How many times has this happened to you? You walk into a store, try on a top in the fitting room, and purchase it. But the minute you put it on at home, it looks a little different… somehow less flattering. Thanks to a California-based company called The Skinny Mirror, this could be happening a lot more often.
Why? The company sells curved glass mirrors, designed to make you look 10 pounds thinner. While the founder, Belinda Jasmine, initially made the mirrors—priced from $165 to $5,500—for people to use at home to feel good about themselves and possibly help them achieve weight loss goals, the editors at Business Insider are reporting that she’s fielding more orders from retailers, including an popular unnamed chain with more than 450 stores worldwide. In fact, a recent study published on The Skinny Mirror’s site showed that 88 per cent of customers who used the mirror made a purchase at a lingerie store in Sweden, but only 73 per cent who used a regular mirror purchased something.
While an occasional self-esteem boost is always a positive thing, we’re not sure using an optical illusion and tricking customers into spending more money sounds fair—even if the company’s logo is visible on every mirror, as Jasmine points out. But what do you think? Would you be upset if you found out your favourite boutique was using The Skinny Mirror to increase sales? Let us know in the comments below!
