Mercadona has been filled with gels and shampoos that mimic luxury products: the silent revolution of supermarkets

A light texture cream and minimalist container that could go through a Sephora launch, a Bombonera type bag that Remember Loewe or Jacquemusand a colony whose aroma evokes Carolina Herrera or Issey Miyake perfumes. All this coexists, at reduced prices, in the same place where fried and softening potatoes are sold: the supermarket. Between clonations or inspirations – not to open the legal melon – you can find global cosmetics and perfumery trends, including Korean skincareas well as viral accessories in a daily and massive context. A phenomenon that arouses passions on social networks and that, in Spain, has Mercadona as one of its main protagonists. Imitation as a strategy. According to Business InsiderMercadona, through its own Deliplus brand, accurately mimics makeup products and personal care of firms such as Mac, Benefit, L’Oréal or Urban Decay, with containers and textures that remind the original but at prices that rarely exceed six euros. Among the best known examples are the Maxi Volume mask (inspired by L’Oréal), the silicone base similar to Benefit or Illuminator and Coloretes that refer directly to The Balm and Nars. The formula works thanks to the massive distribution and indirect marketing that generate users and influencers by viralizing findings such as bath gel with amber and vetiver for 1.50 euros, described by the confidential as “a gel that smells of gods” and compared to high -end perfumes. In Xataka A feeling is growing in Europe and Canada: Boicote "National" The hole that leaves inaccessible luxury. This “corridor luxury” blooms at a time when traditional luxury has become more expensive until its clientele concentrated in the richest 1%. According to the avant -gardethe average price of luxury products has risen 25% since 2019, displacing the aspirational consumer that previously saved to buy a perfume or accessory. Today, more than 40% of the sales of many brands come from that 1% of greater purchasing power. The consequence of all this is a market hole that fill legal imitations, inspired products and, in the illegal field, falsifications. According to the countrydigital copies trade has exploded with apps and channels in Telegram, where young people buy and exhibit replicas without complexes. 54% of the B buyers see with good eyes that others carry falsifications, and 37% admit that it carries or carry them. In this panorama, legal clones such as those of Mercadona are positioned as an “safe” alternative, although they are part of the same conversation about value, authenticity and saturation. The origin of luxury by hand. The mixture of luxury references and daily consumption is not new, but in the last decade it has been normalized and even turned into a statement of style. The figure of the “luxury choni” – who combines gold logos with basic garments and low cost makeup – has permeated in artists such as Bad Gyal, capable of dressing in Versace and Use Mercadona Profiler. Also Rosalia, in its beginnings, sang in Aute Cuture: “In the Palace and in the Chinese”, encapsulating the coexistence of two consumption universes in the same aesthetic identity. This symbolic cross has found fertile ground in cosmetics, where the price does not always determine social recognition. An effective clone can grant the same symbolic capital as a luxury product, especially when social networks amplify the finding. The era of “dupe”. In networks like Tiktok, the term Dupe It has become a generational flag. Vogue Business has documented How gene generation has stopped hiding that uses imitations: finding and showing them is a source of pride. Brands such as Mcobeauty in Australia have grown thanks to this movement, while firms like Charlotte Tilbury have launched campaigns to claim their “original formula” and differentiate themselves from copies. In other markets, the line between inspiration and copy has been tested in court. According to Vogue BusinessBenefit’s demand against Elf Cosmetics for a mask similar to his Roller Lash failed: justice considered that packaging and components differ enough not to confuse the consumer. On the other hand, Mercadona does not fight on that forehead: its strategy is to identify and produce quickly, benefiting that in Spain, as in many markets, copying formulas or aesthetics without violating patents is perfectly legal. Beyond beauty: edible luxury. This phenomenon is not limited to cosmetics. According to Delishgeneration Z is moving aspirational consumption to food. In the United States, chains like Erewhon sell $ 20 with superfood and collaborations of Celebritieswhich are both a well -being product and a content for social networks. Logic is similar: to make daily consumption (makeup, breakfast, hydrate) into an act of visible and replicable status. Luxury is no longer alone in marble boutiques: it is in the glass Take Awayin the design bottle of design and, in Spain, in the supermarket perfume line. The debate: democratize or dilute. He Dupe It can be understood as democratization: put aesthetic and sensory codes available to a few people. But it can also dilute the value of the original and its promise of exclusivity. Marc Chaya, CEO of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, warned in Vogue Business: “Duping is a serious matter … some serve to remind brands that cannot abuse the price, but others flood the market without providing utility or purpose.” For the consumer, the dilemma is different: pay for history and prestige or for the effect and similarity. For brands, the question is how to maintain relevance when desire is satisfied with cheaper alternatives. {“videoid”: “x85k87i”, “autoplay”: fals, “title”: “Black Friday: how to know if an online store is reliable ️ Buy with internet security”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “562”} Cart as a global showcase. It is not about replacing the traditional luxury experience, but about appropriating its symbols in times of inflation, precariousness and digitalized consumption. The “hall luxury” is a symptom of an era where the barriers between high range and mass consumption are increasingly diffuse. And there, in that hall where glamor coexists with the softener, a new chapter is being written in the history of consumption: one where a … Read more

There was a time when even the shampoos or the Pokéball had a radio. And Spain has rediscovered by force

The blackout that Spain suffered Last Monday, April 28, with still unknown causeleft a very learning: The radio It was by far the best means to inform yourself Before the crisis. The stations survived the cuts thanks to electrogen equipment and the spotlights of the Spaniards allowed to be aware of the situation. During the hours after the blackout, Tiktok became a stranger transistor showcase. The Radio-Ranathe radio-barbieradios that They emulate those of past centuries… Spanish being Spanish, as we usually do The golden age of the transistor. Between the mid -50s and the end of the 80s the radio became a key medium thanks to the transistor. A cheap electronic device, small and easy to implement in any device. The radio was The most immediate medium To know the news, and the big companies began to obsess with providing this technology to their products. The solution was easy: turn your objects into radios. A cultural phenomenon. Having a radio at home was part of pop culture and was synonymous with modernity, a train to which the big (mainly American) began to join from the 60s. They began to integrate radios into watches, briefcases, coca-cool bottles, hair dryers, backpacks … and even shampoo boats. The radio became more a claim than a real utility with the popularization of TV and the Internet entered the 90s. The most rocambolesque radios. The blackout has left us dozens of videos and memes related to the most hilarious transistors. Some that demonstrate the fever in Spain with these products and, particularly, the resistance to the time they have. An HS shampoo, an informative Pokéball, or the Pizza Hut radius in collaboration with Cocacola for 25 years ago that my partner Rubén had in the drawer. Immune devices to programmed obsolescence and with the only need for a few AA batteries to function. A profitable market. Rescue HS shampoo It has a price of 75 euros on eBay. A Darth Vader head with Radio exceeds 100and a mini Coca-Cola fridge with radio included It costs about 30 euros. The radio culture, lives more than 100 years after its invention, has been the best evidence that Current technology is not infallible, And that there are inventions that far from being obsolete, have not yet been overcome. Image | eBay In Xataka | If you want to see series on blackouts, it makes all the meaning: fictions help explain us reality

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