The Paramount Pictures logo is one of the most recognizable in the world. Its star-surrounded mountain peak flashes before a good chunk of movies and TV we watch in the U.S.
Being such a recognizable brand, it would make sense for someone to create merchandise around it. You’d think that would only be its parent company, Viacom, and would mostly come in the form of Paramount gift shop or online store offerings. You probably wouldn’t think “that logo belongs on a Gucci T-shirt and I will spend $590 for it.”
But, alas, in the upside down world we live in these days, a Paramount Pictures T-shirt, which functions in the same way as any other T-shirt you’ve ever seen, is currently for sale $590 online. A crew neck sweatshirt will set you back close to $3,000.
Gucci's @ParamountPics film studio logo T-shirt merch will set you back $590 USD. https://t.co/baZB5pyuPc
— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) August 19, 2018
“This oversized cotton-jersey tee pays homage to American cinema with the snow-capped mountain logo of one of Hollywood’s most iconic film studios,” the item’s description says.
The T-shirt, available for both men and women, even comes complete with the “all rights reserved” logo and “A Viacom company” at the bottom. The Gucci logo is still on the back, which is really what drives the price tag up here, but it’s still a bit confusing to say the least.
It speaks to the importance and power of certain logos to instantly boost the stock of an otherwise unremarkable item. A Paramount T-shirt alone would be more at home as a giveaway for a movie subscription service, or to commemorate a new tour or movie theater opening.
But, we have this shirt with Gucci on the back, as if it’s a sports jersey, but rather than pretending to be our favorite player, we’re becoming the physical embodiment of a luxury brand at the same time we pay homage to American cinema.
The sweatshirt, pushing $3,000, at least has a sort of vintage style to the logo design, but at it’s core it’s still very much just a promotional sweatshirt.
