Friday, September 24, 2021
Non-fungible non-products
Pat Foster's book on the Metropolitan was published in 1996. His daughter interviewed Evelyn Ay Sempier, who was Miss America 1954 and also the official Ambassador (heh) for the Metropolitan. She unveiled the Met at the Chicago Auto Show. In 1996 she was about 60. She died in 2008.
Transcribing the corporate part:
Transcribing the corporate part:
The relationship with Nash Motors was one of the finest relationships, and I've had a lot of commercial relationships in the 40 years since. I, as Miss America, was always treated very genuinely. I was not a 'product'. What allowed me to see much of America [she traveled 270,000 miles in that year] was Nash. If a community had a celebration and they could not afford the small price of bringing Miss America, Nash would say 'I will bring MIss America to your community', and they would pay the fee.I was not a product. Good companies recognized the difference back then. Cars and cans were products. Customers and employees were people. People are different. People have genes and souls. Small towns were also important enough and distinct enough to be worth paying for an appearance. Now we're all products. We're all fungible. We're all mass-produced and constantly inspected by online QC. We're instantly rejected if not 100.0000% compliant with all EPA and NSA and ISO and above all CDC standards. Footnote: Gracious and generous Evelyn is the exact opposite of another celebrity who was involved in Nash promotion at the same time. Baseball star Ted Williams received a sporty prototype of the Metro as part of a peculiarly misdirected contest. He hated the car and SOLD it to another rich asshole. Ted's arrogance was properly rewarded in an appropriately peculiar afterlife.
Labels: Alternate universe, Equipoise, skill-estate
¶ 11:47 PM
