THE MOST FAMOUS BRAND IN ASIA

A product’s birth certificate lies inside what its brand stands for. Then the name arrives to complete its identity.

And when you go to buy it, if it carries a brand, it means it’s good.

But who the hell said so?

Television, marketing campaigns, the shopkeeper, the special offers and, in the end, personal experience too — which, however, always remains individual.

It is true that a brand draws its strength from the fact that dozens of companies make similar goods, with different names, packaging, prices and sizes, but with one common purpose:

to sell and make a profit.

Without naming names — because my lawyers have already explained to me that there is always someone waiting for my first false step, ready to see me defeated, with my head on one side and my backside in the Pacific Ocean — I would like to tell you about a purchase I made yesterday with my wife.

She is 63, I am 61.

We were in a shop run by Chinese owners, true masters of disorder within their own order. So much so that, to find anything at all, you almost always have to ask one of their assistants for help.

My wife wanted to buy some simple black stockings.

Then her choice fell on a pair of hold-ups.

With that half smile whose only purpose is to remind a husband exactly what is being talked about.

The shop assistant assured us that, despite the sale price, this was a product of the most famous and best-selling brand in Asia.

That same evening my wife put them in hot water to wash them.

And the adult size immediately began to shrink.

When, late at night, we finally allowed ourselves a small moment of married intimacy, we burst out laughing like two lunatics.

The hold-ups had turned into two tiny child-size ankle socks.

Ahahahahahah.

The magic of the brand.