demagogue on 30/7/2012 at 01:11
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
That works for any entertainment:
Why stop at entertainment? Too much money and power also screw up politics, religion, art, industry...
Or as someone once said, the problem isn't so much power per se. It's the concentration of power that's the problem.
june gloom on 30/7/2012 at 03:09
This. That's what I've been saying all along. It's like the argument between misandry and misogyny -- misandry exists, but misogyny is systematic because it's the dudes who have more power and have had power for most of human history.
Jason Moyer on 30/7/2012 at 03:17
Warren Spector doesn't get paid to sell Hanes. He gets paid millions to sell Disney.
june gloom on 30/7/2012 at 03:25
That is ever so much not the point.
Fafhrd on 30/7/2012 at 04:07
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
Warren Spector doesn't get paid to sell Hanes. He gets paid millions to sell Disney.
Yes. He gets paid millions to do the job that he has a degree for and spent most of his life doing. That's quite a bit different than getting paid
hundreds of millions to appear in commercials that have absolutely fuck all to do with your primary occupation.
Here's a simple exercise: How many 'celebrity' game designers/comic book writers/etc can you name? And how much do they make, and how much of what they make is purely for doing the thing that they became famous for doing well.
Now how many celebrity athletes can you name? And how much do
they make, and how much of what they make is just for playing the sport they're good at, and how much of it is for endorsement deals, and licensing of their likenesses, etc.
demagogue on 30/7/2012 at 06:00
Obvious point: Celebrity matters though. It's surely not fair, but take one of the most successful marketing coups out there, the George Foreman Grill... Not sure anyone doubted that its success had a lot more to do with the likeability & trustworthiness of GF as its champion than how good it was as a grill. And as you say, people are interested in getting widgets sold, running a business, not who can make a platonically better mousetrap that nobody cares about or wants to buy.
I guess my point is that you should specify what your criticism is. Are you saying that celebrity isn't actually as important as expertise in running a good business and getting more widgets sold, or are you saying that it is but shouldn't be as important and that says something about our dumb culture.
CCCToad on 30/7/2012 at 06:08
Quote Posted by demagogue
Obvious point: Celebrity matters though. It's surely not fair, but take one of the most successful marketing coups out there, the George Foreman Grill... Not sure anyone doubted that its success had a lot more to do with the likeability & trustworthiness of GF as its champion than how good it was as a grill. \
That said, the GF grill is pretty fantastic. Its a busy, foody bachelor's best friend.
june gloom on 30/7/2012 at 06:23
Mmh, for once I can't argue with that.
demagogue on 30/7/2012 at 06:28
Oh totally. I love it too. Half my point was it's like people didn't notice how awesome it was until it had the GF signature on it & he's doing commercials, and suddenly now people realize it's been the cat's meow this whole time.
Fafhrd on 30/7/2012 at 06:35
Quote Posted by demagogue
I guess my point is that you should specify what your criticism is. Are you saying that celebrity isn't actually as important as expertise in running a good business and getting more widgets sold, or are you saying that it is but
shouldn't be as important and that says something about our dumb culture.
My point is that there's a
massive disparity in the awards that celebrity brings when it's a sports professional versus just about any other professional, and that Jason's point was a false equivalency due to that disparity.
