Yeti knows exactly what they’re doing. Think about it: What other luxury item has developed a following among common folk wherein they religiously explain their possesion of said item with the refrain of “I know it is really expensive, but…”
Say what you will but, they have great marketing. And their marketing team is kept pretty busy. Good thing they’re probably able to keep their coffee nice and hot. Just today I received an email from Yeti. This wasn’t much of a surprise, as I think I receive an email from Yeti every day. Usually they get a quick glance and end up in the virtual trashcan. But this email made me un-delete after thinking about it for a second.
The subject line said “The New Harvest Colection Is Here.” Sitting at my desk, completely content with my life, my day, and my cooler situation, those words began to roll around in my head. Harvest. I like fall. I like the color orange. I wonder if Yeti has come out with a new fall-inspired orange color. That would be really cool. I mean, I have a Yeti cooler already, but it isn’t a fall-inspired harvest orange.
So I un-deleted it. When was the last time you un-deleted an email that you had previously, purposefully deleted?
I read the email. The new color isn’t orange. It is red (Harvest Red). A burgundy, really (it is quite nice). It is wine-themed. I’m all about wine, but I don’t think that I’m going to spend hundreds of dollars on a cooler that… well, the soft ones aren’t so expensive. And the tumblers are basically the price of a bottle of wine. It is a limited edition color, after all.
WAIT. I have coolers. I have Yeti coolers. All my cold stuff is cold and all my hot stuff is hot. Keep it together, man…
Still. It doesn’t help that they prey on us fly fishers. We have a love/love relationship with gear. (A love/love relationship is one where you love the things that you have and you love the things that you don’t have, probably don’t need, but could see yourself using once or twice.) I see barefoot guides standing on Yeti coolers, poling along some gorgeous flat. I see flannel-festooned trout bums sipping mystical elixers out of Yeti bottles. I see intelligent, professional people wearing hats with the name of a company that makes $400 plastic boxes filled with styrofoam.
But can you really put a price on bear proof?
STOP. See, this is what happens. We justify it because of the marketing and the escapism and the scenarios where we run into bears that want to drink our beer. And our friends have them. And we do like cold things to be cold and hot things to be hot. And fly fishing is better when cold is cold and hot is hot. So are family activities. And you can’t put a price on family activities so there. That settles it.
Take my money, thank you.
I do have a handful of Yeti products. I know they’re really expensive but I think they’re… yes: I think they’re worth it. And I’m okay in admitting that part of that “worth it” is that it is just fun to have them.