There are _many_ examples of over-hyped/-priced "luxury" booze brands, and they generally fall into one of 3 or so categories:
Entirely artificial Luxury, with a banal product that is marketed/priced as luxury (example: Grey Goose vodka)
Not even Luxury, but once the hype starts to gain traction, you can charge Luxury prices (example: Tito's Vodka, which started out as a cheap-and-cheerful product for the student crowd, but now charges a _lot_ more money for the same product)
Used-to-be Luxury, but the quality has been cut over time to maximize profits (example: Macallan Single Malt Whisky)
I have a friend who loves both Grey Goose and Clase Azul (fancy Tequla)l, both of which are unrepentantly in the first category since careful blind-tasting will reveal their pedestrian qualties. As a long-term Single Malt aficionado, I've alas had to stop buying a large number of brands that now fall into the third category.
I think for Camera gear, the first category is exemplified by over-priced gear aimed at the influencer-crowd, and most of us would probably not be tempted. The second category weirdly personified in the Pentax K1000 which was originally very inexpensive but now goes for more money than corresponding professional bodies of the era. Leica falls at least partially into that third category, not really the first: With exceptions like their DRM-protected batteries, they are still mechanically high-quality/-expense products.
There are _many_ examples of over-hyped/-priced "luxury" booze brands, and they generally fall into one of 3 or so categories:
Entirely artificial Luxury, with a banal product that is marketted/priced as luxury (example: Grey Goose vodka)
Not even Luxury, but once the hype starts to gain traction, you can charge Luxury prices (example: Tito's Vodka, which started out as a cheap-and-cheerful product for the student crowd, but now charges a _lot_ more money for the same product)
Used-to-be Luxury, but the quality has been cut over time to maximize profits (example: Macallan Single Malt Whisky)
I have a friend who loves both Grey Goose and Clase Azul (fancy Tequla)l, both of which are unrepentantly in the first category since careful blind-tasting will reveal their pedestrian qualties. As a long-term Single Malt aficionado, I've alas had to stop buying a large number of brands that now fall into the third category. I think for Camera gear, Leica falls at least partially into that third category, not really the first: With exceptions like their DRM-protected batteries, they are still mechanically high-quality/-expense products.
Jun 10, 2025 at 01:56 PM
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