in it other than the actual Chanel perfume. The only interesting thing about this Chanel one is the box. Is it even paper maché though or is it plastic? Whatever, perfume advents are an overpriced luxury for middle class women and gay guys. Chanel really messed up with this piece of trash. People buy them to feel exclusive and wealthy. Plastic bracelets and teeny-tiny sample bottles doesn’t make the people who buy into this stuff feel fancy.
My local Safeway is selling wine advent calendars. I understand it pairs well with chocolate.
“People are pretending to be upset that high-end luxury goods are high-priced and deliver prestige rather than value?”
There was a time when luxury goods were beyond the reach of anyone who was not truly wealthy. These goods typically were costly because their creation required a great deal of skilled labor. There may still be a market for this, but it would have to be a very small one because these are beyond the reach of practically everyone.
This concept of luxury got up-ended by the concept of mass-market luxury: luxury for all! (or at least for the middle class). These goods are hardly of extraordinary quality; sometimes they are downright shoddy. Their value lies in their brand names, not in anything intrinsic to the goods themselves. If you were to strip away the brand name from that $2,000. handbag it might have trouble fetching $20. in a thrift store. And although these goods often appear absurdly pricey if one looks for intrinsic value, they are within the reach of just about any middle-class person.
At one time Tiffany may have been a purveyor of luxury goods as the term was once understood, but mass-market luxury is obviously far more profitable as it combines large margins with reasonably large sales volumes. And, presumably Tiffany wants some of that (and why wouldn’t they?).
And, yes, many of those who are outraged! at this are the same people who will queue up to buy a Tiffany Advent Calendar for a mere $1,000. even though there’s nothing tangible to it but some cardboard and a few cheap trinkets.
I am reminded of the small boy selling silver bracelets to tourists in India, who was asked the price for one, by a college aged female tourist. "Oh, wise beauty, we can sell you a bracelet at any price you can afford, from the least small coins in your pocket to the fullness of your wealth! Of course, for a grand, exotic, beautiful woman like you, only the most wonderful and rare of jewelry will suffice. Would you wear one of my bangles, no, two, or three, and thus adorned draw even more attention than already Nature has allowed?"
I think at least $10 per bracelet was the final, highly inflated price, with several sold. Much like what happened with that lovely young tourist, with the Advent gift boxes it isn't the items being sold, it is the sales pitch.
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