I thought the recession was supposed to make absurd, conspicuous purchases like these go away. Guess I was wrong.
Over the weekend, the LA Times reported on a curious of a man from Newfoundland named Ron Stamp, whose business plan involves him sailing up to Greenland in order hack away at icebergs. Then, using some complicated scientific process I can’t quite understand called “melting,” the plan is to turn the ice chunks into water. Finally, the water will be sold—for $10 or more per bottle—under the brand name Glace Rare Iceberg Water.
So Mr. Stamp, why would such a product be worth more than beer, wine, soda, and many other beverages that don’t fall out of the sky for free? He explains:
“It is so tasteless that it actually creates a taste. The tastelessness is its own taste,” he said. “It’s like drinking air.”
Whoah. Dude. I’ve been looking to spend money on something tasteless. And drinking air? That’s almost as rad as breathing water. Or snorting music. Or hearing the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. That’s … well, that’s gotta be worth $10 a bottle, right?
Oh wait, last time I checked, water was free, as was air. So forget what I just wrote. A bottle of water that tastes like air—or is tasteless, whichever description you prefer—is doubly worthless.
Meanwhile, I could have sworn that the bizarre trend of $300 jeans fell out of fashion last year. And now we know why: Those jeans were underpriced by $700.
A WSJ blog features jeans that are made by a U.S. company called PRPS, with organic cotton from Zimbabwe and denim woven on antique looms in Japan, and with a price tag of just over $1,000. The company’s owner justifies the price by offering some details:
“The leather label in the back of the jean alone takes two days to create,” says Mr. Harrel. “The lambskin is washed, hand-oiled and hung out to dry individually so that no two leather patches are the same.”
All in all, roughly 30 treatments are carried out for one pair of jeans, including hand-dipped dyeing, sewing and adding in distressed detailing.
Well, if people want to pay for this, more power to you. To me, this all seems pretty pointless. Tasteless too.
