Definition: The corporate practice of aggressively marketing premium-quality delusions while hiding bargain-bin operations. Involves theatrical branding to distract from cheap shortcuts, like slapping “Made in USA” stickers over imported goods or piping elevator music through a flimsy partition guarding millions in cash.
Common in industries where perception trumps integrity. Think Sysco slop plated as artisanal eats, or “exclusive” services secretly run on a competitor’s infrastructure. Essentially, dressing a dumpster fire in velvet curtains and charging for the “experience.”
Example:
The bank advertised “bespoke wealth management” while its back office used outdated software and temp workers crammed behind a fake wall.
Their “farm-to-table” bistro sourced frozen Sysco vegetables but hid the boxes and played nature sounds over hidden speakers.