It’s been another weird week in retail.
Ikea took aim at the big Apple of tech with a spot-on marketing campaign, Levi’s released a $350 jean jacket that also controls your phone and Moschino created a My Little Pony clothing line with a price tag that’s far from magical.
This, and more, in this week’s Retail Therapy.
How do you like them apples?
They say laughter is the best medicine, but it’s also a great marketing technique. And a major retail player hasn’t been dissed this hard since Monoprix made a jab at Amazon Go for its "revolutionary" checkout-free tech.
In a move to remind consumers just how hip Ikea is, the Swedish furniture chain took aim at the apple of Tim Cook’s eye with a series of ads that poke fun at the tech company’s recently hyped wireless charging announcement, Adweek reports.
Apple's "Air Power Wireless Charging Pad" will debut in 2018... a whole two years after Ikea launched a similar product, the company will have you know.
The ruthless series of ads, mocking everything from Apple’s symbol to its various slogans, made the iconic tech company look like nothing more than the final touch in a roast pig’s mouth. In the humorous ads, Ikea played off iconic Apple slogans tweaking, "This Changes Everything" to "This Charges Everything" and "Think Different" to "Link Different."
Ikea sure is one smart apple.
The future is in our jeans
Riding a bike can be fun, but what's not fun is dodging traffic while balancing your handle bars and digging through your pocket to pull out a smartphone to change the song or look up directions. Well, Levis understands the struggle, and starting Monday it's here to offer a jacket that keeps you connected with a brush of your denim sleeve.
According to Quartz, Levi’s and Google showed off a piece of smartphone-controlling denim two years ago, but this is the first product to come of it. In the generous spirit of consumerism, Levi’s is allowing eager techy, bike-riding fanatics to buy the "Levi’s Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google" for the low cost of $350 — and your last shred of miserly restraint.
From the video ad that Levi’s put out, the product seems to be targeted towards your "average Joe" commuter, and yet it costs just a shade less than the entire line of new Amazon Echo products combined. It should be noted, however, that the benefit of the jacket does not lie in the price, but rather in the fact that it "keeps users connected to their digital world without missing a moment in real life."
The downside? You have to wear denim every day to do it.
My little luxury T-shirt line
Last week was Milan Fashion Week and you know what that means — high fashion brought back a pop culture reference from the 90s, pasted it all over the runway, added hundreds of dollars in markups and started selling it to consumers.
That fashion brand was Moschino and that 90s show was My Little Pony, Teen Vogue reports.
We can say with (semi) confidence that Moschino’s website is the only place that you will find such an extensive — and pricey — line of My Little Pony products. From the $1,195 backpack and $495 mini skirt to the $350 crop top and $395 "sleeveless sweater" (which is a long-winded way of saying tank top), every product is covered with My Little Pony imagery and bright pastel coloring.
Recognizing the thrifter in all of us, Moschino even has several bargain items that retail for under $200 — like a $175 key ring, a $75 phone case and a $195 two-piece underwear set. Dreams really do come true.
As is wont to happen, people couldn’t get enough — turning to Twitter to express their admiration for the luxury My Little Pony line we never knew we needed.
The show might have taught us that friendship is magic, but having enough money to shop this collection is sorcery, plain and simple.
I want the entire moschino my little pony range o m g g g g g
— Abi (@abipennx) September 28, 2017
What is Moschino and why are they marketing My Little Pony clothing to me, just kidding I want it all. #facebooktargeting
— michele the shell (@shellymonstr) September 28, 2017
Forever Taco Bell
That’s not it for the fandom clothing lines in this week’s fashion wrap-up. Taco Bell must have decided to take a wing out of KFC’s couture clothing line because the fast food taco joint is launching its own fashion line… with Forever 21.
That’s right — the company that brought you the Quesarito is teaming up with the fast-fashion retailer that brought you jean jackets with no shoulders to give you one spicy collection that goes live Oct. 11, according to a press release. Confirmed articles of clothing include: "tops, bodysuits and cropped hoodies for women" along with "a sweatshirt, hoodie and anorak jacket" for men.
Why Forever 21? Taco Bell’s CMO is glad you asked. "We often think of Taco Bell as 'the fast fashion of food,' given how we continuously introduce innovative limited edition products that everyone can enjoy, so when it came to our first-ever retail collaboration, we knew our partner has to be the leader in actual fast fashion."
Now that’s thinking outside the shell.
