The Ordinary’s Tokyo Markup Marché Welcomed More Than 3,000 Visitors

“More than 3,000 visitors joined us over four days,” James Aquilina, President and General Manager of Estée Lauder Companies Japan, wrote on LinkedIn. The installation used familiar groceries with elaborate product descriptions and inflated prices to examine beauty marketing.

The Ordinary’s Japanese announcement described aisles and shelves containing facts and data about pricing and marketing practices. A banana carried a ¥17,500 price tag, while an avocado was priced at ¥30,500. The Japanese edition also included sweet potatoes at ¥20,300 and pears at ¥31,200.

The brand said the produce itself was unchanged; the names and prices were part of the presentation.

James Aquilina, President and General Manager of Estée Lauder Companies Japan, described the brand’s approach in the same LinkedIn post: “it doesn’t just talk about transparency, it lets people experience it.” In the event announcement, Amy Bi, Senior Vice President of The Ordinary, said elaborate language and packaging add costs that consumers ultimately pay…