There seems to be a trend towards over-the-top gifts this year… Neiman Marcus has on offer a $7000 dog house uh, pet home, Victoria’s Secret lists the $6.5M Hearts on Fire diamond-studded piece of underwear, and Virgin Galactic is holding a seat for you on their inaugural flight to the edge of space that’s going for a mere $1.764M.

But all may not be what it seems. According to the Wall Street Journal, many of these expensive items not only do not sell well, but are in fact marketing tactics designed to get you to view the associated company in a favorable light, and then to buy their cheaper stuff, and all the while getting some vicarious satisfaction.

And of course we here at GadgetManiac are in on the plot, by virtue of merely mentioning this scam, er, scheme … uh … we mean 4Q06 Marketing Plans.

It’s the Publicity That Counts - Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2006

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