If the economy has you down, the cosmetics company philosophy has the cure.
The Arizona-based business, which has long sold the facial moisturizer “hope in a jar” ($28 for a 1-ounce container), is spinning off more pricey hope-themed products. In recent months, philosophy added “hope in a jar with SPF,” debuted a body scrub called “when hope is not enough,” and this summer will release an eye cream called “eye hope.”
Hope has long been used to market consumer goods, according Rohit Deshpande, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School. “The founder of Revlon, Charles Revson, is famously claimed to have said, ‘In the factory, we make cosmetics. In the drugstore we sell hope,'” Deshpande said.
Recently, President Barack Obama’s hope-filled campaign and his book, “The Audacity of Hope,” have elevated hope’s profile. They have also helped generate a tidal wave of hope-related products (including “hope on a rope” soap). The recession has only made people desperate for more.
Deshpande predicts that the expanded “hope in a jar” cosmetics line will enjoy strong sales.
“These are hard times, and we need hope more than ever,” he said.
Officials at philosophy say they’ve seen an uptick in sales in the first quarter of 2009 over the same period last year. Seems that people will pay for “hope in a jar,” even though real hope is free.
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