T.J. Maxx/Marshalls "Intervention"

The recession is bringing out a lot of heretofore latent self-righteousness about the way people spend their money. We encounter a flurry of this in new commercials for off-price retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, via GSD&M Idea City. In each spot, a woman is spending more than she needs to for designer clothing. Her friends think it’s their business to stop her, and they stage an “intervention” to break her of her sordid habit. The clear import of the intervention shtick (as when one “friend” calls the overspender’s behavior “disgusting”) is that paying too much for fashion is not merely a fiscal error but a character flaw.