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I got into this interesting debate with my friend yesterday.

He sprays on this branded perfume (I am sure you've heard of it -- one of the more prominent brands). Oblivious of which one it was, I immediately go... "Ouch! That one's pungent". He responds saying something to the effect that I ought not to dislike this particular scent if I wanted to be called "classy" because it's so-and-so brand.

Which brings me to an interesting point: My belief is that a person seriously ought to have self-esteem issues if (s)he needs to sport brand(s) to make him/her feel good about himself/herself. Moreover, these brands come at an obnoxiously high price: Nil return on investment.

I principally disapprove of the practice of sporting brands in consumer products of daily wear or use.

Just wanted to voice this thought out into the universe and see what I get back :-) Can someone convince me otherwise?

Some points of clarification btw:
1. My intention is certainly not to undermine the importance of quality here. Quality is very important to me. But to pay a HUGE incremental price just for a name, is inane, in my opinion.

2. My intention is not to undermine the importance of class and sophistication here. My point is that you can be dignified, classy, suave etc etc without the need for brands. Class is so much more innate than that. Some people just have it and some people do not. Brands cannot really do that much more for you either ways.

3. My intention is not to undermine the importance of projecting your true worth (materialistically; and by extension intellectually, socially, professionally) to the people who matter. But to pay humongous price (of any sort) to get acceptance and recognition from people (who do or do not matter) is a futile exercise. I believe that if certain people cannot accept you for who you are fundamentally, stripped of all this external show, it's either because they are hugely narrow minded or because they cannot make peace with the fact that you are different - more often than not in a better way (more secure, more self-assured, more self-aware) -- from them (in style, caliber, values, principles and so on)

Penny for your thoughts.......? :-)