Designer Label Experiment With Thrift Store Shorts
ExperimentStory★★★★Status and Labels te2Iamnotapersonwhospendsmoneyonclotheswithdesignerlabelssothatotherswillbeimpressedwithhow”cool”Iam.ButIknowthisiscommoninourmaterialis-ticculture.Withthisinmind,ItriedanexperimentthatI’dliketotellyouabout.Whenshoppinginathriftstore,Ifoundtwopairsofshortsthatwereidenticalineveryway — off-whiteincolor,knittedfabric,withanelasticwaist.Nothingwasunusualaboutthem,exceptthattheybothhadlabelsonthefrontofthemthatsaidGUESS,andtheywereonsaleforfivedollarseach.SoIboughtbothofthem,andbeforewearingthem,Iremovedoneofthelabelswithaseamripper.Iworetheunlabeledshortstoaweekendyouthevent.Ievenaskedseveralpeople,”Sowhatdoyouthinkofmynewshorts?”Mostofthereplieswerelukewarmanduninterested:”Sure,yeah,theylookokay,Iguess.”Or,”What’sthebigdeal?They’rejustshorts.”ThenextdayIworetheshortsthatwereexactlythesameexceptforthedesignerlabel.Ican’tcounthowmanyteenagerscommented:”Wow!Coolshorts!”and”Ilovethoseshorts.Where’dyougetthem?”and”Nicethreads!You’relookinggood!”Needlesstosay,everyonewasshockedwhentheyrealizedthattheshortstheythoughtwereso”boring”onedaywerethesameonestheypraisedsohighlythenextday.Whatwasthedifference?Alabel!Inotherwords,clothesarelikednotbecauseweactuallylikethembutonlybecausetheyhavealabel.It’slikehavingasignthatsays,”Notice:Thiswillbeseenas’cool,’solikeit.”Myclothingexperimenthasworkedseveraltimes,eveninmyownhomewithmyteenagesons!Anditworksbackwardaswellasforward.IfIweartheshortswiththelabelonthefirstday,noonenoticestheidenticalshortsthefollowingday,evenifIpointthemout.Everyoneisshockedtolearnthattheyarethesamedesign.Ihavetoshowthembothpairstoproveit. LifeWorks103
Fit Howhavewegottentothispointasasociety?Whydopeoplegetsoexcitedaboutitemsofclothingwithdesignerlabels?”What’sthebigdeal?They’rejustshorts.”It’sagoodquestion.Whyisn’tthatourresponseallthetime?
The point
The author bought two identical pairs of shorts, one with a designer label and one without, and found that people praised the labeled pair while dismissing the identical unlabeled pair. The experiment reveals how easily we are influenced by superficial status symbols.
The lesson
Fancy labels can make us think something is better, but God looks at the heart, not the outside. Don't judge by what you see.