A New Career?

From time to time, I think all of us consider a new career; something that will offer us more opportunity to do the things we like, require us to spend less time doing things we find tedious, and (if at all possible) pay us more and allow us to retire sooner. In some cases, this might mean retraining to gain new skills and greater knowledge; in others, it might mean relocating to another city, another state, or even overseas, to a place where such a job might be available. Of course, for many of us these things aren’t practical, as we have become committed to relationships, property, investments, organizations, or lifestyles. In those cases, the ideal opportunity would be one that allowed you to remain living in your present community, continue with your existing lifestyle, and retain all of your current commitments without the need for change. And for that, it would be hard to improve on a career of getting paid not to do something…

A story on the Guardian (UK) website from last month tells the interesting story of Abercrombie and Fitch offering to pay money to a reality television star in return for his not wearing any of their products on camera. This might sound a bit odd, considering that most companies believe that having their logo featured in a television program without having to pay for having it there (the “placement fees” so beloved of Hollywood) is essentially free advertising, but it becomes a little cleared when you realize that the reality star in question is Michael Sorrentino – better known as The Situation, from MTV’s Jersey Shore. The show has been a huge hit for the former music television network, but it remains controversial in a number of dimensions, not least of which is the somewhat disreputable nature of its characters. Apparently, the company feels that having their brand associated with such individuals will not appeal to their customers, and may reflect negatively on their products themselves…

An interesting question in this case is whether or not the company is concerned about its customers thinking it is endorsing the program. The use of product placements (paying to have a character wear your clothing line or use your products on camera) is so well known these days that any time you see an identifiable brand on camera there is an assumption that the company that makes that product has paid to have it there. Just having a character who does not fit with your carefully-developed brand image become associated with your products would be bad enough, but if your core audience might actually be offended by that character, or turned off by the belief that you are paying to have that character use your products, then the threat becomes much greater – apparently to the point where you’d be willing to pay money to avoid such a problem…

I don’t know enough about fashion, marketing, or television ad placement to tell you if the offer from Abercrombie and Fitch makes sense or not – especially since the Guardian story doesn’t disclose the amount of the offer – but from Sorrentino’s point of view, it’s potentially a great new career possibility. Since he’s already being paid by MTV to play a character with exaggerated behavior patterns that apparently offend (or at least cause significant anxiety in) certain companies, there’s every reason to believe that he could earn a significant income just by avoiding products, services and even locations in return for money. It would take a certain amount of market research – and a reasonable understanding of how product placements and product endorsements actually work – but we have no reason to believe that Sorrentino does not have or could not acquire such knowledge, considering that he is already receiving money for endorsing a number of products that consider his association to be beneficial…

I doubt it’s the only time anyone has ever been paid not to use a given company’s products in public; it’s certainly not the only celebrity endorsement you’re likely to encounter. But I do wonder how many people have been paid to both use and avoid using consumer products at the same time. If nothing else, it’s certainly a career that pays more money for less work than any of us are ever likely to have…