Media Exposed #12: Yeah!!! GO CALIFORNIANS!!!!

UO Californian stores presents...

The Great Urban Outfitters random sale for CA stores only!! Did you go? :)

As Californians, you could say we have a pretty good life, what with our sun, sand, and surf. :)  Urban Outfitters (U.O.) furthered our California patriotism a week ago ago by giving only its California stores an additional 50% ALL of their sale items for four whole days last week, from May 17th to the 20th.  Yes!!  This ad came to me by e-mail, as I had signed up to be part of the store's updates on any sales, new merchandise, and so on.  I usually just like to look at the Urban Outfitters ads but not really do anything about them, as their clothes are incredibly cute but really expensive.  But, seeing this sale and the limited time I had to actually shop with the discount, I jumped in the car with my wallet in hand and ready to speed-shop at the location at Arden Fair!

You can see how there's a definite use of patriotism in this ad for the U.O. sale, as the company takes the California Republic flag and waves it in our faces to show that only California stores get the discount (yay for us! :D).  But, we definitely see the use of time pressure/exigency because the the picture makes sure to advertise the limited amount of time the additional 50% off the sale items is!  When I saw the ad myself, that's what really stood out to me, especially with the odd graphics and writing used on the ad to make people see it's only for a few days.  The use of red for the 50% off statement then writing white over the red bar at the bottom of the flag really made the important information stand out so as to make sure customers understood every detail of the sale.  Plus, the way they messed with the CA Republic flag by giving the bear a Fohawk/Mohawk and wrote over the word "republic" and added to the word California, "stores ONLY" made it prominent that only U.O. store locations in CA would have the sale.  All of these elements add up to the technique of gestalt, and how the oddness of the ad and the color schemes pull in the viewer of the ad.

I'm sure that many of us who like to shop at Urban Outfitters and lived near a CA store location were pressured to go.  Urban Outfitters does have sales regularly, but they don't always have that great of a deal or discount.  Often times, sales so great as this one for U.O. don't come along very often!  So, many of us felt the urgency to go run off to the mall to catch the sale before it was over.  Also, I'm sure because we don't know when another sale like this, with an additional 50% off all sales items that already are discounted, will come around, many of us might be pressured into buying as many items as possible, even though the addition 50% might not make much of a different on say a $150 dress ($75 is less, but that's still very expensive!).  We'd have to think critically, and use--of the 16 Habits of Critical Thinker that we learned at the beginning of this year--the habit of "managing impulsivity", as we want to make rational decisions when making our purchases, regardless of how discounted they might be.  I personally would rather save a few dollars than spend it on a useless knick knack just because it's discounted, wouldn't you?  Plus, because the sale is only around for a limited time, we feel that a dress that's on sale for $150, then with an additional 50% off becomes $75, might never be on sale again, so we feel the need to buy it then and there even though the discount doesn't lower the price to something many consider affordable.  We need to manage our impulsive purchases and wait for a really good deal so we can save money and buy the items we want.  And, if it doesn't go on sale again, then the purchase wasn't meant to be.  Think about the last impulsive buy you made and then later regretted it because you felt you needed that top or pair of shoes and so on at that moment, but now you need the extra cash you spent on it.  This is where another habit, "applying past knowledge to new situations" would come in handy.  Don't repeat the past mistakes, learn from them.  Manage your money so that you can have a better shopping experience and better judgement skills!  A two-for-one deal, now that's a real steal. :)

For those who shop at Urban Outfitters, did you know about this sale?  If so, did you receive this email, and feel a pressure to run to the store?  For many of us, myself included, I went to the store at Arden with my older sister and friends last weekend.  There were a lot of things I tried on and wanted, but I really picked and chose what I truly wanted and knew I'd wear for a long time instead of making impulsive purchases, and ended up buying a dress I've been wanting for months that was way out of my budget for a really amazing price I could afford!  Were you able to make some great purchases?  Let's show everyone how Californians can dress classy and be smart shoppers. :)