A closer look
Retail giant JCPenney almost completely destroyed its own business in 2012 when the new CEO decided to stop using fake markdowns and just offer honest, everyday low prices to consumers. Despite the fact that the actual cost of the clothing remained exactly the same, shoppers abandoned the stores in droves because they missed the psychological thrill of buying a significantly marked-up item at a supposed fifty percent discount. The grand economic experiment proved once and for all that consumers do not actually want transparency or fair pricing; they desperately want to be manipulated by giant red clearance stickers. It is absolutely hilarious that our capitalist society is so conditioned by deceptive marketing tactics that we will aggressively boycott a brand just for refusing to lie to our faces about fake retail savings!
