History Main / UpMarketing

* Apple took this approach with their MacBook line, and to a lesser extent the iPad and iPhone. It worked pretty well in the first few years, when tablets or smartphones were relatively new concepts from a consumer perspective, but they're noticeably losing ground now that an Android or Windows Mobile-based tablet or phone that will do pretty much the same stuff can be had for half the price.

* Apple took this approach with their MacBook line, and to a lesser extent the iPad and iPhone. It worked pretty well in the first few years, when tablets or smartphones were relatively new concepts from a consumer perspective, but they're noticeably losing ground now that an Android or Windows Mobile-based tablet or phone that will do ''most'' of the same things ''nearly'' as well can be had for a third of the price.

*** Or even "Maxim" magazine, which really contrasts with their articles, which are meant to be almost TestosteronePoisoning than for the ''GQ'' crowd.

*** Until recently this combined with SmokingIsGlamorous.

[[caption-width-right:300:When you're draping your lovely wife in [[PrettyInMink furs]] and [[EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry jewelry]], think of Cadillac.]]

** "High end gaming [=PCs=]" cannot be sold at loss because ''there ain't any''. No hardcore gamer worth his frags would ever consider buying one, because a) building one's own rig is half the fun, and b) the ExponentiallyEscalatingArmsRace between game developers and hardware manufacturers lead to the [[CrackIsCheaper constant upgrades]] just to be able to play them. About the only things sold at loss in this market are the ''consoles'', which are usually propped up by the sales of games. In the PC department most upmarketing is concentrated on the components -- see the famous nVidia slogan "The way it's ''meant'' to be played".
*** Unfortunately for many of the people who buy the highest-end components, the top end of the PC parts market is essentially a cruel joke. A top-end video card might cost $600, but the $250 model one rung down the scale will play any video game available at the time of purchase, and be good for almost as long as the top-end card. Buying super-expensive parts to "future proof" your computer is far less economical than buying mid-range or lower-high-end parts and replacing the video card every two to three years and the processor every four years or so, especially as depreciation takes its toll when selling old parts. Nothing depreciates faster than PC components, and the once-top-of-the-line parts take the biggest hit.
*** When it comes to console gaming, the arcade sticks are used specifically for fighting games. The cheapest ones have an MSRP of $80; the ones used by tournament players could cost well over $150, but come with genuine arcade parts instead of knockoff ones. This is, of course, on top of the price of the game, and for seemingly inconsequential gain as a good number of top-level fighting game players don't even buy these sticks and just use regular controllers.
** Many arcades themselves, especially Gameworks, are way too expensive.

*** When it comes to console gaming, the arcade pads are used specifically for fighting games. The cheapest ones have an MSRV of $80; the ones used by tournament players could cost well over $150. This is, of course, on top of the price of the game, and for seemingly inconsequential gain as a good number of top-level fighting game players don't even buy these pads and just use regular controllers.

** ''SteelBattalion'' used a humongous proprietary controller and therefore was out of the price range of most gamers. Needless to say, it was a commercial flop.

* Electrostatic headphones and loudspeakers, compared to conventional dynamic driver-based offerings. It doesn't help that they're only produced by a few manufacturers for the most part (Stax for headphones, Quad and Martin Logan for speakers), and the headphones need specialized amplifiers that are just as expensive, unless they come with transformer boxes meant to be used with conventional loudspeaker amplifiers. The loudspeakers are also very demanding on amplification, but most of them have built-in transformers, so you can at least use any power amp that can meet their demands. Even vintage equipment will still command a fairly high price.

* High-end displays ([=TVs=]/monitors) like the Pioneer Kuro Elite and Mitsubishi [=LaserVue=] lines do NOT come cheap. You're looking at spending at least US$4,000 on the low end for one of those, all in the name of image quality over cheap commodity TN [=LCDs=] and aged [=CRTs=].
* The radio commercials on classical music stations are rather different than regular radio commercials. British guys telling you where you can get thirty percent off handwoven Persian rugs.

** ''SteelBattalion'' used a humongous proprietary controller and therefore was out of the price range of most gamers.

* High-end displays ([=TVs=]/monitors) like the Pioneer Kuro Elite and Mitsubishi [=LaserVue=] lines [[{{Understatement}} do NOT come cheap.]] You're looking at spending at least US$4,000 on the low end for one of those, all in the name of image quality over cheap commodity TN [=LCDs=] and aged [=CRTs=].

* Stella Artois invoked this with the slogan 'Reassuringly expensive', although it became known as 'wife-beater' (because the british can't hold their liquor)

Fast Eddie is a dictator! Rise up against the tyrant! -EA

[[Bong milk is good for the brain.:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/werewolf_9693_8856.jpg]]

But you can't tell your boyfriend about it! He'd freak out and leave you, or worse. But then, you can't keep it a secret forever, either. At some point, one of your supernatural incidents will inevitably happen exactly when you were having a romantic dinner. Or maybe your relationship has simply reached the next level, and you feel that you need to be completely honest with him.

So what now? How will he react? Well, it turns out he's perfectly okay (well, for the most part he's perfectly okay) and understanding with it! That's right, as a reward for your sacrifices, the PowersThatBe will make sure that you end up with a truly noble and loving soul who loves you for who you are and doesn't care what you are. So no worries!

This trope is a DoubleStandard, in that wives and girlfriends are pretty much automatically accepting of their ActionHero husband/boyfriend's actions, whereas the number of husbands/boyfriends who automatically accept that their significant other is an ActionGirl are pretty thin on the ground. For the guy who is a super and needs a girlfriend, his powers are often a plus for her (because AllGirlsWantBadBoys). For women, finding a guy who truly doesn't have a problem with dating someone with superpowers when he's a {{Muggle}} is the bigger issue, because, well, NoGuyWantsAnAmazon.

Compare ButYourWingsAreBeautiful, when a disguise forms part of the powers. Compare to ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend for the ActionGirl [[InvertedTrope variant.]] Compare and contrast BoyMeetsGhoul, for the guy/girl who is on the other end of this trope. See also TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife, which is an aversion of this trope.

!!Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* The central premise of ''[[NogizakaHarukaNoHimitsu The Secrets of Haruka Nogizaka]]''. The titular girl is an otaku.
* Ditto with ''[[OreImo My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute]]''. Except that the guy is not a boyfriend, but the big brother... [[{{Squick}} yeah]].
* Austria from ''AxisPowersHetalia'', in regards to his VictoriousChildhoodFriend Hungary. While he's concerned for her well-being, in the end he knows that if she wants to fight, he better lets her... since she will go [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] and destroy the enemy. Considering their childhood, [[LoveAtFirstPunch he knows it beforehand]]!
* [[ShamanKing Keiko Asakura]] had been dumped by ''every'' single boyfriend she had when they learnt she was able to see spirits. Until the last JerkAss left her and a penniless musician with similar abilities comforted her. That guy was Mikihisa, and she would marry him.
* Horribly deconstructed with [[spoiler: Shiso and Ceres]] in ''AyashiNoCeres''. [[spoiler: Shiso started like this, but being left helpless when he and Ceres got attacked [[IJustWantToBeSpecial made him very frustrated]], so he asked Ceres to give him a part of her powers [[IWillProtectHer so he wouldn't be a burden on her.]] But then, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity said powers turned out to be too much to handle]], and ItGotWorse...]]


[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* [[NiceGuy Kong]] is this to [[XMen Kitty Pryde]] in UltimateMarvel, even going so far as to yell "You're welcome!" at AllOfTheOtherReindeer for not thanking her when she saves their lives.
* Back in the GoldenAge, Steve Trevor was this for WonderWoman (a remarkably progressive move for the times), and not at all threatened by the idea of getting rescued by or mooning over a woman who was twenty times stronger than him. The Silver and Bronze Age characterizations of him were...[[TooDumbToLive unfortunately]] [[JerkAss less so]], which probably led to him being deleted from continuity PostCrisis.
* In an old What If comic, Jimmy Olsen married Supergirl because of amnesia. Once she recovers and lets him know, he's totally fine with being married to Superman's cousin.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''InnocentBlood'', FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Marie has her understanding CopBoyfriend Joe.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Elend in Brandon Sanderson's ''{{Mistborn}}''. At least [[spoiler:until he gets superpowers himself.]]
* Seth in ''WickedLovely''. When Aislinn tells him that she can see faeries, he has exactly one moment of "Is this a joke?" before accepting it and trying to help her with her faery situation.

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]
* The ''GhostWhisperer'' features Jim the Understanding Husband.
* Both [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] and played straight in ''{{Bewitched}}''. The original Darrin (Dick York) was less than understanding, to the point of being downright hostile to Samantha when she used her magic. TheOtherDarrin (Dick Sargeant), on the other hand, tried his hardest to be understanding, the point that it was more the fault of Endora and the rest of Samantha's family that TheOtherDarrin didn't get along with witches.
* Played with in the ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' TV series. Harvey ''does'' leave Sabrina when he finds out she's a witch, not out of intolerance but because she'd been using magic to mess with his life for years. He eventually does come back to her, though, and says he never had a problem with her being a witch per se.
* Zack was the "gay best friend" equivalent of this in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', at least until ExecutiveMeddling got in the way.
* Unless she's dating one of the undead, Buffy never got this on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (even Riley, who was himself a demon fighting super-soldier, had an inferiority complex due to dating a genuine superhero). It's Willow who hit the boyfriend jackpot with Oz; upon being told the truth about the supernatural world she runs in, he replies, "Actually, it explains a lot," and just goes with the flow from there.
* Tyler Ford in ''TheMiddleman'''s unaired season finale (released as a comic)...[[spoiler:at least, until MM pushes the ResetButton]].
* Allison's husband Joe on ''{{Medium}}'' believes in her powers and is understanding and accepting of them.
* In ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', 2x09. Merlin discovers [[spoiler: Freya turns into a bastet at night, but he isn´t afraid and stills takes care of her. He even pets her cat´s head...]]
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/understanding/ this]] ''WapsiSquare'' comic. Also the page quote.
* {{Subverted}} (although this may be a retrospective way of seeing it) in ''SluggyFreelance''. Leo seems to be accepting of all the weird things Zoë tells about happening to her - but it turns out that was only because he thought she was lying. In the words of another jerk he hangs out with, "You've got to respect a girl who realizes romantic relationships are based on lies and goes to town with it!" As soon as Leo finds out it was all true, he feels betrayed, and they eventually break off.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* [[PhineasAndFerb Candace]] seems to have this with Jeremy. Despite all of Candace's attempts to put a stop to PhineasAndFerb's projects, the guy never, ever seems to lose his cool, and they're still an item.
----
* [[JojosBizarreAdventure ZA WARUDO!]]
* ''{{Sonic Adventure 2}}''.
* ''ShadowTheHedgehog''.
* ''Okami''.
* ''{{Onimusha}} 4'': Jubei Yagyu's special ability to slow down time.
* ''MegaManX 5'': When you use Dark Hold. And hence, TatsunokoVsCapcom.
* The Unknown from ''KingdomHearts: BirthBySleep'' will cast Stop on you and rewind time a few seconds to heal himself, with this effect.

[[AC:Other Coloured Indications of Timestop]]
* ''{{Persona 3}}'': The whole world is covered in a green filter during the Dark Hour
* ''DarkerThanBlack'': When Amber/February users her powers she and whoever else she chooses to affect turns gold and is able to move around while the rest of the world is tinted in a strange purple or blue color.
* ''[[{{Discworld}} The Thief Of Time]]'': The visual effects are described in a way that's [[ShownTheirWork actually sort of plausible]]: everything ahead of Lobsang is blue-shifted, while on the one occasion he glances behind him while moving the view is red-shifted to impenetrability.
* In ''PrinceOfPersia: The Forgotten Sands'', the timestopped world is simply darker.
* ''The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything'': Uses a red filter.
* ''ShakuganNoShana'': The sky becomes dark red.
* ''{{Bayonetta}}'': The Witch Time tints the world in dark blue.
* ''CardCaptorSakura'': Everything turns a shade of gold.
* ''{{Homestuck}}'': A red zodiac appears on the victim, who flashes red. [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003664 As seen here]]. It doesn't seem to be in effect for all timestops though, just some.
* GhostTrick: The ghost world is basically the normal world with time stopped and a tinted filter over it, different ghosts receiving different colored filters.
* RedDeadRedemption has it's bullet time filtered in a sepia screen.
* In ''BunnyMustDie'', the world turns bluish when time stops, red when time is reversed, and yellow when time is slowed.
* In the non-fighting games of TouhouProject, the screen darkens when Sakuya stops time.
* The ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' and ''MegaManStarForce'' games have some chips/cards which freeze the action while they play out; these darken the screen.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cadillac_lovely_wife.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:When you're draping your lovely wife in [[PrettyInMink furs]] and [[EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry jewelry]], think of Cadillac.]]

You've created a wonderful product for your company. It's practically top of the line. It's reliable, sturdy, comes with a lot of great features, and everyone loves its design.

However, all this quality comes at a price. Namely... well, price. It costs too much for the mainstream market to afford it. What do you do?

Well, you have two choices. The first choice is to sell the product at a loss, so that the mainstream can afford it. This is ''only'' advisable if it's sold with another product profitable enough to offset that loss, which is the old "Give away the razors to sell the blades" strategy. The second choice is to not bother with the mainstream at all. Instead go for as much of the market that can afford it. This is known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upmarket the upmarket]].

Of course the upmarket doesn't just go for anything. They have to feel they are getting their money's worth. So instead of just a hook for people to remember the product, you need the upmarket to feel your product is worth their money. There are three common methods of doing this.
* Just to focus on how good your product is. This is often going right for [[BlueBlood the old money crowd]], who are old money because their parents and grandparents spent their money wisely. They spend hundreds on a pair of shoes, not because it has a designer label, but because it will last years and years and still be good as new with a nice polish.
* Focus on the sophistication of your product. This also works with old money, because they do have an image of sophistication to uphold. This also works with new money, because they want to look sophisticated too. Hence this is likely the most common form of appealing to the upmarket.
* Claim this product [[AppealToVanity makes one superior for owning it]]. Mostly works with new money. May or may not directly state that anything less is tripe meant for the LowestCommonDenominator, but the implication is sometimes there in SubText.

This doesn't always go for the upper classes. Anyone with a decent salary and [[CrackIsCheaper an expensive hobby]] can be the upmarket for that hobby.

Compare/Contrast PanderingToTheBase.

* Since this is for the upmarket, advertising is rarely done where the mainstream marketing is done, like {{Television}}. It's often done in {{Magazines}} catering to the demographic for the product.
** Take 99% of all FashionMagazine ads.
*** Or even "Maxim" magazine, which really contrasts with their articles, which are meant to be almost TestosteronePoisoning than for the ''GQ'' crowd.
** If the mainstream can occasionally afford your product, marketing to them is advisable.
*** The ads for De Beers diamonds.
*** Ads for [[PrettyInMink fur coats]], or [[FurAndLoathing there used to be such ads on TV]].
*** Ads for some of the more expensive cars (although not likely the really expensive companies, like Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari, and Bentley). Cadillac, on the other hand, does a fair bit of advertising.
*** Until recently this combined with SmokingIsGlamorous.
* Speaking of cars, upmarket car ads usually don't have [[HoodOrnamentHottie women in bikinis laying on the cars]]. They are more likely to have women in their finest evening clothes admire the cars, as in the above pic.
* Again, a hook is not required, but it can help.
** The [[NotableCommercialCampaigns "What becomes a legend most?" campaign]] for Blackglama mink.
* Although what is considered to be the hardcore video gaming audience is actually the upmarket for gaming, it's rare to see this among that audience. The big exception is expensive gaming devices, when they are not sold at a loss, like the NeoGeo and high end gaming [=PCs=].
** VERY common for dedicated peripherals. Why play an FPS with a normal keyboard and mouse when you can have a keyboard and mouse spefically designed for FPS? Why play racing games with anything but a steering wheel & pedal peripheral? Why play MMO[=RPGs=] without that "glow in the dark" keyboard extension featuring all your hotkeys and quickslots? Why play flight simulators in anything less than a full cockpit, complete with stick, throttle, rudder pedals, [=MFDs=], other assorted switches for various subsystems, and maybe even topped off with a motion platform?
** "High end gaming [=PCs=]" cannot be sold at loss because ''there ain't any''. No hardcore gamer worth his frags would ever consider buying one, because a) building one's own rig is half the fun, and b) the ExponentiallyEscalatingArmsRace between game developers and hardware manufacturers lead to the [[CrackIsCheaper constant upgrades]] just to be able to play them. About the only things sold at loss in this market are the ''consoles'', which are usually propped up by the sales of games. In the PC department most upmarketing is concentrated on the components -- see the famous nVidia slogan "The way it's ''meant'' to be played".
*** Unfortunately for many of the people who buy the highest-end components, the top end of the PC parts market is essentially a cruel joke. A top-end video card might cost $600, but the $250 model one rung down the scale will play any video game available at the time of purchase, and be good for almost as long as the top-end card. Buying super-expensive parts to "future proof" your computer is far less economical than buying mid-range or lower-high-end parts and replacing the video card every two to three years and the processor every four years or so, especially as depreciation takes its toll when selling old parts. Nothing depreciates faster than PC components, and the once-top-of-the-line parts take the biggest hit.
* High-end displays ([=TVs=]/monitors) like the Pioneer Kuro Elite and Mitsubishi [=LaserVue=] lines [[{{Understatement}} do NOT come cheap.]] You're looking at spending at least US$4,000 on the low end for one of those, all in the name of image quality over cheap commodity TN [=LCDs=] and aged [=CRTs=].
* The radio commercials on classical music stations are rather different than regular radio commercials. British guys telling you where you can get thirty percent off handwoven Persian rugs.
* Most [[FashionMagazine Bridal Magazines]] will try to look like this, no matter who is buying it, merely to maintain the appearance of elegance, regardless of whether the dresses in the articles and ads are simple or {{Fairytale Wedding Dress}}es.
* Stella Artois invoked this with the slogan 'Reassuringly expensive', although it became known as 'wife-beater' (because the british can't hold their liquor)

Well, you have two choices. The first choice is to sell the product at a loss, so that the mainstream can afford it. This is ''only'' advisable if it's sold with another product profitable enough to offset that loss, which is the old "Give away the razors to sell the blades" strategy- the modern equivalent is the "cheap console, expensive games" strategy. The second choice is to not bother with the mainstream at all. Instead go for as much of the market that can afford it. This is known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upmarket the upmarket]].

** VERY common for dedicated peripherals. Why play an FPS with a normal keyboard and mouse when you can have a keyboard and mouse spefically designed for FPS? Why play racing games with anything but a steering wheel & pedal peripheral? Why play MMO[=RPGs=] without that "glow in the dark" keyboard extension featuring all your hotkeys and quickslots? Why play flight simulators in anything less than a full cockpit, complete with stick, throttle, rudder pedals, MFDs, other assorted switches for various subsystems, and maybe even top it all off with a motion platform?
** "High end gaming [=PCs=]" cannot be sold at loss because ''there ain't any''. No hardcore gamer worth his frags would ever consider bying one, because a) building one's own rig is half the fun, and b) the ExponentiallyEscalatingArmsRace between game developers and hardware manufacturers lead to the [[CrackIsCheaper constant upgrades]] just to be able to play them. About the only things sold at loss in this market are the ''consoles'', which are usually propped up by the sales of games. In the PC department most upmarketing is concentrated on the components -- see the famous nVidia slogan "The way it's ''meant'' to be played".

** VERY common for dedicated peripherals. Why play an FPS with a normal keyboard and mouse when you can have a keyboard and mouse spefically designed for FPS? Why play racing games with anything but a steering wheel & pedal peripheral? Why play MMO[=RPGs=] without that "glow in the dark" keyboard extension featuring all your hotkeys and quickslots?

*** Unfortunately for many of the people who buy the highest-end components, the top end of the PC parts market is essentially a cruel joke. A top-end video card might cost $600, but the $250 model one rung down the scale will play any video game available at the time of purchase, and be good for almost as long as the top-end card. Buying super-expensive parts to "future proof" your computer is far less economical than buying mid-range or lower-high-end parts and replacing the video card every two to three years and the processor every four years or so.

*** Ads for some of the more expensive cars (although not likely the really expensive companies, like Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari, and Bentley).