These Lidl sneakers are already out of stock (and we find that problematic)

Sunday, December 27, 2020, Lidl put on the shelves shoes and other accessories in the brand's colors, which sold out in the blink of an eye. A box that raises questions.

Sneakers at € 12.99, in the colors of the Lidl brand, crammed into metal bins. We are far from the premium pumps, collab type, numbered and displayed in a luxury handbag-style display, which regularly freak out fashionistas and are snapped up at high prices … And yet. Sunday, December 27, 2020, these famous blue, red and yellow sneakers flew in a few hours in different Lidl stores, the hype taking even on social networks.

It must be said that the event had been teased online, and was all the more expected as the shoes, as well as various fashion accessories offered by the brand (socks, slides and t-shirts) should have been released in France on the 14th. last November, as recalled by La Voix du Nord. Containment requires, these products were put on the shelves only Sunday with, on the consumer side, a tenfold enthusiasm.
The desire effect works here fully (pop design, flash out of stock, buzz on the Web …) and would almost make us want to go to Le Bon Coin, where Lidl sneakers are selling for a high price. . Except that the operation leaves a bitter taste in the mouth …

A sign for "prolos", sneakers for ailments

Who are the regular customers of Lidl supermarkets? It comes largely from the working classes, who can find products there, in particular food, at very low costs. And that's where the shoe pinches: it's a safe bet that these undermines, made ultra-desirable through marketing buzz, will not dress the poorest, but those who have not queued up. D-day And who will be content to take out their bank card to make an online purchase that can reach a good hundred euros. The goal? Treat yourself to a wildly offbeat fashion accessory, because it is flocked to the name of a large retail chain with a strong connotation.

We can therefore speak of a form of aestheticization of poverty, which is certainly not new – we will think of the "Tati tote" by Marc Jacob for Louis Vuitton, released in 2012 and worth € 1,200 or, even more shocking, to tailors imitating Dior newsprint, inspired in 2010 to designer John Galliano by the homeless in New York who rolled up to protect themselves from the freezing cold. But Lidl's marketing strategy is all the more appealing as it is adopted by a brand whose success originally depends on the working classes, for whom hard discounting is not a choice but a vital necessity.

Another problem: on the networks, many comments insist on the supposed indiscipline, even the stupidity, of those who rushed to the products on the shelves. This is reminiscent of the criticisms following the sale of Nutella at -70%, in 2018, in several Intermarché, which had led to riots in stores and hideous mockery. In a time of deep social division, not sure that we need yet another torrent of degrading stereotypes towards people of color and / or from the poorest classes. Who are also not so different from the rich: from the queues in front of the luxury boutiques of the Champs Élysées to those of suburban Lidls, the consumer society finds its way into all wallets.