They’re Going the Yuppies One Worse : Yuffies Have No Fear of Failure

Don’t let fear of failure trouble you, what is there to lose except your BMW (or two)?

--Lyrics from “We’re the Yuffies�

Three crazy guys, creators of a new phenomenon that runs strictly contrary to Yuppiemania, have decided what to do when their raging new endeavor makes them rich.

The three--Jeff Markell, Alex Murashko and Michael Del Rey--want to open a steak house in India and call it “The Sacred Cow,� form a Professional Miniature Golf Assn. and stage an annual Halley’s Comet Watch.

They might also export vodka to Russia.

“Hey, we’re failures. Those are the bad investments we’re going to make when we get rich,� said Markell, the originator of the concept of Yuffie--Young Urban Failure.

‘Don’t Try So Hard’

Although being a bona fide Yuffie has its serious side, these guys are in it for fun, profit and for the satisfaction of being crusaders against Yuppies. Yuppies are the people who have that all-encompassing passion to succeed, drive the crimson BMW and perfect the art of self-indulgence.

“All we’re saying is don’t try so hard (to succeed),� said Del Rey.

Launched seven months ago by Markell and Murashko, a pair of 29-year-old “retired� bartenders, the Yuffie concept has taken hold. The two are being interviewed constantly and claim to have a worldwide headquarters in a tiny office in Orange. They were able to take their cause abroad just the other day when they were interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corp. from London.

The profit angle comes in when they sell Yuffie T-shirts, caps, buttons and bumper stickers.

To qualify as a Yuffie, you have to drive a car from the past decade, not carry charge cards, prefer pizza to brie cheese and shop at K mart rather than Bloomingdale’s or Brooks Brothers. No Perrier drinkers, please.

At first, said Murashko, he didn’t realize what he was on to. He said he was watching a television report that said advertisers were ill-advised to put so much emphasis on luring the Young Urban Professional (Yuppie) clientele.

“I realized they were right . . . that most people are like us,� he said.

Del Rey, 26, devised a drinking helmet last year that did not “make me a million.� Then by chance he ran into Markell, a high school classmate, at a swap meet and Del Rey began the conversion from Yuppie to Yuffie.

“I always thought of myself as a Yuppie. I came close to succeeding but I failed,� he said.

Del Rey, who says he is still being deprogrammed by his two partners, hasn’t quite shed all the Yuppie trappings. He traded in his Honda for a Volkswagen van but still wears a pinstriped suit. Yet he spices his attire with red, white and blue striped sneakers.

For kicks, these guys hang out at Margaritaville, a Newport Beach bar and haven for Yuppies.

“We consider that enemy territory,� Murashko said.

Del Rey has scored with the enemy. He said he recently made a convert at Margaritaville. The good-looking woman, he said, turned down another fellow flat when the Yuppie told her, “Hey, you want to ride in my Ferrari or in his Volkswagen van.� The woman chose the van.

No Dues or Fees

“Once those (Yuppie) guys realize we’re getting their girls, (used car lots) will do great business,� he said.

Markell said there no dues or membership fees to become a Yuffie. One simply has to admit failure and not take life so seriously.

“Yuffies are very intelligent people,� he said. “But they are smart enough to know their limitations.�

Although the three take Yuffiemania tongue-in-cheek, they maintain that there is a very serious side to their project. A Harris poll recently revealed that people think of Yuppies as affluent, self-indulgent young people. And the Yuppies polled agreed with that public perception.

“There’s a serious side to what we are doing,� Del Rey said. “These people shouldn’t be drowning with their credit cards.�