Discussion:
North Face is a communist plot!
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dank
2008-04-10 23:54:22 UTC
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I went looking for a new backpack last year and decided to check out
the North Face store in San Francisco. Their backpacks looked kinda
cool but were way overpriced and the backs weren't very padded and
they didn't look particularly superior to anything you'd find at
Wal-Mart or Targèt for $50 less. The clothes were outrageously
priced, with nylon jackets going for several hundred dollars, and
which were probably made at the same communist slave-labor factory
in China as the $40 jacket at Mervyn's or Sears.

Then I noticed it was an extremely popular brand among Asians,
especially rich Chinese who want to show how rich they are by
spending $300 for a nylon jacket or $150 for a backpack without
proper padding. Sort of like a Capitalist Mao jacket where all
the Communist Chinese ant drones demonstrate equal social status
by wearing identical nylon jackets, with additional equality
bestowed in the form of North Face logos.

That was why all the Chinese tourists I saw at yesterday's Olympic
Torch protest in San Francisco were wearing North Face - because
they were part of the priviliged elite able to travel abroad.
Most of the pro-China demonstrators were wearing North Face clothing
and accessories (despite a million other brands also made in China),
so it must be a communist plot!
y_p_w
2008-04-11 16:28:49 UTC
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Post by dank
I went looking for a new backpack last year and decided to check out
the North Face store in San Francisco. Their backpacks looked kinda
cool but were way overpriced and the backs weren't very padded and
they didn't look particularly superior to anything you'd find at
Wal-Mart or Targèt for $50 less. The clothes were outrageously
priced, with nylon jackets going for several hundred dollars, and
which were probably made at the same communist slave-labor factory
in China as the $40 jacket at Mervyn's or Sears.
Uh - yeah.

Certainly TNF and other outdoor companies have increasingly gone to
foreign labor. They have to in order to stay competitive. That being
said, I just went to TNF Outlet a few weeks ago during their "sample
sale". I got a really nice backpack and some Gore-Tex pants. Both
were $50 each. The pack is way beyond anything that I could find at
Mervyns or Sears. The pants are nicely finished. Neither was made in
China, although Vietnam and Bangladesh are typical low-wage labor
countries.

Besides - who the heck pays full-price for outdoor gear? I buy at
Sports Basement, Sierra Trading Post, or clearance sales at REI - as
well as other discounters.

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