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Andy Warhol famously spoke about Coke: "What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the s
by greedo 8y ago
Andy Warhol famously spoke about Coke:
"What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."
It's sad to see that something as quintessentially American as Disney is going the opposite way.
- icu 8y agoThanks for the quote! However I think it's more about Coke being a consumable and arguably a commodity... and not entertainment. I'm pretty sure there will always be people priced out of premium entertainment experiences precisely because you cannot bottle it up.
- jdietrich 8y ago>Thanks for the quote! However I think it's more about Coke being a consumable and arguably a commodity... and not entertainment. America commoditised entertainment through technology. The radio and the gramophone allowed a farmer in rural Maine to listen to the Metropolitan Opera in their own home. Movie theaters brought the greatest actors in America to every small town. The egalitarian nature of popular culture stands as one of the greatest defences of consumer capitalism. A reversal of that trend points to a fundamental and worrying change in society.
- ghaff 8y agoThe commoditization you describe though is for entertainment forms that can be incrementally replicated at little to no cost. In that regard, entertainment is more commoditized than ever with things like streaming music and video services. Arguably, there's more VIP-style pricing discrimination than there used to be for in-person entertainment. It's probably easier with online booking. But good concert seats or opera tickets were never particularly cheap.
- icu 8y agoExactly the point I was trying to make but I did not articulate it as well as you have, thanks! I would say 'premium' entertainment cannot be displaced by time and space.