Kmart: Is it Really OK?

 1000 ‘real mums’ romped through Kmart last month, squawking in disbelief as the chain’s ‘irresistibly low prices’ were revealed. The footage was captured in a 60-second TV commercial which launched last week.  If Kmart’s brief was to highlight the chain’s new unbelievably low prices while imbuing the brand with a tuckshop-mum earthiness and irreverence, the advertising agency nailed it.

And I admit, if I was amid 1000 bargain-drunk mums, I’d probably start tickle-fighting my girlfriends in Homewares out of sheer disbelief too. But I’m not, so I have the presence of mind to reflect on Kmart’s new ‘point of difference’ with some age-old motherly wisdom.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” 
 

The fact is, a new pair of jeans are worth more than $10. How can the raw materials be grown and/or extracted from the earth, processed into fibre and fabric, manufactured into denim, sewed into jeans, shipped, marketed and merchandised for a tenner?

So who is paying for those jeans then? My guess is someone else’s land and someone else’s health in a shittier part of the world.

The 20-minute viral video The Story Of Stuff explains what really goes on when we buy a $10 pair of jeans or a $45 microwave. Please watch it – or at least from the 8.10 minute mark to the 11.30 minute mark. 

Now you’re angry at Kmart aren’t you? But are they the one's at fault?

If we look at Kmart’s new strategy from a purely economic standpoint, it was inevitable.  One of the embattled discount giants was bound to make a bold move to win the retail price war (Hello CostCo) and I guess Kmart (Coles) was best positioned to do that.

Until Australians question their relationship with ‘stuff’ or stop equating  a ‘fair go’ with purchasing unsustainably cheap ‘everyday items’, the Kmart model is justified.

The ‘fair go’ narrative is difficult to shake too. As a low income working  Australian I can easily tell myself it’s my birthright to buy that 5-pack of animal print briefs for $5 (as seen in the latest catalogue).  Everyone has their price.   

But what makes me feel mad about Kmart’s position is that it represents serious competition for opshops and swap culture, which are environmentally and socially sustainable.  As an ardent op-shopper I’ve started to question paying $3.50 for a scuffed pair of shoes from Vinnes when I can pick up a new pair for $3. Especially when opshop brands are competing with the promise of a feel-good girl-power shopping experience.

But I’m standing firm. The catalogues are tantalising but apart from the animal print undies I refuse to buy new too-cheap crap over old when I have the option. I also maintain that the feel-good hysteria contrived by the Kmart commercial could be equalled by a loungroom full of mums sharing hand-me-downs over jam scrolls. I've seen it happen.  

Which is why I have given myself the challenge to find 1000 mums who would prefer to Swap or Buy Second Hand Than Buy Items at Unsustainable Prices; Mums who refuse to shout ‘OK’ to unthinking consumerism at the cost of the planet and other people’s kids.

C’mon Mamas. Join facebook group and tell your girlfriends.