I’m finding myself nostalgic once again for the Rockwellian days of my youth, you know those golden times when the average 10-year old had to pay for the things they wanted out of their paper route money, or more amazingly that many ten year old’s like me were actually working…
Today, it’s hardly simple. I cannot even get my kids to keep their own rooms clean for more than four days at a time, even for compensation. Presumably, they’re conserving their energy for their stated trip(s) to the NHL by 18 – my offspring of modest goals. Never mind the fact that neither can skate yet…
We’ve long since become a nation (world?) of convenience seekers, those for whom corners need to be cut, the least amount of work put in, all though with the expectations of large gain.
Case in point, another excellent post by Steve Heimoff – consistently in my opinion the best wine blogger out there. If content is king in this internet age, the guy needs a crown and velvet cape – who wrote today about a WSJ story unearthing the fact that some bloggers out there are basically paid shills in the guise of simple, stay at home moms, et. al, just looking to dispense some maternal wisdom for those who can’t figure things out for themselves.
This prompted Steve to ponder the idea of a wine blogger’s seal of authenticity, some public declaration that the wine they receive to review comes unencumbered with something akin to a few $20’s affixed to the bottle with a rubber band. And it’s hard to disagree with this logic.
But one point missed in Steve’s piece is that I think the onus most importantly falls upon the winery who might send out their wine to a blogger (with or without bribe), knowing full well that anything said may be used against them in the court of public opinion. For if it’s one thing the blogosphere has taught us is that there is no transparency – at least in the same way we all hope/wish it still exists for print journalism.
I think we can all agree that paying someone to write nice things about your product is something for The Ethicist to tackle from a moralistic standpoint. But again, the blogger who accepts that wine, car, trip, etc, with strings attached is only being enabled by those companies willing to take the chance at having their practices exposed. If no one finds out, well, no one finds out.
Conversely, the whole nature of criticism also allows for the opposite effect, for some movie reviewer blown off by a big director at Cannes, to trash the filmmaker’s latest work, whether he paid for a ticket or was invited to a screening. And surely we must realize that a movie reviewer who writes glowing things about some Hollywood crap will eventually find all his expenses covered for that press junket in St. Lucia to promote Lost: The (Inevitable) Movie.
The same holds true for the many, many wine bloggers out there. In fact there was a debate amongst them several months back, those who will write bad reviews and those that won’t – even though the wine is sent free. So what’s my point, exactly?
To fall on a cliche – you can’t please everyone – but by this same token, nor will you disappoint everyone.
I suppose the point, for those of us that make consumer goods, is to simply make the best product you can and let the chips fall where they may…
Your cliches may vary.
