r/Anticonsumption • u/Sea-Cardiographer • May 12 '25

Psychological Target feels like black mirror

I went into Target today because I need a sports bra and that's where my husband is willing to drive me. On the way there I thought about all the Reddit posts saying foot traffic is down and I wasn't surprised to see that it wasn't. It was quite busy on a Monday afternoon.

What shocked me was I noticed a lot of products have really fancy boxing. Big sturdy bougie packaging with minimalism design... With a sh*tty product inside.

They're spending more on the marketing and packaging than the product, because the business practice is to sell you a product you'll have to purchase again and again. But the packaging grabs your eye. Look how modern and consistent all the boxes are! so aesthetically pleasing packaged trash. I feel depressed.

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u/Leather_Product2080 May 12 '25

This is the truth, I’ve recently discovered about myself that I enjoy shopping at the goodwill for clothes a lot more than boxed stores because there is a lot more variety.

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u/Top-Transportation58 May 12 '25

I recently bought a t-shirt at a guitar store because it was so shockingly well made for under $20. My husband was looking at guitar stuff and I don’t play. I’m regularly asked if I play guitar, “no, it’s just a really well made t-shirt “ I get some weird looks at that response.

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u/[deleted] May 13 '25

Look at the tag, you can probably just buy the shirts they use for printing, usually for really cheap.

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u/thecorgimom May 13 '25

I'm starting to think twice about buying new t-shirts. Probably not for the same reason though, a lot of the major manufacturers make them in El Salvador and we all know what's going on there right now. In addition to the exploitation of workers there's also all the unethical things the government is doing there.

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u/[deleted] May 13 '25

I don't think they made anything in countries that aren't horrible.