Written by Jess Ardrey
I know, I know. This seems contradictory to the last column about thrift stores.That’s because it is.Let’s face it, ladies and gents. This is a Christian college. You’re a walking contradiction.But I digress. Yes, we are quite contradictory in various aspects. I mean, this is the South. Football should be our biggest sport.Sometimes we complain about chapel and having to get up in order to attend. But then, when your avid chapel-going friend accidently sleeps through his alarm, you give him grief all week about missing B. Chris chapel.(“Dude, we did the wave! Like, five times!”)We also complain about curfew, but let’s be honest. That’s prime/forced homework time. Midnight-thirty is the only reason most of us are still in school. That can’t just be me, right?Right?The point of those points was to lead to the fact that, despite our undying love for Goodwill, we still have specific brands of merchandise that we refuse to stray from.You don’t think so? Ahem: TOMS, North Face, Chaco, Vera Bradley, Sperry, Kavu, Under Armour, Nalgene, Apple.I think that’s good enough. I dare you to go to any dorm room on this campus and not come across one of these. (Freshmen don’t count. Their TOMS are still on backorder.)And before you think you’re safe, because you will, I’m also counting the subculture brands.You’re thinking to yourself, “Pssh. I’m not like those Chaco sellouts. I’m sticking it to the Man. I wear Keens.”Sorry, bro. Your Keen clan may not be as large as the Chaco bunch, but it’s still there. Don’t try to deny the camaraderie you feel when you see that closed-toe sport sandal on the foot of the kid across the aisle in chapel. You make eye contact and know he knows the struggle, the fight to prove yourself worthy in a Chaco man’s world.Let us now turn our attention to the North Face. According to the website, a men’s Denali jacket is just south of 200 bucks. Hate to break it to you, Northie, but that’s not exactly bargain hunting at its finest. Just because you named your glorified sweatshirt after an Alaskan state park and a GMC does not mean I’m going to take out another student loan to get it in “Bittersweet Brown” or “Insane Blue.” Yes, those names are real.All right, TOMS, it’s your turn. Those simple little shoes have made their way onto an untouchable pedestal. A lot of people don’t dare say anything about them because of their humanitarian nature. Well, I’m going there.Surprised?Let’s get this straight: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with their One for One movement. However, we don’t buy TOMS because they provide shoes to kids in Africa; we buy them because the people around us buy them.This is where I actually apply something I learned in my advertising class this semester. I read about this idea that we subconsciously want things that others have because of some sort of mirroring effect.Now, I don’t think I could write this column without confessing that I, too, own some of those brands. I have some TOMS, I have some Kavu and I’m certainly a sucker for anything with an apple on it.Even so, this is not about me. This is about stuff Harding kids like. This column is not called “Jess’ Infatuation With Sweet, Sweet Macintosh.”But maybe it should be.
