Home » Archives » June 2008
Faux Pas
June 29, 2008
Early this year, statistics report that Filipinos have improved English proficiency both spoken and written English.
Thanks to Choco for the free photo tutorial. I’ve been meaning to do this blog but my ignorance has been a big deterance.
the psychology of pinoy consumerism
pop quiz: which hav is the original?
answer: the camouflage one. nah! just kicking your ass. it’s the stripes. kicked your ass again! both are fake.
What is the mechanism of product imitation? Simple. The cost of signature brands defy the basic law trade (cost of materials +15% labor cost + 15% target profit) Signature brands require you to pay an additional 100%-500% for the signature itself . We make a product of identical appearance and price it following the law of supply and demand, and viola! A taste of luxury is given to the poor mass. Does this rob the company of its righful sales? You answer.
Back in grade school, I was given a Jansport bag from the U.S. I was happy as using signature brands was a rare ocassion for a gradechooler like me. The early Jansport bags had a “made in U.S.A” mark below the brand name. The mark has been removed however, in its later product releases. A classmate of mine saw the mark on my bag and remarked “Hey your Jansport is a fake!” Taken aback from the accusation, I showed the tag inside the bag as proof of its authenticity. It seemed howver that this being was more ignorant than a paramecium and engaged in a debate that the “made in the U.S.A.” mark was proof enough of its falsehood. Despit all efforts, she remained unconvinced and even suggested that I color the white logo with a blue pen to camouflage the mark in the blue background. This was the time I was introduced to Pinoy consumerism.
You see, Pinoy consumerism doesn’t stop to the signature brand too expensive-copy and imitate mechanism. We go a step beyond that. We internalize that our fakes are the real thing. This mantra follows the principle: “I think therefore I am”. As we brainwash ourselves, we gain confidence that our fakes aren’t just the real thing, we attack the original itself, and we condemn the original for trying to look like our imitations. It’s not a simple case of mistaken identity, it has become part of our psychology.
A paradigm makes concepts easier to comprehend. The typical pinoy pscyhology is displayed in this scenario: Rich girl with original havs rides the jeep. Along comes girl with fake havs. Rich girl says out loud in her mind “Hmm, halatang fake (obviously fake)“. Fake havs girl says in her mind “Bumili na nga ng fake yung halatang halatang fake pa ( how could she buy a fake that is so obviously fake)”
resurrection
my blog has been revived. for an unexplainable amount of “thinking chair” thinking, I was able to retrieve my blog. It’s back and I’m locked and loaded