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 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| When you think luxury, you may not think Payless, but the brand is definitely proving you wrong. How? By seriously trolling influencers in a way that's goodnatured but proves a point. Payless's fake shoe boutique, Palessi, helped the brand prove that a price point doesn't dictate style, and it did so in a way that's going to seriously make you laugh. 
 
 In order to show the quality and style of their offerings, Payless decided to do a bit of trickery, and it was a total win. The brand set up a faux shoe boutique called Palessi (get it?) in Beverly Hills and invited a plethora of fashion influencers to attend their grand opening. The secret to the supposedly luxury store, however, was that the shoes inside were all Payless and all of them retailed for no more than $39.99. That, however, didn't stop influencers from thinking that the shoes were worth hundreds of dollars. 
 
 In the video created by Payless, influencers who were invited to the event discuss the quality of the materials that the shoes were made of, how stylist they were, and how everyone would be asking where they got the footwear. They offered hundreds of dollars for the shoes, some of which only cost $19.99. Then, they were surprised with the news that they were, in fact, shopping Payless shoes. 
 
 Payless on YouTube 
 
 The brand looks at the way influencer culture impacts perceptions, and their aim was to demonstrate that Payless actually is still a great place to shop for great looking shoes that won't cost you your entire month's rent check. While money may be a difficult topic to discuss for millennial women, most aren't able or willing to spend hundreds of dollars on shoes just to wear it for the 'gram. In a survey from Bustle, 15 millennial women discussed their fashion budgets, and most of them were conscious of how much their spending and how they're saving by shopping less expensive and discount brands. 
 
 Courtesy of Payless 
 
 Like the women Bustle spoke with, Doug Cameron, Chief Creative Officer of DCX Growth Accelerator, explains that Payless customers are also pragmatists, look for stylish shoes that make sense for their budgets. Cameron explains that the "gotcha" style ad, "works particularly well for Payless because there is such a discrepancy between how the influencers see the shoes and how they see the Payless brand.” 
 
 Courtesy of Payless 
 
 The brand is clearly aware how fashion influencers may see the name Payless, but they also know that their shoes are certainly nothing to balk at. They're stylish and modern and affordable, attributes most shoppers want, even if they don't love the Payless name. Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Couch says, "Payless has gone to great lengths to create a portfolio of fashionable and high-quality shoes, but perceptions of the brand lag far behind this. The campaign plays off of the enormous discrepancy and aims to remind consumers we are still a relevant place to shop for affordable fashion.” 
 
 Courtesy of Payless 
 
 Before you drop that extra hundred on that pair of boots you've been eyeing, maybe, just maybe head to Payless first. ||||| If you serve fast food on white tablecloths in a tony-looking restaurant, people sometimes think it’s haute cuisine. (At the very least, it tastes a lot different than it does when you’re scarfing it down from a drive-through bag). 
 
 It turns out you can do the same for bargain kicks by showcasing the footwear against the kind of chic backdrop usually reserved for luxury labels like Jimmy Choo and getting people to pay outrageous markups. 
 
 That’s what Payless did recently in Santa Monica, taking over a former Armani store and stocking it with $19.99 pumps and $39.99 boots. The chain, via agency DCX Growth Accelerator, invited groups of influencers to the grand opening of “Palessi” and asked their opinions on the “designer” wares. 
 
 Party goers, having no idea they were looking at discount staples from the mall scene, said they’d pay hundreds of dollars for the stylish shoes, praising the look, materials and workmanship. Top offer: $640, which translates to an 1,800 percent markup, and Palessi sold about $3,000 worth of product in the first few hours of the stunt. 
 
 Payless, or “Palessi,” did ring up those purchases but didn’t keep the money. Influencers got their cash back, along with free shoes. Their reactions caught in the short- and longer-form ads—those shocked “gotcha” moments—are fairly priceless. 
 
 The retailer “wanted to push the social experiment genre to new extremes, while simultaneously using it to make a cultural statement,” said Doug Cameron, DCX Growth Accelerator’s chief creative officer. “Payless customers share a pragmatist point of view, and we thought it would be provocative to use this ideology to challenge today’s image-conscious fashion influencer culture.” 
 
 Payless CMO Sarah Couch says the chain aimed to tackle the brand’s perception issues head-on at a time when retailers are feeling more heat than ever from giant ecommerce sites. 
 
 “The campaign plays off of the enormous discrepancy and aims to remind consumers we are still a relevant place to shop for affordable fashion,” Couch says. 
 
 (UPDATE: Want to know about how this stunt came about? Check out our new Q&A with Payless marketing vp Lisa Contino and Doug Cameron, chief creative officer at DCX.) 
 
 Ads will run on cable TV networks like Bravo, Lifetime, TBS, Telemundo and USA and on social channels like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram through the holidays. 
 
 CREDITS: 
 
 Agency: DCX Growth Accelerator 
 
 Concept: Doug Cameron and Tommy Noonan 
 
 CCO/CW: Doug Cameron 
 
 ECD/Art Director: Tommy Noonan 
 
 CD: Mauricio Alarcon 
 
 Account Director: Patrick McCormick 
 
 Client: Payless 
 
 CMO: Sara Couch 
 
 Brand Manager: Lisa Contino 
 
 Creative Director: Jeff Vandeven 
 
 Creative Services Manager: Cheri Bernand 
 
 International Marketing Director: Bernardo Meza 
 
 VP Marketing: Dominic Bonadio 
 
 Production Company: DCX Cultural Studios 
 
 Director/Executive Producer: David Logan 
 
 Assistant Directors: Doug Cameron, Tommy Noonan 
 
 Line Producer: Kelly Scott 
 
 Production Manager: Jerry terHorst 
 
 Production Coordinator: Jonathan D. Ortiz 
 
 Production Designer: Ricardo Jattan 
 
 Director of Photography: Shane Collins 
 
 Camera Operator: Andrew Sanchez 
 
 1st AD: Cody Boessen 
 
 Editorial: Beast Editorial NYC 
 
 Sr Editor: Brian Sanford 
 
 Executive Producer: Melissa Lubin 
 
 Post Producer: Michael Beltrame 
 
 Asst Editor: Joseph D’Amato 
 
 After Effects: Christian Matts 
 
 Colorist: Lez Rudge w/ Chimney 
 
 Audio Mix: Peter Holcomb w/ Sound Lounge 
 
 Online Conform: Scott Bravo w/ Beast
– Would you pay $640 for a pair of Payless shoes? You might think the answer is "absolutely not," but you haven't been to Palessi. In a recent ad campaign/social experiment, Payless took over a former Armani storefront in Santa Monica, Calif., and set up a fake luxury shoe boutique, Palessi. Attendees of the grand opening party ("fashion influencers" invited by Palessi, er, Payless) had no idea things were not as they seemed, and yes, $640 was the top price paid for the $19.99 and $39.99 shoes on display, Adweek reports. A whopping $3,000 was spent in just a few hours on the actually cheap shoes, but Payless returned the money after the truth was revealed—and let the attendees keep the shoes they picked out. The shocked reactions of people who just found out the shoes they were calling "elegant" and "sophisticated" were actually from Payless are included in the resulting ads. The stunt "helped the brand prove that a price point doesn't dictate style," Bustle declares. But one marketing expert notes the whole thing is also "a commentary ... on the discernment—or lack thereof—among fashion influencers." (These Payless shoes reportedly burst into flames.)