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Ellen Macarthur Foundation.
Every year, 80 to 100 billion pieces of clothing are being produced.
That’s enough to dress every ant on the planet in a tuxedo.
And what do brands do?
They throw time, money, and neuroscience into figuring out how to make us buy them—promising their clothes will fix everything from bad hair days to existential crises.
On the surface it looks like we’re on the same page.
But while we’re just looking for a slice of happiness, they’re looking to fill their swimming pools with more cash.
In 6 minutes or less :
- It’s not a fair fight.
- The Rules of the game.
- Time to play.
It’s Not A Fair Fight.
Until last week you probably didn’t even understand the psychological and social reasons why you buy clothes.
And when we ask others to buy less, we are asking them to resist marketers who’ve spent decades and billions of pounds figuring out how to get us to do exactly what they want.
No wonder people feel like they have no control.
Hey you’re too fat, wear this to look slimmer.
Hey, you’re too ugly, wear this to look more attractive.
It’s not your fault.
You are being gaslit.
They play on our insecurities, then sell us clothes to feel better.
And if we don’t buy immediately, they chase us on the internet with reminders of our abandoned carts.
But here is the good news.
You can beat them at their own game.
The Rules Of The Game.
1. Selling The Dream.
This is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a commonly used psychological principle by marketers.
They sell us a dream by showing how the clothes they want us to buy meet one or more of our needs—from basic (clothing for warmth) to more complex (luxury clothes for social status and esteem).
The more needs they can associate with the item, the stronger the sell.
Here’s how they do it :
- Storytelling: They craft beautiful stories around their clothes and brand to connect with us on a deeper and more emotional level.
- Social Proof: They bombard you with social proof—testimonials, reviews, and endorsements from influencers and celebrities—until you discover that even your best friend and her mother have bought their clothes!
- FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Of course, you don’t want to feel left out on what everyone is raving about, so you buy it too.
- Building Community: As more people buy, the community grows larger and your shared identity becomes stronger.
All of these identities are built around stories that make us feel like we are in a safe bubble—until it pops, of course.
For example, people who buy Patagonia jackets because they care about the environment often can’t believe it when they hear that the brand’s eco-friendly tales aren’t entirely true.
And it’s the same with Zara lovers when they understand the real environmental and social impact of their fast fashion choices.
Stories are stories, and sometimes they are filled with lies.
2. Showing You The Value Of The Dream.
Here are 5 ways they do this:
a. Psychological pricing to make the product seem cheaper than it actually is.
Which dress would you rather buy? One priced at £29.99 or one priced at £30?
Why?
Is it maybe because it’s £0.01 cheaper?
b. Comparison and anchoring to fool you.
Imagine you’re shopping for a jacket and come across two similar styles at a store:
Jacket A is priced at £150.
Jacket B is right next to it, with a price tag of £250.
Jacket A immediately seems like a great deal compared to Jacket B.
This is the comparison part, where Jacket A is seen as a bargain relative to the more expensive Jacket B.
Before seeing Jacket B, you might have thought £150 was a bit high for a jacket.
But, after seeing both options together, Jacket A suddenly feels more reasonably priced.
This shift in your perception is due to anchoring.
The first price you saw (Jacket B at £250) sets an anchor or reference point, making the second price (Jacket A at £150) seem much more attractive in comparison.
Crazy right?
c. Limited editions and exclusives to make you feel special.
In 2015, H&M and the luxury brand Balmain from Paris released a limited collection.
It was promoted as a way for everyday shoppers to buy luxury fashion at lower prices.
The small number of items available meant they were seen as more valuable.
The entire collection sold out within hours.
Soon after, some of these items were being resold online at much higher prices.
Turns out, all you need is the ‘magic’ of marketing to create value out of thin air.
d. Scarcity and urgency to turn you into an impulsive zombie.
It seems like this strategy should be old news.
Yet here we are, still getting tricked by it, every single day.
“Hurry, only 5 left in stock!”
“Flash Sale: 50% off for the next 24 hours only!”
“Buy now, or we’ll send the fashion police to your door!”
These tactics drive anxiety, so we make quick decisions to buy.
But there’s usually never only five left in stock, and if there is, you can always find something similar or even the same product elsewhere.
e. Discounts and sales to make you feel like a fool for saying no.
No need to explain this one.
Oh, our poor brains.
3. Hyperpersonalized and Targeted Marketing.
“The sweetest sound to any person is their own name.”
Dale Carnegie
Marketers are getting the most out of this huge opportunity, thanks to the Internet and AI making their job easier every day.
The marketing emails I now receive start with ‘Dear Vintage’. (I stopped giving them my real name)
I made the mistake of visiting a personal growth site once, and now I’m bombarded with YouTube ads for their next woo-woo course.
My internet cookies have figured out that I am black, and now many of the adverts I see feature more black models.
The messages are more targeted and personalized.
The experience is more engaging.
You feel seen.
You feel heard.
You feel like you deserve free shipping, free returns, and a gold-standard satisfaction guarantee.
So, of course, you buy.
Easy peasy.
Time To Play!
Don’t skip ads.
Instead, watch them carefully like you’re solving a mystery and try to understand the tactics behind them.
Over the next week, see how many you can identify.
You’ll see ads that look like a cry for help, and then there are the ones so slick they could sell ice to Eskimos… or better yet, sell Eskimos to ice!
Spotting these tricks from a mile away will help you:
- Make smarter choices.
- Focus on what truly matters.
- Keep more of your hard-earned cash.
Also, it’s badass to have the power to say, “I see through you, and I don’t really need what you are selling me.”
Happy gaming!
P.S.
I’m a ‘marketer’ too.
I spend 10 hours a week crafting this newsletter.
It’s my wild attempt at sweet-talking you into building a wardrobe that doesn’t smack mother nature or vulnerable women and children in the face.
Is it working, or am I just shouting into the digital void?
Please reply to let me know before my family starts googling ‘lost cause.’
And of course, share with your friends if you want to. 😉
