This part is a real nugget.
`I do get the argument that Prime Video is a waste of money for Amazon; Brad Stone notes in his new book Amazon Unbound that “there was little evidence of a connection between viewing and purchasing behavior” and that “any correlation was also obfuscated by the fact that Prime was growing rapidly on its own.”`
Is that nugget actually true or is Bezos just obsessed with the glamor of Hollywood?
But if the plan is to make Prime more popular there seem to be many, many simpler and probably cheaper ways to do that. It's as if McDonalds started a movie studio in order to sell Movie + Big Mac bundles.
Small steps yet, but they could be getting there.
- a limited edition gaming console in partnership with Cooler Master (with integrated chicken heater): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFConsole
- a Lifetime mini-movie starring Christian Slater as Colonel Sanders in “A Recipe for Seduction”: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/kfc-colonel-sanders-mario-l...
- a dating sim video game, “I Love You Colonel Sanders”: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colone...
- a 96 page romance novel, “Tender Wings of Desire”: https://time.com/4770024/kfc-romance-novel-mothers-day/
I'd trust the words of someone who actually has access to Amazon's financials over the word of a blogger on the outside.
2. You would blindly trust the words of someone who has to justify spending billions of dollars to shareholders?
> Is that nugget actually true or is Bezos just obsessed with the glamor of Hollywood?
Could it be more an idea of goodwill[0] ("the intangible value attributable solely to the efforts of or reputation of an owner of the business")? What I mean to say is, having Golden Globes or running a valued streaming service, even if it's not directly correlated with increased retail sales, makes customers generally regard Amazon more highly, more chic?
For all of its faults (and I am very critical of the company), I don't know anyone who derides the company in the same manner that Walmart is derided[1], for example.
If not for Prime Video I'd probably not be a member, and without that fast free shipping, would probably buy more from elsewhere.
All of that said, I generally don't like Prime Video so don't think it's worth much as a standalone.
Or will Amazon shoot the scene multiple times, with different items?
So person wears an unbranded product or no product even, and then post production adds whatever logos or products it needs to for various markets.
There's an argument that progressive political comedy shows are actually detrimental because they give the viewer the feeling of having "solved" the problems presented by the mere act of watching. Instead of facing the problem directly and trying to do something about it, we consume the problem as entertainment in a small neat (time)box and can then just go on ignoring it.
There have been recent findings that support for BLM and its causes among "white allies" drastically rose throughout the protests but is now as low or even lower than before (and also corporations not following through with their promises of donating money towards relevant causes because it is no longer profitable for them to signal support). This would fit the same model: most white people who supported BLM only developed an awareness for the problems due to the protests and then supported the protests (and hashtag campaigns) but as soon as the protests were over and minimal reforms (including non-reforms that actually did the opposite, e.g. police funding bills) the problem was "solved" in their mind and they abandoned the movement and maybe even felt personally attacked by anyone claiming nothing had changed fundamentally.
Basically we all see ourselves as the main character and don't think boring (i.e. systemic) problems will affect us. I'm not going to die from COVID like the rest because I'm special -- I'll die in an important way when it's narratively convenient, not like an extra killed off in act one to establish the stakes. Evil mega corps won't creep up on me, they'll introduce themselves spectacularly in a way that directly challenges me personally in a way that still allows me to defeat them and complete my hero's journey.
The thing is I just feel helpless to do much about it. I can shop locally, but that feels pretty insignificant. Lately it's not even useful to vote any particular way (in the US), since it seems bigcorps have essentially captured both major parties.
We understand individual problems ("I have cancer", "I lost my job", "My car broke down") intuitively. Systemic problems (pandemics, climate change, capitalism) not so much. Plus we've spent over a century increasingly framing every systemic problem as an individual problem and training us to think only of individual solutions ("boycott Amazon", "buy organic", "take shorter showers" -- note how many of these are explicitly about individual consumption rather than active collaboration).
3 this year https://www.geekwire.com/2021/amazon-takes-3-golden-globes-i...
a few more in the past with Fleabag and others
You can get standalone Amazon Prime Video membership — buuut it's about the same price as complete Amazon Prime membership! So you might as well get the complete membership and get all the perks you might want in the future.
And bam, you're now in the Amazon Prime universe. One day you'll be comparison shopping for a specific pair of shoes you like online, and you'll see that Amazon has the lowest (or one of the lowest) prices plus free one- or two-day shipping, and hey, you've got that Prime membership from back when you wanted to watch Amazon Prime Video. Deal sealed.
It lowers the barriers for every Amazon Prime-connected entry point.