GoldieBlox – Money for Nothin’ & Clicks for Free

According to this analysis by Chez Paznienza on The Daily Banter, toymaker GoldieBlox not only used copyright infringement as a marketing tool leading up to the 2013 holidays, but that same YouTube spot illegally using a song by The Beastie Boys was instrumental in their winning a $4 million dollar TV spot placement during tomorrow’s Super Bowl.  As Paznienza writes, “The Beastie Boys found out their music was being used against their wishes by GoldieBlox when the company initially submitted the ad to Intuit, which was running a contest to place the ad of a small business into 2014′s Super Bowl coverage. Let me say that again: Even though a new commercial would likely be shot, GoldieBlox submitted an ad made up entirely of ripped-off material that would potentially go out to 100-million people. Even Shia LaBeouf would think that was fucking insane. But even after GoldieBlox pulled the commercial and scrubbed it from YouTube, they remained in the contest; that never went away.”  Paznienza is wrong that the YouTube spot was made “entirely” of ripped-off material, but he’s right that the controversy over the ripping off generated buzz around GoldieBlox, which helped them win public votes in this contest for the Super Bowl ad.  Maybe if contest finalist Locally Laid had ripped off Prince’s “Darling Nikki” or something . . . but I’ll let that train of thought run down the tracks before I get in trouble.

In Episode Four of our new podcast “some tech thing” we talk a bit about this story, but not enough.  Given the amount of screaming people do on the subject of copyright trolls and so-called abusive takedowns (neither of which is either chronic or without remedy), not nearly enough screaming happens when people or companies purposely orchestrate a copyright controversy and leverage some artists’ brand as a springboard for a massive marketing blitz.  Not only should the Beastie Boys pursue their case vigorously against GoldieBlox, but the taxpayer should probably be reimbursed for wasting court time on this one.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it with bogus claims of “disruption.”  It’s the meaningless buzzword of our times. And while I’d like to applaud GoldieBlox’s founder Debbie Sterling’s goal to “disrupt the pink aisle” and get girls into science and engineering, I can’t possibly endorse her “disrupting” the rights of other entrepreneurs in order to gain market-share, all the while posing as the innocent little startup that could.  So, in response to GoldieBlox earning itself a free Super Bowl ad on the backs of creators (and in honor of Bard classmate Adam Yauch), I’m backing this project below. Check out Strawbees, an affordable, building toy that allows kids (and adults) to construct things out of scrap materials, namely straws.  Strawbees are unisex, cheap, not mass-produced by Chinese labor; and so far, they’re not marketed in a way that leaves the consumer feeling kinda slimy.

ADDENDUM:  See this story on The Trichordist.  Did GoldieBlox violate the rules of the contest when it submitted a spot to Intuit that contained infringing material?

some tech thing – episode four

stt4

some tech thing is a new weekly roundup of tech-related stories you might have missed or even wished you missed.  Co-hosted by David Newhoff and Sandy Davis.  Take a listen and let me/us know what you think.

In this episode:  Super Bowl stories: SodaStream & GoldieBlox; Strawbees, Prince sues fans, Bitcoin regulation

Tech 10 Outspend MPAA on Lobbying 30:1

I was recently on the lot at Warner Brothers in Burbank, and the movie studio has indeed undergone some major changes in response to threats from the Internet industry.  What used to be a marketing department has been transformed into a cubicle farm now known on the QT as the Department for Breaking the Internet.  Similarly, the building where writers once banged out classic screenplays is now the Division for Chilling Free Speech.  And while there is only speculation that file sharers are being abducted and tortured, I was pretty sure I heard screams when a door swung open on a soundstage claiming to be home to the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Meanwhile, back in reality . . .

You know how we still see headlines that tell us Hollywood and the Government are in cahoots to . . . (insert violation of civil liberty here)?  Well, you can feel secure calling bullshit on that premise at least insofar as lobbying dollars go because Hollywood is a penny-ante player in that game.  Despite the persistent notion that the almighty MPAA wields some unlimited lobbying budget with which it manhandles Washington, here’s the facts, Jack:  According to this report from Consumer Watchdog, 10 major tech firms spent $61.5 million on lobbying in 2013 with Google (who else?) leading that crowd with its own $14.06 million.  By contrast, the MPAA, whose budget comes from combined contributions from the major media companies, spent a little under $2.2 million in 2013 according to the Lobbying Disclosure site hosted by the US House of Representatives.  That’s a 30:1 ratio for the 10 firms v the MPAA, or a 7:1 ratio looking just at Google v the MPAA.

So, sure we can have a big ol’ national palaver about the influence of money in politics, but anyone who thinks big tech is the David to the media industry’s Goliath is just a sucker.  Meanwhile, like them or not, what major motion picture studios spend their money on is film and television production.  Protecting IP and fighting piracy is a pain the ass and an expense to protect investments. By contrast, the lobbying dollars spent by many of these technology companies are an investment in rewriting policy — copyrights, patents, privacy, etc.  — that could have a dramatic effect on their future growth.  This is one reason we’re not likely to see the MPAA ever compete on a level, lobbying playing field, even if they had the financial resources to do so.  At the same time, the major studios and networks combined employ more Americans than Google, and even all those jobs still don’t represent the majority of people who work in the motion picture industry.  So, really the whole narrative of Silicon Valley as underdog is multi-dimensionally false as well as insulting.