Payless taught fashion influencers a lesson about shoes by opening a fake store that sold bargain retailer shoes at designer prices.
Payless ShoeSource held a launch party in Los Angeles for the bogus label Palessi and invited the fashionistas to sample the merchandise.
The company then posted a video of what happened on Facebook.
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The VIP shoppers paid as much as US$645 for shoes that sell from $19.99 to $39.99 at Payless. The store rang up $3,000 before Payless came clean with the reveal.
One shopper exclaimed, “Shut up! Are you serious?”
The pranked shoppers got their money back and were allowed to keep the shoes.
WATCH: Punked by Payless: Discount shoe retailer dupes ‘influencers’
Their reactions will be featured in a series of commercials.