The Eye of the Beholder

Returned from the wastelands of South West Essex, the 'Nam, Pitsea, Purfleet, Rainham and the arsehole of the the world - Aveley (Honestly I only went there to find out how Neanderthals live these days) only to discover that almost overnight the shops are full of Xmas tat and magazines are offering really expensive tat of the type that leaves you wondering like Loyd Grossman on "Through the Keyhole" "Who on earth would buy total shite like this?"
The object in question being something like the Tutankhamun - Dambusters Memorial Clock and Musical Cake Plate - Buy now in 52 easy installments of £99.99 per month and get - absolutely free - this video celebrating the manufacture of this unique object. Be the envy of all your friends.
Now I don't quite know how this works because in my world anyone who owns one of these excrable pieces of expensive junk doesn't deserve to have any friends and should be exiled to somewhere really awful, like Langdon Hills or even worse Harlow New Town. Owning two of these sort of things gives you the immediate leasehold of a caravan (Do not pass Go, Do not collect £200) on Canvey Island and my fervent prayers that the objects will be destroyed if the LPG terminal at Coryton explodes.
What I fail to understand is the design process of these objects - how do you come up with the idea for something like a gold-plated three dimensional star trek monopoly set or an exactly not-to-scale Millennium Dome glow-in-the-dark fruitbowl and cruet? And as for the market research how do they do it - put the ideas to a panel and the more the disbelief an object generates the more likely it is to be created?

That's quite enough of that - I'm just off to buy a set of novelty Royal Family Caricature egg cosies for my sister in law for Christmas - although I fear that it may be far too tasteful for her...