When doubling-down on how expensive you are makes for a cool ad.

What I love about expensive brands—not buying, just browsing—is that they own being expensive.

Because, if it’s done right, your heart’s strutting out the store with a grin, swinging a fancy rope-handled bag, not questioning the amount you paid.

Luxury brands rarely do typical advertising: TV commercials, billboards and print.

So when I came across an old print ad and it it made me do a double-take, I knew it did something different.

In an old ad of the Herman Miller Eames Chair, they over-claimed how expensive their chair is by asking the reader to pool their and their significant other’s gift money to afford one.

The ad read:

“A time to rest, perchance to dream, comes easily in these lounge chairs designed by Charles Eames. May we suggest that you pool the gift money you plan to spend on each other and buy one of these Herman Miller chairs to enjoy all the year round?”

Rich people aren’t struggling to afford an Eames chair; this ad preys on those who can barely afford it, asking them to pool their money and buy a chair worth sharing.

You can show that you’re expensive; you can also say you’re really expensive and tell your audience to start pinching pennies to afford it.

Because, if you own it, people will find a way to buy.

— George