Episode 5 Details
Download: |ogg| - |mp3|
Hosts:
XlogicX
Show Notes:
-Intro with Edward Rawsons proclomation of thanksgiving.
-XlogicX celebrates Buy Nothing Day.
-1 email is read, moral? Call me on my shit, I'll call you on yours...but don't stop calling me on my shit.
-Run down of how to celebrate holidays with money.
-You don't need just one day of the year to use 4th of July celebrations.
-thanksgiving history.
-thanksgiving food correction.
-thanksgiving fashion correction.
-Other ways to celebrate holidays, or not celebrate them.
-Shouts to Dual and Mausa.
-Liberation gallery on the site.
-Call for help with commercials.
-Question tradition.
Email 1:
From Matt Generic
Hey guys-just listened to the show (the one about corporate influence/fashion) and had a few things to point out. It's a pretty good premise, but like Michael Moore's stuff, you don't do the research and it shows through. No matter how good a premise is, you can't step away from it and betray your message. First glaring issue: you're trying to make an "underground" statement on the most middle-class, whiteboy, Phoenix, Arizona medium. Podcasts that will shake the consumer culture? Whatever. You guys, if anything, are furthering the most brand-sheep label in the world, Apple. Other cases in point:
1.) When the main host laments "Converse selling out" and that they're no longer "rebels". Why did you associate a particular shoe company with rebellion more than another? Because they gave away enough shoes to people like John Cusack that he wore them and influenced you? (look it up).
2.) The idea that companies can "infect" or "control" you with ideas/memes is ludicrous. Again, it's the same contempt for the average person that Michael Moore shows (his good ideas are not enough). "Hey, I have a pretty good premise! Guess what? You're too dumb to get it. You're all sheep and can't think for yourselves! So I won't bother doing the research." One correct point you made is that people are complex, and this invalidates your other argument. People buy brand names for many reasons besides advertising (read the book "The Death of Advertising and Rise of PR"). Imagine for a moment we lived in a world with zero consumer products. You would still emulate people you wanted to emulate and/or respected. Think about it. By all means don't be a sheep, but know thyself.
3.) The guest's revealing his "strange new knowledge" from the marketing study book was really, REALLY scary. What was scary is that you seemed surprised. Did you guys actually not realize that stuff? Again, how old are you? Have you ever heard of soap operas? Back in the day (like the 40's/50's) soap companies used to actually own the studios, production companies, everything. That's how they totally controlled the content and got housewives to buy their detergent. So what? Nobody falls for that anymore. That's why advertising is largely smart and quirky now instead of transparent. Watch some Budweiser commercials. They don't associate the beer with anything. They entertain with silly jokes.
4.) Lastly, you guys really should take some classes ( or read some books) and be more informed about corporate activity. You come off sounding like college kids. Not creating needs for things (either physical items OR services OR ideas) causes those things to not be produced. Without your perceived need, nobody would listen to your podcast, would they? When actual, physical things cease to be produced, people lose their jobs. Go to Google News and look up General Motors. That company is struggling to keep plant operations in this country to the point of losing billions of dollars. They just can't do it because the economics don't weigh out. What's better, to keep them in this country paying high wages until they're broke and retirees can't get their pensions, and all the 401 (k) buyers with that in their fund take a bath and have to eat dog food when they retire? Or a couple thousand people losing their jobs? Those are really the options at this point, and people in my family face that quandary.Not to mention, without revenue they can't develop more green cars, safer ones, etc. Are a couple executives greedy? Sure. How much of a difference do you think 10, 20, even 30 big-time executives make in a multibillion $ business?
In short, do some homework, you guys! Get to work so this cast doesn't sound so much like freshmen doing "Rage Against The Machine" (who are also "corporate sell-out wusses", BTW).
Mha
Email 2:
From Evin:
There is a movie coming out call "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices" by Robert Greenwald. I was reading an interview of Greenwald and he made this statement which I though was amusing.
BuzzFlash: Let's talk about the corporate logo, the smiley face that Wal-Mart uses. Like George Bush, we can draw the analogy here. They have an image of kindness, benevolence, compassion. They have commercials of smiling employees, of the senior citizen greeter in a Wal-Mart vest, of giving back to the community, of a very happy, gleeful workforce that's just excited to see customers. Your movie – your documentary – paints a far different picture of the corporate workforce from Wal-Mart.
Robert Greenwald: Yes. You know, it's interesting, on their commercials – by their own numbers, they're spending almost $4 million a day.
BuzzFlash: On advertising.
Robert Greenwald: Yes. And it's not advertising about buying a bicycle or toilet paper. It's advertising about the fact that, next to Mother Teresa, Wal-Mart is a close second.
BuzzFlash: It's image-building, image enhancement.
Robert Greenwald: Totally – totally image-enhancing. And one of the things that I've suggested to them – and for some reason, they haven't taken me up on it yet – which is they take that money, and they put it into an employee healthcare plan. Because, by the way, it's almost the same as what they're expending on employee healthcare for a million-six people – they're spending it on propaganda. Take that money. Try an experiment for one year. Stop putting it into slick ads, and put it into really giving employees decent healthcare, and they'll see a huge turnaround in their image. That'll be a whole lot more productive than the money they're wasting on consultants and thirty-second spots.
BuzzFlash: A couple of things we've read about Wal-Mart astonished us – one in a book that came out this summer, and there's another book coming shortly, on Wal-Mart. But one of the two of the things was that in some states – I know in Arizona - I've read that Wal-Mart is the number-one corporation for having employees on Medicaid.
Robert Greenwald: Yes, there's this whole section of the film where we go into this fact. Wal-Mart - by design, by pattern, by system – and we have managers on camera talking about this – they pay their employees so little – and this is a corporation that made $10 billion last year – they pay their employees so little, that the employees are encouraged and guided to get public assistance, Section 8 housing, food stamps, and various healthcare plans provided by the states. It's scandalous that everyone's tax dollars should be going so that Wal-Mart does not have to pay its employees decent wages or benefits.
The Link to the whole interview is here:
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/10/int05042.html
Evin
Commercial:
MasterCard: Rewards
-Fake benifits
-Kid in a candy store manipulation
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Mourning http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/articles/thanksgiving.html http://people.howstuffworks.com/thanksgiving.htm
Links:
Sexy Pepsi Stack
Buy Nothing Christmas Voucher
<-- Back