A closer look
Sales of Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses skyrocketed by over forty percent immediately after Tom Cruise wore them in the 1986 movie "Top Gun," literally saving the brand from the brink of financial ruin. Before Cruise stepped onto an aircraft carrier looking aggressively cool, aviators were mostly associated with grumpy old cops and actual military pilots, not sexy young heartthrobs playing volleyball in slow motion. The massive spike in sales proved that American consumers have absolutely zero free will and will blindly purchase any accessory if it is attached to a sufficiently charismatic celebrity. It is a marketing executive's absolute wet dream, entirely replacing the need for an actual advertising strategy with just ninety minutes of pure naval propaganda
