‘Succession’ sparks searches for ‘gargantuan’ Burberry bag
The new season of “Succession” is out of the bag.
Season 4 of the show premiered Sunday, and while it drew a series-high audience of 2.3 million viewers, one scene, in particular, went viral — and even spiked search engines.
After a scene in which Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) makes fun of cousin Greg’s (Nicholas Braun) date and her “ludicrously capacious” bag, the search for the Burberry tote soared and several memes made their way across social media.
“She’s brought a ludicrously capacious bag. What’s even in there, huh? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail? I mean, Greg, it’s monstrous. It’s gargantuan. You could take it camping. You could slide it across the floor after a bank job,” Tom says to Greg about his date to Logan Roy’s (Brian Cox) very dull birthday party.
Searches for the Burberry tote — which retails at $2,890 — have risen by 310% in the US, according to Google Trends data provided by 3DLOOK, a virtual fitting room company.
“Burberry handbag” and “Burberry tote” searches are up 180% and 25%, respectively, and searches for “Burberry sale” have increased by 38%.
“Burberry’s $3,000 tote bag might not meet the standards for Succession’s top 0.1%, but luckily for the luxury fashion house, they don’t speak for the average consumer,” Whitney Cathcart, co-founder and chief commercial officer of 3DLOOK, said in a statement to The Post. “While Tom was busy firing off insults, the rest of us were Googling where we could get our own.”
“I wouldn’t go as far as to say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but it does go to show the huge impact that showbiz can have on consumer trends. Tom’s sharp tongue might have just earned Burberry some extra sales. After all, the majority of us do use the subway …”
As for the inspiration to use this specific bag, author Bolu Babalola tweeted that “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong told an audience before a test screening that “they interviewed a new york wealthy woman and said something like ‘what is the most offensive bag a woman could bring to something like this. would be the tackiest thing that someone who was trying to fit in would bring?’”
The bag sparked more than just search engines — many fans have made memes of the now-viral moment on the HBO show.
“i know i dont have the talent to be a great write because never in my dreams could i have come up with the phrase ‘ludicrously capacious bag,’” one person commented.
“that’s my emotional support ludicrously capacious bag,” another tweeted.
“Idk how Burberry recovers from this because I just walked past this ludicrously capacious bag in the window on Michigan Avenue and audibly laughed,” someone posted along with a photo of a similar bag.
“everything tom wambsgans says is like poetry to me. ‘because she’s brought a ludicrously capacious bag. it’s monstrous. it’s gargantuan. you could take it camping. you could slide it across the floor after a bank job’. shakespeare could never come up with something so beautiful,” a fan wrote.
“If somebody said my handbag was ludicrously capacious, I don’t know what I’d do. Crawl into it and have a good cry, maybe,” another said.
“feeling like a ludicrously capacious bag,” someone tweeted.
“New season of Succession is already so so good, the phrase ‘because she brought a ludicrously capacious bag’ keeps popping unbidden into my brain and I wince every time,” a fan wrote.
Even the Chicago Transit Authority got in on the joke, tweeting, “As a reminder, please keep ludicrously capacious bags on your lap or between your feet on buses and trains to avoid blocking aisles. Thank you.”
New episodes of the fourth and final season of “Succession” are available every Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO, with the series finale airing on May 14. Seasons 1-3 are currently available to stream on HBO Max.
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