Kidnapping is Back

 Kidnapping as a nefarious activity got a boost from unexpected quarters- The White House, after the Venezuelan saga involving Maduro. Now, to watch if it becomes a trend. Someone suggested that Putin could kidnap Zelensky and put an end to that war. 

But as a marketing prof. I can suggest some product extensions- corporates who can get rid of competition by kidnapping their CEOs. In olden times, HUL (then without the U) could have kidnapped the upstart from Gujarat for eating into their detergents monopoly. Or one of the Haldiram promoter family could have kidnapped the other to end the battle for the question of who owns the right to their Soan Papdi.

Of course, in academia, you could kidnap that rival of yours who publishes obscene amounts of papers and makes you look small, or that consultant who has cornered all the major CEOs, leaving you with crumbs.

More ideas are available for a price.. why should I share them for free? Unless you kidnap me, of course.

P.S. Trump after Venezuela- Vene, Vidi, Vici. Inspired by good old Julius. 

Social Media is Bullshit- Book Review

Yes, it is the title of a book by B.J. Mendelson- I'm not kidding. And it is by far the best book on the subject I have read. Not that I claim to have read hundreds, but still, it is in the spirit of this book that I exaggerate a bit.

But seriously, anyone who is in marketing, advertising, PR, or anti all these, must read this book. Disagree or not, it is a brilliantly provocative book on the alleged pluses of Social Media. Mendelson has a page that you can visit to find out more. Here is an excerpt from that page (http://bjmendelson.com/faqs-about-bj-mendelsons-social-media-is-bullshit/) which describes what the book is about-

"Social Media Is Bullshit is a guided tour through the bullshit factory that is the social media marketing industry. You’ll see how their primary product, bullshit, is made, who is selling it, and how they’ve been getting away with selling bullshit since 2007."

He is mainly focussed on what social media cannot do for small businesses or small guys (like u and me) who are unconnected, and need marketing to survive. He says it could work for big corporations (but not always), celebrities and the like. But then, they can afford to lose a few millions here and there if it doesn't. A compelling read, and written engagingly, with a lot of references as end-notes, so you could refer to them if you like. Insiders' comments from ex-facebookers and Youtubers and Twitterers (company execs who worked there) are particularly good.

Corporate Shenanigans and More

This is actually a review of a book on called The Big Bing. Written by a former columnist (named Stanley Bing) of the magazine Esquire and others, it contains a great deal of humour. His punching bag are the workplace, consultants, bosses, and occasionally, himself. An example of the last-

"A host of big swinging editors at Esquire supported my growth from a tiny nub in the back of the magazine next to the hair replacement ads to one of grave sociological importance in the front near men's underwear."

Some more- these are about the Middle Ages and the things that followed.

"Around 1400 AD, anybody with four good limbs got on a horse and went to kill other people for what they believed in.This was called the Crusades."

" Science was invented, and Copernicus realized that the world did not revolve around Poland. This impressed Galileo, who told Newton, who discovered gravity, and the race for nuclear weapons was on."

There are a lot more essays, on a variety of subjects. One is on the importance of Lying in corporate life. Another about accountants and Enron. If you can get (understand) Americanese, it's for you.