History Main / ConspicuousConsumption

* PlayedForLaughs in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. A couple of instances, the Warrior of Light will try to purchase something to aid their friends in a storyline but is rebuffed because you've done enough. One character even notes that your gear costs about as much as to purchase a house and furnish it (which number in the ''millions''). In one Hildibrand mission, you can brag that you purchased subligar (re: ''underwear'') that costs more than a kimono that's being sold.

Not to be confused with CrazyConsumption or the VictorianNovelDisease.

* In the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/31456490 The Artist's Garden at Madripoor]]'', Steve and Natasha go to [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier Madripoor]] in order to acquire the component they need for the [[Film/AvengersEndgame Quantum Tunnel]] from the [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Power Broker]] who resides in a large building containing an art gallery filled with original Monets. The Power Broker, [[SamusIsAGirl who Steve is shocked to discover]] is [[FallenHero Sharon]], meets with them wearing [[SimpleYetOpulent a form-fitting, low-cut, sequined white dress]] and diamonds which Steve describes as worth more money than he's ever owned his whole life. When she invites Steve and Natasha into her room to talk, Steve takes note of how elegant the place is. She also uses the building to host lavish parties.

* {{Subverted}} twice in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13545968/1/Wilhuff-Tarkin-Hero-of-the-Rebellion Wilhuff Tarkin, Hero of the Rebellion]]'':

* Done in ''Film/BladeRunner2049'' to highlight the wealth of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Niander]] [[BigBad Wallace.]] In a dystopian future where space is at a premium, clean water is a luxury (even Officer K can only afford a shower for five seconds at a time, at least if he wants it mostly non-toxic), and trees are so rare that a toy wooden horse the size of your hand is worth as much as a real one, the Wallace Corp is not only ''[[EvilTowerOfOminousness massive]]'' but consists mostly of huge, empty rooms, and Wallace's office consists of a platform paneled and furnished in wood that's ''surrounded'' by crystal-clear water. Wallace is ''blind'', so he can't even appreciate the luxuries that he surrounds himself with.

** Other Star Wars novels (now under the Legends banner) mention that the three largest palaces on Coruscant (the galactic capital) belong to the Emperor, Darth Vader and [[TheDon Prince Xizor]] in that order. Of them, both the Emperor and Xizor fill their palaces with artwork to show off their wealth and status. Vader, on the other hand, opts for a SimpleYetOpulent approach: his palace is almost bare in comparison, the only sign of his wealth is the fact the spartan chairs and tables are made of a very expensive and durable wood.

* ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': The Cullens all wear designer clothes and drive brand-new cars despite living in a backwoods town. According to the author this is done on purpose, because for some reason making shows of wealth helps them keep a low profile.

* "Golden Tears," a No. 1 country hit from 1979 by the trio Dave and Sugar, about a poor girl who marries a rich man and now has everything she ever wanted ("''From a Chevy to a Lincoln/From paper shades to curtain/From neon lights to crystal chandeliers''") ... except love.

* "Two-Story House" by Music/GeorgeJones and Tammy Wynette, their No. 2 duet country hit from 1980. The song had an ironic twist to it, because they were singing about their own failed marriage, and lamented that they had everything else -- from the finest china and furniture, gold fixtures and marble countertops and so forth -- except love and respect for one another.
* Music/{{Nickelback}}'s "Rock Star" is one long ode to just what the singer's going to buy when he's successful.
* "Gangnam Style", by Music/{{Psy}}, is about out-of-control conspicuous consumption and overpriced coffee in Seoul's trendiest district.
* GlamRap is the hip-hop subgenre responsible for the average person's stereotypical image of some obscenely-wealthy "gangsta" showing off his gold-plated rims, diamond-encrusted swag, and beautiful women that service him daily and nightly within his opulent mansion. The fact that this is one of the only subgenres of hip-hop with mainstream popularity is a bit of a [[BerserkButton sore spot]] for fans of other, more underground subgenres who have to contend with people claiming that all rap is Music/LilWayne or Music/SouljaBoy.
* Music/{{Lorde}}'s "Royals" is about how pop music glamorizes conspicuous consumption, but in the end, who needs it?
-->''But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom.\\
Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room,\\
We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams.\\
But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece.\\
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash\\
We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair.''

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's [[Music/DareToBeStupid "This Is the Life"]] is about how mind-blowingly rich the singer is, all the ridiculous things he does with his vast amounts of money (including filling his bathtub with Perrier, paying someone to chew his food for him, and buying boxes of individually monogrammed Kleenex), and how much he loves it.
-->You're dead for a really long time\\
You just can't prevent it\\
So if money can't buy happiness\\
I guess I'll have to rent it!
** "[[DigitalPiracyIsEvil Don't Download This Song]]" has a refrain near the end that constitutes this.
-->''Don't take away money, from artists just like me. How else can I afford another solid-gold Humvee? And diamond-studded swimming pools - these things don't grow on trees!''
* Pretty much everything bought by the narrator in Music/MitchBenn's "Too Much Money", but in particular the car that "does thirty gallons a mile" just to make the point he can afford to ''keep'' paying for it.

* Music/CrowdedHouse's "Chocolate Cake" poked fun at American excess in general:
-->Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?\\
Tammy Baker must be losing her faith, yeah\\
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake?\\
Andy Warhol must be laughing in his grave

--->'''Le Bret''' ''(with the action of throwing a bag):'' How! The bag of crowns?...\\

--->'''Another Apprentice''' ''(also coming up with a tray covered by a napkin):'' Master, I bethought me erewhile of your tastes, and made this, which will please you, I hope.\\

'''Ragueneau''' ''(enchanted):'' A lyre!\\

'''Ragueneau''' ''(touched):'' With conserved fruits.\\

'''Ragueneau''' ''(Giving him a coin):'' Go, drink my health!\\

* An oil tycoon in ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' is prone to this.
* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', several of the purchasable items in the game (for example, [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Something_Special_For_Someone_Special Something Special for Someone Special]]) do nothing except show off that its owner has money to blow on a video game.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' parodies it with the in-game TV show "I'm Rich", including obvious parodies of people like Paris Hilton and others.
** ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony The Ballad of Gay Tony]]'' introduces Yusuf Amir, who spends his money on BlingBlingBang, HookersAndBlow, and ridiculous vanity projects like building the tallest skyscraper in Liberty City. Since he apparently has the money to buy ''anything'', the only use he has for the player character is to steal "the things they ''won't'' sell him", like military hardware.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'''s multiplayer mode is centered around this trope. The game offers a vast array of exorbitant purchases for your character to show off his/her wealth. Of note is the gold-plated Luxor Deluxe private jet, which costs ''$10,000,000''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', Pokey Minch and his father have offices in the Monotoli building made entirely of gold.
* In the third act of ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' the player visits the ruined city of the fallen empire. The empire was known for having indulged in a lot of Conspicuous Consumption shortly before its fall. It's nowhere more evident than in the Solaris Temple where everything is made from polished white stone, red fabrics, and covered in gold. The nature bound Ranger character even comments on how creepily unnatural it all looks.

* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}}''; Mattias Nilsson expresses a desire to spend his share of the bounty on General Song's head on a custom gold-plated Lamborghini with diamond-encrusted hubcaps.
* In ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonFriendsOfMineralTown'', you can acquire golden lumber. Place it on your farm, however, and everyone in town will get angry at you for showing off. In ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonDS'', you can use it to make buildings... and it's the best material for doing so.
* A RunningGag among the creators of ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' is that the [[BribingYourWayToVictory players' donations]] go towards "solid gold Ferraris".
* Most stuff in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' generally has some use in the game, but golden tools and diamond hoes are just plain conspicuous consumption. Tools and armour made of gold may have more enchantments stick to them, but their base attributes (damage dealt, blocks that can be mined, number of uses before depletion, etc.) are simply too low to compensate for such a rare material. Hoes, meanwhile, all perform the exact same function, with the only difference being the amount of farmland they can create before breaking, so even an iron hoe is a waste when you can simply create a hoe out of a plentiful and easily renewable material that is cobblestone. Not to mention diamond is not renewable to begin with.
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' during the Smuggler Storyline, you run into a Republic spy on Balmorra who got busted for buying customized speeders beyond his salary.
* The Rich Boy and Lady Trainer classes in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' often use expensive Full Restores to heal their low-leveled Pokémon when cheaper items like Potions would have done just as well.
* Being set in 1988, ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' is all about showing off the riches of 80s Japan in the tackiest ways possible. Yakuza wear garish suits, Tokyo and Osaka are full of glimmering neon lights, and billionaires are made and gone in the constant fight for real estate. Kazuma Kiryu can even learn to toss entire handfuls of Cash Confetti as a means to avoid fights after being taught by Mr. Moneybags, a man who literally lives in his private jets (yes, plural) and travels the world.

* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' has the Ornate Plate, the most expensive set of armor in the game at a whopping $8000, which does ''absolutely nothing'' other than make you look rich and flashy (unlike every other armor that provides some sort of ability). Even it's description describes it as "Flashy! Acrobatic! Useless!" It also has the effect of letting you do flips, making you stick the landing from the catapult, leaving a trail of sparkles behind you, and getting a compliment from [[TheUsurper King Knight]]:
-->...Although I must say, your armor is ''resplendent''. I can see you've picked up on my style!
* Junya Kaneshiro's EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is handing 3 million yen to a mistress after the party barges into his hideout, ostensibly as a means of "[[RetailTherapy stress relief]]" (he then blackmails the party into paying him that 3 million as compensation for causing him that stress). Turns out he's a [[RagsToRiches formerly-poor]] {{Yakuza}} [[TheDon don]] who's obsessed with gaudy displays of wealth as a means of making himself look tough and powerful. It becomes a ''[[GameplayAndStoryIntegration gameplay mechanic]]'' in his boss battle, where the player can throw out valuable items and attack Kaneshiro while he's busy fawning over them.
* ''VideoGame/ToothAndTail'': The consumption of meat is implied to be this InUniverse. Several characters refer to grains and vegetables as 'the food of beasts', implying they ''can'' eat them. They simply refuse to because it's seen as uncivilized, instead preferring to starve -- or even go to war so they can feast upon the bodies of the fallen.

* Jo'on Yorigami from ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is a pestilence goddess whose power is explicitly to cause others to do this, usually [[GoldDigger for her own gain]]. She's even guilty of it herself, dressing in very modern and fashionable clothing, making very impulsive and extravagant purchases, and carelessly throwing away valuables in her attacks.

* In ''[[http://www.commedia2x00.wordpress.com Commedia 2X00,]]'' Mr. Pants' family has been earning royalties on their patent on pants for centuries. His sidekick/attendant is a solid gold robot named Goodz. Several early updates are spent in his treasure room, which includes things like a Polybius arcade machine, the Chaos Emeralds, and an electric guitar autographed by Mozart.
* Mentioned by name in ''Webcomic/SnowByNight''. One rich family puts on a contest involving shooting at expensive glassware containing expensive wine.
* In ''Webcomic/SweetBroAndHellaJeff'', Hella Jeff takes a moment to give a "fuckin squirrelt" all his "momey" for no apparent reason other than that he can.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' the Milton ferrets [[PetHeir inherited]] more money than they could possibly spend, not for want of [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/2011/04/22/poolside-manner/ trying.]]

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The [[GodEmperor Demiurge]] Mottom and her DecadentCourt symbolize the [[SevenDeadlySins sin of Gluttony]] and lean heavily on this. At one point, she has a lavish banquet for ''hundreds'' laid out for a one-on-one audience with Allison, and none of the food gets eaten.
-->'''Allison:''' ...Are you just going to ''throw this all away? '''Why?'''''\\
'''Mottom:''' Wrong question, dear. "Why" is a question of the weak. The proper question is "Why not?"

* {{Website/Cracked}} has a list [[https://web.archive.org/web/20131231170802/http://www.cracked.com/article/188_7-great-products-telling-world-youre-rich-dick/ of real-life ways to show off wealth.]]

* In ''Literature/MagikOnline'' the King of the Midnight Market Mammon uses his wealth to buy some weird things, like his collection of thirty-seven suns and tries to buy a planet he doesn't like so he can blow it up.

* Some of [[WesternAnimation/GoldieGoldAndActionJack Goldie Gold's]] has a few of these that aren't even gadgets, like a diamond-studded nail clipper.
* Similarly, ''ComicBook/RichieRich'' ''lived'' this trope. Fuel for thought comes when you contrast his typical attire of a sweater with the letter R on it (or a black jacket and shorts when he was younger) to his hyper-luxurious lifestyle. It's almost as if he's Zen'd past needing to display personal bling. One ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' skit plays with this and mixes Richie with a black rapper stereotype.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie Bender's Big Score, Earth is taken over by alien scammers who buy a fleet of solid gold, GemEncrusted [[Franchise/StarWars death stars]] to defend it.
* When Peter Griffin of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' got a 150,000 welfare check every week, the first thing he did was rent the Statue of David.
** Happens ''again'' when the Griffins win 150 million on the lottery and immediately begin spending it on ridiculous crap. At one point Peter shows up wearing a solid gold suit, and says he had to "fight three rappers over it down at the Nonsense Store".
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck finally gets the wealth he so ardently desires and spends it on, among other things, a fancy-dress outfit (complete with powdered wig) and a hand-painted mural for the ceiling. He can't even go grocery shopping without embarking on a search for the most expensive brand of soup.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', when the boys are shown [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil the evils of downloading music illegally]] by seeing what it does to the artists: namely, forcing them to do this to a ''slightly lesser'' extent (for example, having to fly in a private jet that's one model out of date, or not being able to give their kid a private island for his birthday).
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Squilliam Fancyson owns a private yacht, a private lake, a private heliport, a private island, and a Zeppelin casino. [[BigFancyHouse His house]] shows even more of this.
* ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'': Principal Scudworth devotes a considerable chunk of the advertising kickbacks he got toward having Mr. Butlertron gold-plated and lowered. The rest of the money disappears in a similar fashion.
* Lampshaded in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE25TheClockKing "The Clock King"]]:
-->'''Batman:''' What kind of saboteur uses a $6000 Metronex to trigger a time bomb?\\
'''Alfred:''' A saboteur with too much money?
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' eventually adapted the aforementioned Creator/CarlBarks comic into the episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E14TheStatusSeekers The Status Seekers]]," where his treatment by his wealthy peers leads Scrooge (who never spends a cent if he can help it, let alone thousands of dollars on useless status symbols) to think he ought to "start ''acting'' rich." Unlike Barks' story, which ends as another successful treasure hunt, with Scrooge keeping the valuable artifact he finds, the episode ends with him deciding to screw it and give up trying to fit InWithTheInCrowd this way.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' this is a characteristic of the Biskit family, though it's much more pronounced in the twins, Whittany and Brittany. For instance, they order pizza from a restaurant in space for no reason other than it's extremely expensive to do so.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' with Rarity who wears needlessly extravagant outfits draped with precious gemstones and jewels. However, she's a seamstress who makes all the clothing herself. Furthermore, gems are actually fairly common in Equestria (in fact, one of Rarity's unique spells is a gem-finding one as shown with her Cutie Mark) and [[EatDirtCheap serve as a food source for dragons]] (though a few instances have subtly implied some gems are rarer than others and there's even several fictional gems such as a heart-shaped Fire Ruby Spike would've gifted himself on his birthday, [[PrecociousCrush giving it to Rarity instead]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'': The Ghost With The Most gets a credit card and goes on a major spending spree just to outdo the affluent Bones family (episode "Keeping Up With the Boneses"). Of course, when the first bill comes in, Beetlejuice has no money to pay for it. He winds up surrendering everything back but only because his beloved pal Lydia was being kept as collateral. He gets a job as a department store Santa to pay for the interest, but he sees first hand at how karma can be a bitch -- the Boneses are in the same boat, having overspent on credit.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': The episode "Renovationklok" has the band spending literal billions of money on things impractically and impossibly expensive for their house and guitars.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', Dorothy Catalonia seems to have a thing for gold-plated vehicles: a limousine, a space shuttle, and a truck.
* In some of the ancillary material to ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', some Zeon officers have personalised Mobile Suits that include ostentatious gold trimmings. [[SissyVillain M'Quve]], for example, has a customised Gouf with such trimmings that is only mentioned in the [[AllThereInTheManual Mobile Suit Variation]] series.

* Pyrrha's parents in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12909945/22/Professor-Arc-Student-of-Vacuo Professor Arc: Student of Vacuo]]'' used her winnings to buy "a mansion, cars they never drive, and gold jewelry they never wear". Apparently, they're so in debt that she'd have to win six grand tourneys and the Vytal Festival to pay it all off, and even then only if they didn't buy anything else. Pyrrha admits to Ilia that being treated as their cash cow is why she hates her parents.

* In the {{Novelization}} of ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', according to Mei, Tyler "always had to have the latest video game, the most expensive sneakers.".

* ''Film/OceansEleven'': In ''Ocean's 13'', Al Pacino's character receives a gold-plated and diamond-encrusted cell phone as a gift. He's obviously been desiring one for a while. This is FlawExploitation by the protagonists, who have put an app on the phone that allows them to hack his security system, something that no other person would be able to go near with a personal device.
* ''Film/TheReplacements2000'' has the striking players' attempt at gaining sympathy from the public derailed when one payer remarks on how expensive the insurance is on a Ferrari.

* ''Film/{{Laura}}'' actually got a [[DeletedScene scene cut from the original run]] due to the consumption going against wartime rationing.
* ''Film/{{Melancholia}}'' features an extravagant wedding at a castle as the world ends. The director actually contacted a wedding planning service and let them go wild.
* ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' is a {{Melodrama}} UnbuiltTrope that criticizes this mentality in TheFifties (the decade with which it is highly associated). A poor-struggling family goes on a shopping spree to feel good about themselves and the result is a day of excitement and exhilaration followed with anxiety and guilt about living beyond their means.
* ''Film/{{Casino}}'': Expected since it takes place in Las Vegas, but especially anything to do with Ginger, from her {{c|ostumePorn}}lothes and her [[PrettyInMink furs]] to her BigFancyHouse and her vault full of [[EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry jewels]].
* Brazilian BasedOnAnAdviceBook movie ''Até que a Sorte nos Separe'' ("Til Luck Do Us Part") has a guy who won the lottery 15 years prior finding out his fortune is basically gone after years of spending in things the bank makes sure to make a {{montage}} of: yearly travels both stateside and on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced_gravity_aircraft Vomit Comet,]] buying a yacht that sunk after 30 minutes (without insurance!), celebrating a birthday in a private rock festival, having the wedding anniversary in a French castle... HilarityEnsues when he has to hide it from his wife who is still fond of spending because she can. (Note that this fate often befalls people who win the lottery in real life. It just usually happens a lot faster.)

* In ''Film/Scarface1983'', Tony Montana spends the second half of the film in a hideous, gaudy mansion with various signs of his ill-gotten wealth. In particular he has a spinning, neon-lit globe in his lobby (boasting "The World Is Yours") and a pet tiger.
* In ''Film/TroubleInParadise'', the filthy-rich Mariette spends 125,000 francs on a diamond-encrusted handbag. Lily, one of the two con artists out to swindle her, is disgusted. (Of course, Mariette also refuses her corporate board's demand to cut employee salaries.)

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Film/TheSting''. After Hooker pulls off a big con at the start of the film, he takes out a woman with a promise of showering her with luxuries during the evening (Specifically, [[DownplayedTrope that he will spend $50 on her]]). However, he blows the entire take on a single (rigged) roulette spin and she leaves in disgust at the wasted evening. It also immediately identifies Hooker as the one who was responsible for pulling the con and sets the villain after him, and worse, his partner Luther.

* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', the three head warlords, [[BigBad Immortan Joe]], [[EvilGenius The People Eater]], and [[TheBrute The Bullet Farmer]], all make a big show of their wealth and status in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Whereas most have a simple tricked-out car and primitive explosive weapons, Immortan Joe has two Cadillacs fused together into an impressive monstrosity and about two or three magnums, as well as a mobile soundstage in his fleet. The People Eater has a (mostly) intact three-piece suit and a giant limousine that also acts as a mobile oil rig. The Bullet Farmer has a tricked out all-terrain vehicle and a massive amount of guns and ammunition, so much so that he uses bullets as teeth and to form a judge's wig. All of these are used to impress their followers, ensuring even more fanatical devotion.
-->'''Collin Gibson, production designer''': ''In a world where there's barely one of anything, to show you he had power, he's the man who's got two of everything.''
* In ''Film/InTime'', time is literally money, so the rich show off their wealth by just doing everything very slowly.
* ''Film/ZabriskiePoint'' by Creator/MichelangeloAntonioni, deals with the omnipresence of this in America, from the giant billboards, advertising, the display in the malls and the tacky and insipid proposed commercials for the real estate project that Allen's company wants to install. The finale likewise focuses on [[spoiler: the destruction of all the household objects in the house, which is played as a kind of liberation]].

* Done in ''Film/BladeRunner2049'' to highlight the wealth of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Niander]] [[BigBad Wallace.]] In a dystopian future where space is at a premium, clean water is a luxury (even Officer K can only afford a shower for five seconds at a time, at least if he wants it mostly non-toxic), and trees are so rare that a toy wooden horse the size of your hand is worth as much as a real one, the Wallace Corp is not only ''[[EvilTowerOfOminousness massive]]'' but consists mostly of huge, empty rooms, and Wallace's office consists of a platform paneled and furnished in wood that's ''surrounded'' by crystal-clear water. Wallace is ''blind'', so he can't even appreciate the luxuries that he surrounds himself with.
* ''Film/Parasite2019'' has the Park family eating jjapaguri, or ram-don (a mix of instant noodle brands), but topped with expensive sirloin steak. While it makes for a handy metaphor for class stratification, the fact that they can't stand eating crappy junk food unless something expensive gets involved, along with the fact that mixing steak and instant noodles is probably missing the point of both, also reflects this trope pretty well.
* ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' / ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': When meeting Deathstroke on his yacht, ComicBook/LexLuthor serves himself some ''Goût de Diamants'' ("Taste of Diamonds" in French). It is the most expensive Champagne (and alcohol overall) in the world, it costs about ''$1.2 million for a single bottle'' - the alcohol itself doesn't contain diamonds of course, the bottle is encrusted with diamonds. [[Fiction500 Lex can afford it]], of course.
* Howard and Linda in ''Film/{{Krampus}}'' drive a {{Hummer|Dinger}}, own [[GunNut a ton of guns]], and live a very lavish "rich redneck" lifestyle reminiscent of the Robertsons from ''Series/DuckDynasty''. They're also living well beyond their means and facing financial hardship, and they express jealousy of the relative financial stability of their comparatively down-to-Earth (if somewhat BourgeoisBohemian) relatives, the Engels. The film also opens with a scene of a chaotic Black Friday shopping spree where people are viciously fighting each other for hot consumer items that are on sale.
* ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'': Early on in the film, we see that Stephen Strange has a selection of very expensive watches at his home. This occurs before the accident that robs him of any precision in his hands, whereupon he immediately starts throwing money at even the ''slightest'' possibility that he can get his career back. Christine notes that he's always spent money as fast as he can make it.
* After the Lufthansa robbery in ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' the CaperCrew is told to lay low and not spread their money around, but one can't resist the temptation of a pink Caddilac and a mink coat for his old lady. All four are later found full of bullet holes.

* ''Citizen'': In this series by David Drake and John Lambshead, the protagonist actually thinks that this trope can be a good thing: Encouraging the ultra-rich to spend large amounts of money on expensive and frivolous things is an easy way for wealth to be redistributed back into the lower social classes without the need for figurative or literal class warfare (this assumes that some poor people will be hired at a decent wage to produce/deliver the expensive items the rich man is buying to flaunt his wealth).

* ''Literature/WolfHall''

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Madison Country Club", Miss Brooks brags about how much she spends on travel, food, champagne, and clothes to society matron Mrs. Grabar. Miss Brooks thinks that Mr. Conklin is poking fun of the faculty; in reality Conklin was soliciting a donation from the wealthy philanthropist.
* ''Series/SiliconValley''
** Hooli is a big perpetrator of this. After Jared defects to Pied Piper, Gavin offers Big Head a promotion, pretty much in retaliation for this (and Richard turning down a $10 million buyout in favor of Peter Gregory's offer of a $200,000 5 percent investment) and given an annual salary of $600,000 a year. One character refers to him as the [=VP=] of spite.
** Discussed by Monica who tells Richard that the standard [=MO=] for billionaires is to throw a bunch of money some times millions into no other purpose other than humiliating their rivals.
** Bachmann ''rents out Alcatraz'' to throw a lavish party, just so he could invite all the people who said he'd never amount to anything. But the kicker is that not only did he get the money for it by scamming Big Head, Big Head had actually already squandered his fortune, [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted leaving them both heavily in debt]].
* On ''Series/{{Lost}}'', several characters, especially evil tycoon Charles Widmore, make a show of drinking the fictional [=MacCutcheon=] whiskey, a bottle of which costs several thousand dollars.

* In ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' Michael Scott manages to do this in the absence of actual wealth. When Oscar examined his finances to explain his debts he ended up dividing his spending into three categories, of which the third was the largest: Things that he needed, things that he didn't need, and things that no one, anywhere, ever needed.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' noted this in the short film ''[[http://www.archive.org/details/Designfo1956 Design for Dreaming,]]'' made in 1956 to advertise GM's Motorama expo. As the heroine and her man drive away in their fabulous Firebird II, Mike Nelson quips, "Conspicuous consumption makes our love stronger!"
* On ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' Tom and Jean Ralphio start their own entertainment company after Jean Ralphio gets a lot of money. They primarily spend the money on extravagant furniture and hire pro basketball players and beautiful women to just hang around the office (since nobody in the company is doing any actual work). They even give everyone who visits them a free iPad. Naturally, the business fails.
** The ''entire town'' of Eagleton does this. They fill their pools and water their lawns only with imported bottled water and literally pave their streets with gold. Naturally, their town ends up going bankrupt and requires Pawnee to bail them out. [[UngratefulBastard This doesn't stop them from resenting the entire town of Pawnee.]]

* ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen'' was all about this.
* ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'': Jacqueline, the wealthy housewife, spends this way. In one of her first appearances, she offers Kimmy a bottle of exotic water. When it's declined, she throws the unopened bottle away as if it's been used.
* Chanel Oberlin of ''Series/ScreamQueens2015'' has no problems flaunting her wealth. Her insanely enormous wardrobe is replaced regularly. She recounts a story about a party her dad held for her, which seems to be a monument to how rich they are: he bought her a foreclosed [[BigFancyHouse Mc Mansion]] for the party and filled the pool with a caviar slurry, before setting the house on fire. The fire department was, in fact, strippers who put the fire out with champagne.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones''

* On ''Series/RaisingHope'' Virginia's cousin Delilah gets married, and Virginia recalls how when they were teenagers early in TheNineties, they talked about the kind of weddings they wanted. Delilah wanted a dress with an ''extremely'' long train, which was to be held up by Music/MichaelJackson. She got exactly that when she finally ''did'' marry, and Burt "stole" Delilah's wedding to give Virginia the nice wedding she wanted but (due to...[[TeenPregnancy unforeseen circumstances]] that forced her and Burt to have a simple courthouse wedding) never got. (They repeated their vows quietly in the back while Delilah and her new husband made theirs, danced discreetly to their first dance, and did the cake-cutting from the other side of the cake.) It seems Delilah cared more about being a bride than about being a wife.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. An episode taking place in President Servalan's palace was filmed in a stately home of England and this trope was used as a {{handwave}} -- rather than the usual DomedCity, Servalan has had a reconstruction of a "pre-Atomic" BigFancyHouse built on the ruins of the old. A member of her administration comments bitterly, "We could have built two cities for what it cost to build that absurdity."
* ''Series/SchittsCreek'': Although they are now broke, the Roses still have their expensive wardrobes and memories, which include stories of lavish parties, jewelry, multiple houses, yachts, globe-trotting and a private jet. The very fact that Johnny bought the town as a long-forgotten gag gift illustrates their former spending habits.
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Jake was like this in the first season, with an old car that required a lot of expensive maintenance, multiple massage chairs, and a DJ turntable. Despite having a reasonable job and a rather cheap rent-controlled apartment, he was deep in debt--the banker laughed when he asked for a loan.
* In ''Series/TheExpanse'', a summit between the UN and MCR takes place on Earth in a large, mostly empty hall with big windows that let in plenty of sunlight. There are also large flower arrangements and a buffet featuring plenty of fresh fruit on clear display. This is all done so that the UN can thumb its nose at the MCR delegation, showing the Martians that, in spite of their superiority complex over Earth, none of them will ever get to see such luxuries on Mars in their lifetimes.
* ''Series/{{Succession}}'':
** In season 1, Tom tries to teach Greg "how to be rich," and it amounts to spending ridiculous amounts of money for weird food and paying to stand by yourself in the VIP section of clubs. Greg finds it all very unpleasant. In season 3, Greg's peer-pressured into buying a $40,000 watch even though he clearly doesn't want it, reasoning that he just uses his phone to check the time. Later, he clumsily tries to impress a girl by pretending to check the time on his expensive watch.
** In season 3, Kendall throws a 40th birthday party that is supposed to be the blowout of the season. He rents out a huge space, decorates it lavishly, and invites every celebrity he can contact, all simply to show off.
* ''Series/{{Thanks}}'': After Cotton makes money by selling tobacco to all the people of Plymouth, he replaces his regular pilgrim clothes with a gaudy red and gold outfit that clearly costs a lot more than the drab clothes everyone else wears.

* {{Website/Cracked}} has a list [[http://www.cracked.com/article/188_7-great-products-telling-world-youre-rich-dick/ of real-life ways to show off wealth.]]

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': The Cullens all wear designer clothes and drive brand-new cars despite living in a backwoods town. According to the author this is done on purpose, because for some reason making shows of wealth helps them keep a low profile.

* ''Art/TheArnolfiniPortrait'': Completed in 1434, many things scattered about the room hint that the depicted couple is wealthy: her PimpedOutDress and jewelry, the oranges by the window[[note]]they would have been very expensive and difficult to import at the time[[/note]], the Oriental rug, and the rich, heavy bed fabrics.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Orks use their own teeth as money, and as the Bad Moons have teeth that grow in quicker than all other Orks' they're generally the wealthiest Orks around and very proud of it. Bad Moon warlords thus make immense and conspicuous shows with their wealth. Their vehicles are covered in gold plate and gaudy paint and topped with colorful totems and glinting statues of Gork and Mork, and when on foot they strut around to show off their kustom weapons, jewelry and gem-studded piercings and retinues of grots carrying around the boss' extra weapons and immense chests filled with teef. This ''does'' often lead to bigger, harder orks within any of the clans to bash the teeth out of their faces and mug them of the rest, but that's just ork society working as intended.

Not to be confused with CrazyConsumption.

* After the Lufthansa robbery in ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' the HeistCrew is told to lay low and not spread their money around, but one can't resist the temptation of a pink Caddilac and a mink coat for his old lady.

* In ''Theatre/{{Hadestown}}'', Hades praises the capitalistic innovations of Hadestown in an effort to impress Persephone with his riches, status, and doing it all for her.

* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', which also deconstructs the American Dream and TheRoaringTwenties into teeny, tiny pieces. Gatsby regularly throws the biggest parties just to show off, in hopes of attracting the attention of his childhood crush. In one notable scene, a guest enters his impressive library and wonders if all the books are fake. He examines them and sees that all of the books are quite real, but none of their pages have been cut. It's an entire library of unread books, just for show.
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', when Jerin [[spoiler: is shown the husband's quarters in the palace]], he learns that the princesses' late husband Keifer planned to have the floor ripped out and replaced by the most expensive marble, and have the ceiling gold-plated. Fortunately, he died before he got around to actually doing it - the princesses didn't approve of so much luxury, as they're aware that they're already living in much more comfortable surroundings than their subjects.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", Salome goes in for this.
* ''Literature/TheSatyricon'' by Petronius, written in Roman times, is full of this. In the chapter describing the banquet of Trimalchio, a heavy silver platter is dropped by one of the household slaves, and the wealthy Trimalchio commands that the platter be left on the floor and swept out with the rest of the garbage. Between courses, the guests have their fingers washed with wine instead of water. The narrators are obviously party-crashers, but no one cares.
* The yuppie characters in ''Literature/AmericanPsycho'' go to fancy restaurants, order impractically extravagant food, and then [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich don't actually eat it]].
* ''Literature/DarkFuture'': There's a lot of this, with the cosmetic genetic enhancements offered by [=GenTech=], including up to five implanted sets of teeth to replace your own as they wear out, but Gavin Mantle, winner of the ZBC Blotto Lotto prize of 100 million dollars goes on a spree of spending to live up to this including a [[GoldMakesEverythingShiny gold-plated Rolls Royce shaped like a penis]], a huge mansion shaped like a pair of breasts with a swimming pool [[GemEncrusted the bottom of which is covered in gemstones]] and a small army of personal {{Sexbot}}s turns the dial up a touch more.
* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', one of Grandpa Joe's anecdotes of the legend that is Willy Wonka is the story of how an Indian prince commissioned the chocolatier to build an entire palace out of chocolate for him -- and he intended to live in it! The prince didn't see the folly of his ways until the hot Indian summer rolled around and the castle melted around him.

* In Creator/FrederikPohl's ''Literature/TheMidasPlague'', the US went through a period of severe shortages, which strongly inculcated a strong "thou shalt not waste" ethic in the population, followed by a period of cheap fusion energy, and automatic production, which created huge surpluses. But people couldn't "waste" things, so they had to consume them, which leads to an inversion of consumer culture, where "poor" people have higher consumption quotas that they have to meet.
* In ''Literature/TheStarsMyDestination'', (almost) everyone can teleport themselves, so the rich show off their wealth by "conspicuous transportation"--traveling the old-fashioned way (which not only shows that they're rich enough to afford it but also ''important'' enough to make people wait for them). At one point a character arrives at a party by steam locomotive, on a track laid just for the occasion.
* In ''Literature/SewerGasAndElectric'', a corporate executive prepares for his upcoming date by ordering, among other things, a $50,000 ''ten-pack of condoms''.
* Occurs frequently in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. The currency in this setting is "spheres", small glass beads with chips of gemstone in them. However, one of the reasons gemstones are valued is that they are the only things capable of holding the titular Light for more than a few minutes. Therefore, the rich often use spheres for illumination, as Stormlight illumination is brighter and more steady than firelight. This, of course, doubles as a way of showing off how many spheres they have. Unusual for this trope in that this is actually ''more'' cost-efficient than the "poor" alternative - candles and torches are consumed and must be replaced, but a sphere can be recharged for free in the next highstorm.

* ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'' features buhurts (spellings vary), jousting tournaments in which the knights wear fine clothing instead of armor. Even with blunted lances, this clothing will usually be ripped to shreds, thereby demonstrating the knight's talent for conspicuous waste.
* In the ''Citizen'' series by David Drake and John Lambshead, the protagonist actually thinks that this trope can be a good thing: Encouraging the ultra-rich to spend large amounts of money on expensive and frivolous things is an easy way for wealth to be redistributed back into the lower social classes without the need for figurative or literal class warfare (this assumes that some poor people will be hired at a decent wage to produce/deliver the expensive items the rich man is buying to flaunt his wealth).
* This is the root of the Elliots' financial troubles in ''Literature/{{Persuasion}}''. Sir Walter thinks he has to live up to the style of a baronet, which means buying expensive, flashy things until he runs into such deep debt he's forced to rent out his estate to an admiral. This brings Anne's sea-captain ex-fiance back into her life.
* ''Literature/WolfHall''
** Cardinal Wolsey was known for enjoying a very lavish lifestyle. His loyal protege Thomas Cromwell glosses over the excess by either not thinking much about it, joking about it with Wolsey by pricing him by the yard, or saying that he's a public man and should keep up an appropriate appearance. Few others are so circumspect. Cromwell at one point chides Mary Tudor for making a crack about it, but he does eventually admit to himself that it was a bit much.
** This becomes a habit of Cromwell's when he becomes truly wealthy-- not just because he's Henry's right hand but because he uses his position there to exercise his financial skills to the utmost (and by dissolving some wealthy monasteries, that too). His kitchens are so good that his cook complains city officials are disguising themselves as beggars to get leftovers, he throws big Christmas parties, and he decks out his sisters-in-law, nieces, and any other woman in his house in the best clothing that money can buy. Him being a former wool merchant, he knows exactly how much it's worth and notes the price of every fabric by the yard.
* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': The fourth circle of Hell is shared by hoarders and wasters rolling big rocks to smash into each other while the hoarders criticize the wasters (and vice versa). Creator/LarryNiven's take on ''Inferno'' implies the big rocks are gigantic diamonds.
* Jules-Pierre Mao from ''[[Literature/TheExpanse Caliban's War]]'' manages to exaggerate this trope within the confines of a near-future sci-fi universe, directly flipping almost every established economic constraint in the series. To establish a baseline, most characters wouldn't even be able to buy a rust bucket of a ship with their life savings. For Mao, though… apart from his company, which has some kind of presence on almost every inhabited rock in the solar system, he also owns a dedicated racing spacecraft for one of his daughters to use, a small fleet of pleasure yachts, and a private space station dedicated ''solely'' to docking those yachts. The one pleasure yacht we see, the ''Guanshiyin'', features gold and wood accents everywhere (Earth has [[EarthThatUsedToBeBetter long since been paved over]]), sweeping curves throughout its architecture (most ships [[BoringButPractical are boxy to maximize storage space]]), multiple safety redundancies, and an ornate mural on the outer hull in a location that almost no one will ever see.
* In ''Literature/WillSaveTheGalaxyForFood'', it's explicitly noted that this trope is the only reason spaceships still exist in a world where instantaneous teleportation is the most common way to get around; every transporter booth is identical, but spaceships can go all-out on the first-class accommodations.
* ''Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi'': Since the Earth Kingdom is more corrupt than usual in Kyoshi's era, this shows up a lot. Nobles use a lot more land than they need, import foreign animals for their grounds, and even specifically use ugly paints simply because they are known for being expensive. They even manage to do this with the stones of the buildings themselves; in a country where a significant portion of the population [[DishingOutDirt can build a structure straight out of the ground]], it's considered high-status to ship in rocks quarried from as far away as possible.
* ''Literature/DrGretaHelsing'': Leonora Van Dorne wears SimpleYetOpulent designer wardrobes, accented with a single piece of authentic Ancient Egyptian jewellery -- a different one each time. A qualified Egyptologist, she knows just how precious and irreplaceable each piece is, but does it anyway.
* ''Literature/CaptivePrince'': One of the greatest shows of wealth in the Veretian court is to contract a [[HighClassCallGirl high-class escort]] "Pet", decked out in the most luxurious clothes and jewels the patron can afford. Their sexual services are almost secondary to their role as a status symbol.

* ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'': The setting's [[OurDragonsAreDifferent sapient dragons]] generally wear their wealth in lieu of traditional {{Dragon Hoard}}s and treat their jewellery as SeriousBusiness. Temeraire's pride and joy is a platinum breastplate worth ten thousand 19[[superscript:th]]-Century pounds[[labelnote:*]](i.e.: nearly a million pounds in modern-day currency)[[/labelnote]], while Iskierka fights with her captain over her desire to deck him out in {{Impractically Fancy Outfit}}s that drip with jewels and cloth-of-gold.
* The ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]]'' novels have [[SimpleYetOpulent a subtle one]]. When an Imperial agent visits a director, the director's room is spacious but otherwise threadbare. But looking closer, they're in a CityPlanet where space is at a premium. Having that much space and not actually using it is the very definition of conspicuous consumption.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/LightVerse": Mrs Lardner, a wealthy {{Socialite}}, often throws parties at her home, displaying jeweled objects from distant corners of the world and the distant past. Her collection includes glasses, [[BlingBlingBang daggers]], and watches.
-->Her house was a showplace, a veritable museum, containing a small but extremely select collection of extraordinarily beautiful jeweled objects. From a dozen different cultures she had obtained relics of almost every conceivable artifact that could be embedded with jewels and made to serve the aristocracy of that culture. She had one of the first jeweled wristwatches manufactured in America, a jeweled dagger from Cambodia, a jeweled pair of spectacles from Italy, and so on almost endlessly.
* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' the Cullens all wear designer clothes and drive brand-new cars despite living in a backwoods town. According to the author this is done on purpose, because for some reason making shows of wealth helps them keep a low profile.
* ''Literature/TheDiabolic'': The only reason actual human employees are ever used. Robots and servitors can do anything, but hiring humans with free will who demand money and might turn on you is a sign of power and prestige.
* Lady Catherine de Bourgh in ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. After visiting both Lady Catherine's estate of Rosing. and Darcy's at Pemberly, Elizabeth draws a contrast--the decorative style at Rosings ''is'' grand, but it's also too obviously chosen to show how much money Lady Catherine can spend, not for its actual taste.
* In ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', General Tilney gives Catherine a tour of all the improvements he's made to the Abbey, having fitted it out with a number of very expensive Regency mod cons. Contemporary readers would have recognized the expense involved in replacing all the windows with the newly-invented sash windows, the hyacinths were ''very'' expensive, and hothouses (with their attending maintenance staff) would be a huge domestic expense in any era.
* In ''Claudius the God'', the sequel to Robert Graves's ''Literature/IClaudius'', Claudius has a strategy meeting with his ministers to decide how to restore the Roman treasury after Caligula has bankrupted it. Claudius also includes his friend Herod Agrippa (the archetypal Scoundrel with a Heart of Gold), who is probably the world's foremost expert on raising loans and staving off debts. Herod explains that conspicuous consumption can actually be a useful debt management tool:
-->Whenever I ran short of money in my needy days, I always made a point of spending whatever I had left on personal adornment: rings and cloaks and beautiful new shoes. This sent my credit up and allowed me to borrow again.
** By the same token, he suggests, a few ostentatious displays of public prosperity can be made relatively cheaply and will go a long way towards restoring faith in the economy; such as by using the marble Caligula imported to build a new temple to himself to instead re-do the facades of the existing temples; or by gold-plating the entrance ways of the Circus Maximus, which will look rich but only cost a few hundred gold pieces.

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "This Is the Life" is about how mind-blowingly rich the singer is, all the ridiculous things he does with his vast amounts of money (including filling his bathtub with Perrier, paying someone to chew his food for him, and buying boxes of individually monogrammed Kleenex), and how much he loves it.

[[folder: Mythology & Religion]]

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* The former trope namer, ''Keeping Up with the Joneses'', was an early-20th-century strip about a family's obsession with social climbing, which naturally included frequent use of conspicuous consumption. The title characters, their neighbors, were [[TheGhost never seen]]. Also a case of GrassIsGreener.

* ''Art/TheArnolfiniPortrait'': A lot of things scattered about the room hint that the couple in the portrait is wealthy: her PimpedOutDress and jewelry, the oranges by the window[[note]]they would have been very expensive and difficult to import at the time[[/note]], the Oriental rug, and the rich, heavy bed fabrics.
** Makes sense in a cultural context: The geography of the Low Countries doesn't easily allow for a traditional aristocracy based on ownership of agricultural land. Instead, the prominence of highly influential merchant families led to an early form of Capitalism based in urban centers. With smaller "domains", displays of artwork and other valuable objects became the way for the wealthy to show off their status.

[[/folder]]

* ''Art/TheArnolfiniPortrait'': A lot of things scattered around the room hint that the couple in the portrait is wealthy: her PimpedOutDress and jewelry, the oranges by the window[[note]]they would have been very expensive and difficult to import at the time[[/note]], the Oriental rug, and the rich, heavy bed fabrics.

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[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

[[folder:Religion]]
* In the ancient Hindu epic the ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}'', several entire chapters are devoted to explaining the over-the-top splendor of Ravana's palace, of which everything constructed is constructed of rare metals and stones, and everything natural (i.e. gardens) is of only the finest, purest quality.
* In Literature/{{the Bible}}, this practice was often railed against by the prophets, especially when fabulous wealth existed side-by-side with crushing poverty.
* A recurring theme in Literature/TheBookOfMormon is that society faces total collapse when it reaches a point that people become divided into classes or social strata defined by the quality of the clothes they wear or the education they have access to. The wicked are often identified by their flaunting of wealth and/or power over the poor rather than helping them to acquire it. [[note]]This theme has one major advantage for recruitment/whipping worshippers into a frenzy: The historically literate will notice that the above can accurately describe ''all of human history''. But you'd be surprised how many people don't know this, so they tend to assume that [[SmallReferencePools now is more unequal than any other time in history, and that therefore the end times are near.]][[/note]]
* In ''Theatre/{{Hadestown}}'', Hades praises the capitlaistic innovations of Hadestown in an effort to impress Persephone with his riches, status, and doing it all for her.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Film/TheSting''. After Hooker pulls off a big con at the start of the film, he takes out a woman with a promise of showering her with luxuries during the evening (Specifically, [[DownplayedTrope that he will spend $50 on her]]). However, he blows the entire take on a single (rigged) roulette spin and she leaves in disgust at the wasted evening.

[[caption-width-right:260:Because [[GoldMakesEverythingShiny high-end laptops alone]] don't scream "I'm stinkin' rich!" loud enough]]