Era of Change

Financially Unconscious Celeb Getting out of Fully Loaded Gas Guzzler!!

The election of Barak Obama as President of the United States of America is clear evidence of change. In an earlier post I educated my readers about the ‘Good Ole Boy Network’ in the entertainment industry. Just as the GOP ‘Good Ole Boy Network’ was halted in it’s poor attempt at a publicity selecting Sara Palin as GOP Vice Presidential candidate, the entertainment industry is slowly but surely being halted as well.

The entertainment industry’s only saving grace is younger generations. Teenagers and elementary students love Hannah Montana, High School Music and shows like One Tree Hill that feature young new music. However, the children of the baby boomers are not buying.

COBB = Children of Baby Boomers
I’m a COBB and I remember when the first CD burners were placed on the market. Heck, I remember when there were no cell phones!! I also remember when Napster first came on the seen and was free back in 2000. Millions of college students were downloading illegally across the world.

That being said, COBBs are now approaching thirty and beyond. Having witnessed technological and political evolution, the children of baby boomers are not buying anything except food and gas for their cars. The economic crisis is reflective of this. We (COBBs) have come to understand full circle that riding around in an Escalade like P.Diddy and the NFL elect is not a wise or realistic financial decision. Going to the hair salon every week like Mary J Blidge is not an option and “Fabulousity” that Kimora Lee Simmons has created is some imaginative concept that is too expensive to exist or entertain among the working middle class.

The Entertainment Industry : Auto Industry : GOP
The entertainment industry and the auto industry should be ashamed of themselves. Companies like GM are on the brink of bankruptcy. The New York Times Reported on November 7, 2008 that

“Despite shedding more than 100,000 jobs since 2006 and closing factories nationwide, the Detroit automakers [GM] cannot cut their costs fast enough to keep up with the steadily declining market for new cars and trucks.”
Bunkley,Nick and Vlasic,Bill. G.M. Says U.S Cash Is Its Best Hope, New York Times

Don’t Cry For General Motors
Again do not feel bad for the auto industry or the entertainment industry they both committed the exact same mistake. Both industries had the technological capability and knowledge to produce more cost efficient products and use more cost efficient means of production. However, they have been holding out for years due to greed and a desire for more profit. Environmentalist and engineers have been urging manufacturers to make more fuel efficient cars. Financial specialists have advised the entertainment industry to cut down on their excessive overheads. You don’t need a private jet, fly first class on a commercial airline (God forbid)!!. They opted not to.

IIndie Artists Adopt Honda’s Business Practices
Foreign companies such as Honda and Toyota have been in the practice of making fuel efficient cars, even before the emergence of the hybrid vehicles. Huh? Go drive a four door Ford 500 (non hybrid) and then go drive a four door Honda Accord (no hybrid) with the same size engine. Which gets better gas mileage? Hint, it’s not the Ford. Bill Vlasic from the New York Times supports my view. On August 25, 2008 Vlasic wrote an article entitled Honda Stays True to Efficient Driving for the New York Times. The excerpt below confirms what I’ve just been preaching:

“Despite the huge profits that its competitors were minting by making larger vehicles, Honda Motor never veered from its mission of building fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly cars like its Accord sedan.

“I remember being at the Tokyo Motor Show in the mid-1990s and talking about the environment,” said Ben Knight, head of engineering at Honda’s North American division. “The reaction was there’s no return on that.”

But in today’s fuel-conscious automotive market, Honda is reaping the rewards for its commitment.”

Vlasic, Bill. Honda Stays True to Efficient Driving. New York Times

I used to live in Japan and the concept of an SUV does not fly over there. Japan is extremely small so SUV’s are not ideal. However, even if they did have more space the Japanese would not opt for SUV’s. Their logic is simple: Why would you create a car that gets poor fuel mileage and requires large amounts of fuel? America’s response “Because it looks hot on my front lawn when they come to film me on MTV’s Cribs!” This explains the fuel efficiency of Japanese companies such as Honda. They were making fuel efficient even before concept of the hybrid.

Sitting Ducks
Companies like GM have been sitting on the capability to make more fuel efficient cars for years. They just opted not too. They wanted more money, as Vlasic stated above, and they wanted to please their ‘Good Ole Boy’ friends in the oil industry. The oil industry loves gas guzzlers!! Now ‘Good Ole Boy’ companies like GM are crying to their big brothers to bail them out. Funny, we don’t here Honda crying, maybe just a gentle murmur “you reap what you sew” or “what is done in darkness will be brought to light”.

Entertainment Industry To Suffer Same Fate
The entertainment industry will face an all too harsh reality just as the the ‘Good Ole Boy Network’ of the GOP faced on November 4, 2008. Change and evolution is inevitable; people change and they evolve. Technology has made us smarter by allowing the general public to communicate internationally without leaving their homes or buying a plane ticket. Technology has also made media (i.e thumb drives, mp3 files, cell phones) cheaper (remember how expensive the first computers were).

Karma Karma Karma
Indie Artists, hang in there. Take the time to care about your fans just as Honda cares for its consumers. Honda cared about how much money its customers were going to spend on gas. That gesture of kindness is paying off twenty years later. Remember you may not see instaneous gains. GM laughed in Honda’s face in the 1990’s when they said they were manufacturing smaller more fuel efficient cars. Who’s laughing now? If you sew something in good faith you will see big returns years to come. That being said, the music industry is a sitting duck. Karma baby!!

Till Next Time,

Jamille Luney
Music Analyst

Subscribe in a reader