Frugaling

Save more, live well, give generously

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Popular
    • Archives
  • Recommended
  • Contact
  • Save Money
    • Lifestyle Downgrade
    • Save Money with Mindfulness
    • Save at Starbucks
    • Psychological Trick To Reduce Your Online Shopping
    • Best Freebies
  • Minimalism
    • 8 TED Talks To Become A Minimalist
    • We Rent This Life
    • Everything Must Go
    • Lifestyle Downgrade
    • The Purchase Paradox: Wanting, Until You Own It
    • Nothing In My Pockets
  • Social Justice
    • Destroy The 40-Hour Workweek
    • Too Poor To Protest: Income Inequality
    • The New Rich: How $250k A Year Became Middle Class
    • Hunter Gatherers vs. 21st Century Desk-sitters
  • Make Money
    • Make $10k in 10 Months
    • Monetize Your Blog
    • Side Hustle for Serious Cash
  • Loans
    • 5 Rules To Follow Before Accepting Student Loans
    • Would You Marry Me?
    • Should I Have a Credit Card If I’m In Debt?
    • $50k in Scholarships in 70 Minutes

Be Your Own Brand Ambassador, Not Someone Else’s

By Frugaling 13 Comments

Share This:

Buy things you don't need with money you don't have to impress

Please don’t make me wear the banana costume

My first job was for a smoothie company. I worked that summer selling overpriced juices of all sorts. One day they asked me to put on the infamous banana costume. I could immediately feel my face redden with embarrassment. I dreaded the outfit, and couldn’t understand why the company dressed employees like this and traipsed them out into the blazing summer heat to give away samples.

I was a lowly employee and only 16-years-old. I pretended to embrace the outfit and marched out the doors. I walked along the sidewalk, as passersby laughed and mocked me. It was the height of my acne days, too. My was face reddened and cracked from medications. The banana outfit framed my puberty perfectly. Then, a friend from high school strolled on by and took a picture of me. I was mortified.

A logo was emblazoned onto the banana costume, along with the polo shirt I wore underneath. The smoothie company owned space on my body, and I hated it.

Brand ambassador programs pay you to promote

When I entered college, I noticed numerous job opportunities to become a “brand ambassador.” These positions afforded students a little spending money to promote companies on campus. Marketing realized a simple idea: peers sell product better than television and Internet ads. If you can buy the peers, you have explosive earnings potential.

Both Amazon and Apple, for example, have brand ambassador programs. Oftentimes, their students are required to hold campus events, meet with administrators, and directly appeal to students on campus. They’re are expected to wear merchandise to represent the brand, use the hardware, and promote the products every chance they get.

These people get paid to use and advertise products they would already love! Then, companies benefit from greater revenue and influence on campus. It’s a win-win for companies and ambassadors.

Many of us market for free

Most of us are brand ambassadors for free; in fact, we pay companies to advertise for them. The bitten Apple logo beams brightly throughout many classrooms these days. It cost me thousands of dollars for the pleasure to share that brand.

People casually display their affinity, and few notice what they’re doing. Sperry Topsiders are paired with Ralph Lauren shorts and a Lacoste polo shirt. It’s easily a $300 look that feels like a walking billboard for spendthrift teens and college students.

iPhones are close at hand, and the iconic white headphones are jammed into ear canals. The world is dampened, but our senses are constantly exposed to others’ purchases. Ugg boots used to be everywhere — they’ve been replaced by Hunter rain boots. Both have well-positioned logos at the heel. Anybody walking behind them could see what they should buy next.

In wealthier places — whether college campuses or metropolitan areas — products are meant to be aspirational. Companies work tirelessly to frame their wares as synonymous with success. To wear and promote a brand is meant to be special — only afforded to the few.

Diesel, Armani Exchange, Coach, Gucci, and countless others are made “cool” by a society that accepts and loves brand ambassadorship. We just can’t help it! We’ve been socialized to appreciate the “unique” — logos just help us buy them faster.

Shed the logos and brands

I don’t want to be a walking billboard anymore. I don’t want people to ask me what brand I’m wearing. I don’t want people to be inspired by what I wear, and buy similar. Strangely enough, I’m also wired to feel flattered by their interest. Quite a conundrum.

Over the last couple years, I cleared out my closet of many aspirational and brand name clothing with gigantic logos. I don’t want to be someone else’s brand ambassador — especially without a regular paycheck. I want to be my own brand ambassador.

I want you to get to know me — the person within the clothes. I want you to meet me, not a terrifyingly large logo of a horse carrying a polo stick. More importantly, I want to see who you are. So, cover up the logos, rid your closet of excess brand stamps, and find your own look.

Share the wealth:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Minimalism, Save Money Tagged With: Amazon, ambassador, Apple, brands, buying, Consumerism, iPhones, logos, Wealth

Comments

  1. Mikel says

    April 15, 2015 at 6:52 am

    Bravo, Sam!! I feel the same way. Why on earth would anyone want to be an unpaid walking billboard? Great post.

    Reply
  2. Lisa says

    April 15, 2015 at 7:45 am

    Fantastic post Sam! I also feel the same way. I’ve also done this with bags/purses. I got rid of all of my purses and bought a handmade one on Etsy (I don’t mind promoting small businesses) made out of recycled rubber tires. It’s waterproof, durable and not a brand name. 🙂

    Reply
    • bilby05 says

      April 15, 2015 at 8:37 am

      Hey I got a wallet from them (Moab?) and its great!

      Reply
      • Lisa says

        April 15, 2015 at 8:41 am

        I got it from EvenOddCreative in Rochester, NY. I’ll check out Moab when I need a new wallet. Thanks!

        Reply
  3. vscook says

    April 15, 2015 at 8:13 am

    I could not agree more! I’ve never been big on wearing brand name apparal, and I refuse to wear a giant logo emblazoned across my chest (or butt, or anywhere else). Some logos are harder to avoid – the swoosh on my sneakers for example. But when making purchases I actively try to avoid being a walking billboard for anyone.

    Reply
  4. MEL810 says

    April 15, 2015 at 9:41 am

    I only wear brand names IF I like the item itself and/or because the brand is of superior quality to non-brand name items. I don’t wear them to impress anyone. And I usually get them on sale or second hand.
    I hate having the brand name splashed across anything. I don’t mind a discrete logo but I would prefer it just be on the label within the item not on a public part of the item.
    When I see someone who is head to toe fashion brands, I think “there goes a fool who has had their mind taken over by Madison Avenue.”
    RE: Apple – Apple makes some good quality products but they are way over-priced because of the ‘cool’ factor’ of the brand and they are very hard to find on sale. They are also so proprietary that it is difficult and expensive to repair their computers, phones, etc. No thanks!

    Reply
  5. our next life says

    April 15, 2015 at 11:01 am

    Hear, hear! The same goes for online brands — not promoting corporations through our social media feeds or blogs. Letting our own individual brands shine through. Thanks for writing this and starting an important conversation!

    Reply
  6. kirsten says

    April 16, 2015 at 4:03 am

    I didn’t grow up with much, so I’ve never been a really dedicated brand displayer. I’ve bought brands but never to be cool, in, or to show off. What’s interesting is that my husband didn’t grow up with much, either. And now he craves (technology) brands like they are air. And its not so much to display (he doesn’t wave his iPhone around or talk about it incessantly) as to prove to himself that he’s “made it”. I feel a little sorry for him because I’m much more secure in my standing. I don’t need to prove to myself or anyone else that I’m successful.

    Reply
  7. Marion says

    April 16, 2015 at 4:58 am

    I wear thriftstorespecials and otherpeopledressme. Basic recycling as it were.

    Reply
  8. thebrokeandbeautifullife says

    April 16, 2015 at 6:51 am

    I’ve never understood why people wear tshirts that say the name of a store on them, like GAP or something, but I do love my lululemon, and even though the logo is small, you can always spot a lulu item.

    Reply
  9. The Phroogal Jason says

    April 24, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    I once said to someone that a brand only has value based on what you give it. It doesn’t make you any cooler unless you believe it does. I chose to not unconsciously promote brands I’m not tied to rather work on my own brand and define what that means

    Reply
  10. Jewel says

    April 24, 2015 at 10:25 pm

    When my kids were younger, they went through a phase of wanting the logo clothes, but fortunately by the time they were in high school, both my daughter and her younger brother stopped wearing the labels and told their friends they were not advertising space. One of my friends, after our sons were hanging out, told me she would not buy anymore of a particular brand, but the other for running shoes just were too well-made even though her conscience was bothering her. It was less about the money for my kids than expressing their individuality, and concern for the children forced to work in the factories that produced some of that pricey clothing.

    Now, as adults they still are not interested in designer anything, at least in part due to financial considerations. I could not be prouder.

    Reply
  11. Jamie says

    May 11, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    This was right on time. The summer weather is beginning so I’ve been looking thru my summer clothes lately. Well, I don’t have different shoes to match all the different outfits & I started to freak out a bit. I started thinking about who I would be buying these shoes for & I realized I often feel judged by my boss. Once I realized this, I stopped & thought that she makes a lot more money than I do & secondly I am here to work, not to be a fashion statement so now I am happily wearing my summer wardrobe.

    Reply

Join the Conversation: Cancel reply

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Best Of

  • The New Rich: How $250k A Year Became Middle Class
    The New Rich: How $250k A Year Became Middle Class
  • 8 TED Talks That Will Inspire You To Become A Minimalist
    8 TED Talks That Will Inspire You To Become A Minimalist
  • 5 Tricks To Save Money At Starbucks (Updated)
    5 Tricks To Save Money At Starbucks (Updated)
  • Going Green Is A Scam
    Going Green Is A Scam
  • Mark Cuban's Horrific Student Loan Debt "Solution"
    Mark Cuban's Horrific Student Loan Debt "Solution"
  • Ownership Isn't Real, We Rent This Life
    Ownership Isn't Real, We Rent This Life

Recent Posts

  • How to Pay Off Medical Debt
  • 5 Ways to Save Money Before a New Baby
  • 4 Ways to Save Money on Streaming Services
  • 5 Ways to Save Thousands in Mortgage Interest
  • Why Professional Maintenance on Your Vehicle Saves You Money in the Long Run

Search

Archives

  • January 2023 (1)
  • March 2022 (3)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • November 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (2)
  • August 2021 (4)
  • July 2021 (5)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • May 2021 (2)
  • January 2021 (2)
  • December 2020 (2)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (3)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (5)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (1)
  • April 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (3)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • September 2018 (2)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (5)
  • March 2018 (6)
  • February 2018 (4)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (10)
  • November 2017 (3)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (5)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (8)
  • March 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (3)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (2)
  • November 2016 (4)
  • October 2016 (2)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (4)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (3)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (4)
  • March 2016 (5)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (3)
  • November 2015 (5)
  • October 2015 (5)
  • September 2015 (4)
  • August 2015 (6)
  • July 2015 (8)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • May 2015 (14)
  • April 2015 (14)
  • March 2015 (13)
  • February 2015 (12)
  • January 2015 (15)
  • December 2014 (10)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (6)
  • September 2014 (7)
  • August 2014 (12)
  • July 2014 (11)
  • June 2014 (12)
  • May 2014 (16)
  • April 2014 (13)
  • March 2014 (13)
  • February 2014 (9)
  • January 2014 (20)
  • December 2013 (9)
  • November 2013 (18)
  • October 2013 (15)
  • September 2013 (11)
  • August 2013 (11)
  • July 2013 (27)
  • June 2013 (18)
  • May 2013 (16)

Best Of

  • The New Rich: How $250k A Year Became Middle Class
  • 8 TED Talks That Will Inspire You To Become A Minimalist
  • 5 Tricks To Save Money At Starbucks (Updated)

Recent Posts

  • How to Pay Off Medical Debt
  • 5 Ways to Save Money Before a New Baby
  • 4 Ways to Save Money on Streaming Services

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in