April 24, 2003

Marketing Dissent Michele has the

Marketing Dissent

Michele has the right idea on the Dixie Chicks situation:

The Dixie Chicks are more popular now than ever. They have made a career move out of a negative situation. Number one on Billboard, prime-time television interviews, the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Yes, dissent is patriotic, because very public dissent keeps you in the public eye, which leads to that great American past time of keeping the cash registers ringing. Capitalism at its finest.

I mean, who would really know that Tim Robbins still existed (except as Mr. Sarandon) if not for his public tirades against George Bush? Would Bill Maher have a tv show or Michael Moore an Oscar or Arianna Huffington a website if not for loud, public dissent?

It's a marketing tool. The people who decry capitalism and all things America are the ones scooping up the cash by the fistful because they cry the loudest.

Don't cry for the Dixie Chicks. They have risen to the top of the pop culture ladder because they said some nasty things about the president.


Ain't that America?

Sure is, and we should all be so lucky as to have the Dixie Chicks' problems.

Saying nasty things about the president may not play all that well with country music's core audience, but in the show biz world or in places like the San Francisco bay area there's nothing remotely daring or provocative, even noticeable, about Bush-bashing. It's de rigueur, required by custom or etiquette. It's like talking about the weather. It's a feature of every conversation, so prevalent that you hardly notice it, as a fish hardly notices water. If you don't say "Bush is a moron" at least once, people start to look at you funny. Failing to do so is impolite.

In show business (and in San Francisco) it's all schtick all the time. It has always been that way, but our contemporary celeb world has developed a new, perhaps ironic, emphasis: your hair is a statement, while your politics is a style.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Posted by Dr. Frank at April 24, 2003 06:39 AM | TrackBack
Comments

no doubt what you are saying is true, but I just don't agree

Posted by: dvd at September 29, 2003 10:17 PM