History Main / ConspicuousConsumption

* ''FanFic/ThyGoodNeighbor'': Cyril does this by ''accident'' upon going from [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Yharnam]] to [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Westeros]], simply because of the vast technology difference between the GaslapFantasy Yharnam and MedievalStasis Westeros. By his own standards, he lives a comfortable and modestly wealthy life, but in Westeros, things like glassware, wrought iron fences, porcelain, and sugar are all big luxury items in their own right, and put together are a level of opulence that would be the envy of most kings. They're also very surprised that Evetta considers salting roads to de-ice them to be routine, since they consider salt to be too valuable to waste in that way.

Any way you look at it, these people are just spending money for the hell of it. You aren't buying a luxury car. You're buying a gold-plated one. You don't just have a private jet. You have a private aircraft carrier (and not for your [[PrivateMilitaryContractors private army]] either).

* Sometimes it's just a bigger and better version of a thing we need anyway. We need a car, and they buy leather-upholstered luxury cars.
* Sometimes it's expected, or even required, for cultural reasons. ErmineCapeEffect mentions it wouldn't do for royalty to dress like slobs.

* 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.

[[quoteright:260:[[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gold_mac_laptop.jpg]]]]

In economics, this type of product is known as a [[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good Veblen good]], named after American economist Thorstein Veblen. Such a good sees higher demand by the market the more the price rise, which violates the normal assumed behavior of products.

* {{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]].

-->'''Troy''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Yes, I can. It's all-terrain, dummy!]]

** In an article in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' about the economics of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'', Ed Greenwood says anyone doing this in Waterdeep will be regarded as a foolish spendthrift at best, and more likely as a conman or foreign spy trying to convince everyone he's rich as part of a scam.Waterdhavian nobles and merchants are far from miserly and live very well, but they tend not to flaunt their wealth ''too'' much, lest their rivals work out how well they're actually doing.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': A [[OurGiantsAreDifferent cloud giant]]'s standing in the [[FantasticCasteSystem Ordning]] depends on two things: how wealthy it is, and how well it's able to flaunt that wealth; to a Cloud Giant, money isn't worth much if you don't ''do'' anything with it. The most powerful cloud giants display their wealth in ostentatious ways like decorating their homes with ridiculously expensive works of art[[note]]''Volo's Guide to Monsters'' mentions such things as rare perfumes stored in crystal bottles with silver caps, and tapestries made entirely out of pearls[[/note]] and giving lavish gifts to their peers.

* 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".

** He was past displaying bling on his person, but not otherwise. One bit was a jeweler leaving after repairing one of the phones. His normally-wealthed female friend was puzzled until she saw the phone, which had gemstones instead of numbers on the keypad. Richie had to give her the dialing sequence in gemstones.

** The merchant-prince Xaro Xoan Daxos has a sumptuous mansion filled with gold artwork. [[spoiler:It's ultimately a subversion, as Xaro's vault is empty. His lavish lifestyle is a con to make him appear wealthy. Although it could be considered a double subversion; as Danny points out the gold and gems decorating his estate represent a massive fortune by themselves]]. It's played with in his rival the Spice King; while he makes a show of sleeping in and having many servants, his estate is far plainer (more like a typical Westerossi Noble) and most of his wealth is explicitly tied up in his trading fleet.

* 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.

-->'''Batman:''' What kind of saboteur uses a $6000 Metronex to trigger a time bomb?\\

* 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]].

Compare ExecutiveExcess, MoneyFetish, UpperClassTwit, {{Egopolis}}, SerialEscalation, BlingOfWar, CityOfGold, and SuspiciousSpending. This trope also goes very well with AwesomeButImpractical, as the stuff that costs the most frequently has the least practical use;[[note]]Case in point: the 24-carat gold-plated Macbook in the page image would scratch and dent incredibly easily, as gold is a notoriously soft metal and much less durable than aluminium, which most Macbooks are made of, or plastic, which most other laptops and computers are made from.[[/note]] the point isn't to ''use'' it (since anyone can afford something useful), but to show off that you can ''afford'' it.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan
** One of Comicbook/MaryJaneWatson's own self-acknowledged flaws is a tendency for this. Having been born poor and wanting to be fashionable and successful she tends to splurge when she makes money, traveling first class and buying expensive stuff and going to fancy places. Which continued even after she and Peter married, and it became a problem when the couple faced lean times, such as when Jonathan Caesar ended her fashion career, or during Mark Millar's run on ''Marvel Knights'', where attempts by her to improve her savings led to dodgy investments. Peter did struggle with his since growing up poor made him austere, it also made him feel guilty about not being able to provide all this for MJ on his own, yet at the same time being a little too passive and accommodating to make this a big issue, and too supportive to make her feel guilty about spending on herself from her own hard-earned money.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: When she's first seen the self professed Queen Atomia's servants are piling precious gems in front of her and the drum-like arms of her throne are hollow things filled with diamonds and emeralds.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': A [[OurGiantsAreDifferent cloud giant]]'s standing in the [[FantasticCasteSystem Ordning]] depends on two things: how wealthy it is, and how much it flaunts that wealth. The most powerful cloud giants display their wealth in ostentatious ways like decorating their homes with ridiculously expensive works of art[[note]]''Volo's Guide to Monsters'' mentions such things as rare perfumes stored in crystal bottles with silver caps, and tapestries made entirely out of pearls[[/note]] and giving lavish gifts to their peers.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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 upscale building containing an art gallery filled with priceless works of art. 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.