“Palessi” sold about $3,000 worth of shoes within a
few hours and, after the shoppers paid, staffers told them that the
shoes were actually from Payless, according to AdWeek, which reported on the event Wednesday. “They are elegant (and) sophisticated,” one shopper described her purchase as, in a Payless video posted on YouTube.
Then,
the woman, who Payless says is a real person not an actor, was told the
shoes actually were the handiwork of Payless. “You’ve got to be kidding
me,” she said.
Another shopper, this one a man, said about his purchase, “I could tell it’s made with high quality material.”
Payless refunded the shoppers their purchase prices
and plans to use the video testimonials, already available on YouTube,
as commercials on social media and TV.
