Payless Shoes pulled off a clever prank this week when they opened a fake luxury shoe store called Palessi. The store was stocked with Payless shoes that were priced at up to $645.
The discount shoe company made up Palessi Shoes as a luxury shoe brand that only sells its shoes in pop-up events in upscale malls. If you want to buy these shoes, you have to be one of the chosen VIPs, since shopping at Palessi is by “invitation only.”
A number of fashion influencers were invited to the store’s grand opening, and they were all fooled into thinking that Palessi was a real luxury brand. They raved about the shoes’ quality and design, and some even paid hundreds of dollars for them.
The fashion influencers invited to shop at this new luxury pop up shoe store, did not bat an eye at that price. After all, the Palessi brand means something, and that’s the going price for a high-quality, luxury shoe, right?
Right. Except Palessi isn’t a real brand, and that $645 pair of shoes actually cost $35 at Payless.
Yes, the exact same pair of shoes.
Payless eventually revealed the prank, and the fashion influencers were all pretty embarrassed. But they also took it in stride, and many of them even admitted that they were impressed by how convincing the fake store was.
The Palessi prank was a huge success for Payless. It went viral on social media, and it generated a lot of positive buzz for the brand. It also showed that Payless is still relevant in the fashion world, even though they are not a luxury brand.
Payless is a great example of a company that is not afraid to think outside the box. They are always coming up with new and innovative ways to reach their customers, and that is why they have been so successful over the years.
