Hacker News Reader

Comment by Spearchucker | Hacker News Reader

Scrolling down there's the Nike and Hermes editions. Maybe this is a cultural difference between here (Frankfurt) and elsewhere - I fail to understand how one would willingly pay extra to advertise a brand. The way I see it is that Nike for example should pay ME to wear their branding.

And even then I wouldn't. I'm not a walking billboard.

View on HN

Maybe this is a cultural difference between here (Frankfurt)

Considering all of the luxury retailers I've seen in Frankfurt, and all of the branded soccer jerseys I've seen so many people wearing in Frankfurt, and all of the non-generic everything I've seen in Frankfurt, I think it's disingenuous to frame this as a geographic issue.

Perhaps if you define your geography as whatever seat you currently occupy, your argument holds. But Frankfurt is hardly immune from the concept of conspicuous consumption.

BTW: There's more than one Frankfurt in Germany.

The Nike band is nice because it is perforated, which is great for venting sweat during a workout. Otherwise, I haven't really noticed any "nike" branding on my Nike edition Apple watch. I'm not sure anyone would even know it by looking at me, there is no nike logo anywhere (wait, no that isn't true, there is a small logo....on the inside of the band where absolutely no one can see it).

I think there is a cultural split here in the US. I personally hate branding and logos but you also have a large group of people that go out of their way to buy things with huge logos. To each their own.

I can't speak for Germany, but in much of Eastern Europe the Adidas logo and 'three stripes' are almost a type of uniform that people are very keen to be seen in. To me, it seems wearing brands conspicuously is a reasonably global trait in many demographics (or in certain product categories.. who debadges their car?)

There's a large cultural difference here, and from my experience, Germany is the exact antithesis of American brand culture.

In America, among many groups of people, brands are social signaling on how important/wealthy you are. It only tapers off a bit at higher incomes (>1M+). Below that, it's rampant.

I don' t think that's the right income cutoff at all. In my experience the brand signaling occurs in the poor-lower-middle class regions, then stops from there all the way up to the new money but no taste crowd. Rap stars, etc. I don't know anyone in the HN/SoftwareDev income range who loves to show off brands, with occasionally some cars as maybe the exception.

Though I will say Nike shoes tend to be an exception across the board. Seems like everyone has a pair of those.

Perhaps I phrased it poorly. It's only certain groups (largely separated by income), but unless they're a celebrity, it seems to largely taper off at extreme levels of wealth, where brands become 'subtle' again.

I don't think there's a demographic that doesn't brand signal aside from nomadic herders. Some demographics are into the whole subtlety thing, but definitely still signal. Brands signal wealth, but also taste, intelligence, class, and tribe.

For HN: Cars, Electronics, Universities, FAANG on your resume, consumer products that signal your care for the environment or concern for your health/fitness.

I agree. I mean to say if we restrict to exclusively signaling wealth, rather than other things.

These comments are kind of hilarious when the average software engineer’s wardrobe consists almost entirely of tech company t-shirts/hoodies with giant logos on them :D

Not really the same. More like tribal affiliations. See also laptop stickers.

You mean free clothes?

There is no "extra", price is the same for Nike version. Just different band.

The bands are sporty and differently designed. Apparently they match some of the most popular sportswear aesthetics Nike has.

But if you still want to frame it as "paying for advertising a brand" you could look into the ways that people use brands to say something about themselves. I recommend reading about the success of Starbucks, Ferrari, and Apple, especially the first 5 or so years of the iPod.

This happens in Frankfurt too. Adidas, Puma, and many more clothing companies in Germany are not cheap and display their brands prominently

The Nike version doesn't cost any extra - in fact it gives you extra watch faces and different band options (that are not visibly branded). Most years the Nike bands have been better than the reguar ones, and the Nike faces are nice if you like that sort of thing.

A perception of status. Someone I know was debating about buying an Hermes belt that had the H logo as the buckle. Looks incrediby tacky, but it sends a signal to others who are familiar with the brand.

Consider that wearing an Apple watch makes you a billboard for Apple. The Apple Watch and the distinct white ear pods are about as well-lit of an advertisement you can get!

Is what it is, but people treat the Apple logo and product as far more of an important status symbol than Nike.

I would go so far as to suggest that the Nike logo cheapens the "person billboard" that Apple turns customers into

Would you wear a Nike band for $3M a year?

That is a sufficient amount to turn me into a walking billboard, yes.

I would wear only a Nike band if they were willing to pay me $3M to induce blindness in the public.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com