: Unlimited funds don't grant unlimited taste, in my experience!

: Rather, it leads to things like this:

:

: Yes, that's a real Daytona that real Rolex really ruined :) Or take
: a look at any Vertu phone to see how much taste is involved in
: buying one of those. I thought conspicuous consumption was out
: of vogue nowadays, apart from China and maybe some pockets left
: in the middle-East...

: I'm quite a brand loyal person, but I do look for adding the brand
: to add value in some real way, whether it be an increase in real
: or perceived quality or some other less tangible benefit. I also
: want the brand extension to make some sense - do I want Bentley
: cutlery? No thanks, my WMF cutlery does the job very well, thank
: you, and is the company doing what it's good at, not plonking
: its badge on any old tat and ramping the price up 100-fold.

: Do I want to spend 3 times the price of the base car so Aston
: Martin can awkwardly graft some of their visual trademarks onto
: a tiny city car?

:
:

: Do all those Ferrari dressing gowns hurt the image of the brand
: more than the help the financial bottom line? Maybe, maybe not,
: but you just screwed your chances of being let out at the next
: junction.

: I guess the conclusion is that, whilst some people are still
: discerning enough only to buy real quality, others really do
: have more money than sense and brand owners are increasingly
: happy to indulge them!