Home Politics & Debate
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

Homogenisation of everything

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I think the thread title might be crap... but forgive me! Aladdin sparked me off as I was having this discussion with my brother earlier.

Why do we let big companies getting away with giving us shit, and still paying through the nose for it? Look at a lot of films, we get a few good original ones, but all the producers pile their money into remake after remake because it's a guaranteed return. This means there is less money for new and interesting films, yet we still go to the cinema and pay the frankly now extortionate prices for often, very average movies.

Games are a subject close to my heart, and suffer a lot from the developer publisher peddling. Developers design the games, publisher / studio pays the bill and takes the profit. Many good games came out first, number 1. Then the game publisher gets a new contract with a cheaper and crappier game development team, to bang out tonnes of sequels. (EA are bad for this)

Anyone who played Bioshock knows about Bioware. They also dev'd KOTOR and Neverwinter Nights. Publisher Atari then gave both sequels over to Obsidian Entertainment, and though it's just about got there, both sequels have received notoriously bad press about how buggy they are and a complete anti climax compared to the originals.

It would be like JK Rowling writing her first book, taking a massive cut, then the publisher getting some mediocre writer to write the rest, comfortable in the knowledge that we are suckers whichever way you look at it, and will happily pay for the manufactured crap.

It's the same with food, McDonalds, Burger King, is much more popular than independent sandwich retailers. Big clothes brands again (having said that, I don't care about fashion so am very price concious and normally matalan are f*cking cheap - but that's ok if like me you don't care about quality and/or fashion :)).

Nearly all of our society has been taken over by brands and products where they have targets to increase profit margins each year, so we're either paying more or getting less or both.

My question (if you've made it this far), is why? We are the consumer, we have the purchasing decision, the money, the CEOs bonus in our pockets. If we are getting screwed (and it seems to me we are), why don't we tell them to shove it until they get their act cleaned up?

I'm not decrying all big brands across the globe, that would be childish and stupid. But a lot of the products we get and that are popular, are inferior and / or more costly, yet we choose them anyway. This sends the message that the consumer does not mind if we give them less value for money. I can cope with McDonalds, actually - it's convenient, so fair enough. But movies, games and what have you - these are big one time things, and I'd much rather see one truly epic film, than 50 cash cow sequels. Also, if we look at Nintendo, they've been flogging mario for over 10 years but he's still fresh, so it can be done, just a lot of the free money out there wants the biggest return (sequel is easy money) with the smallest investment (inferior dev teams etc.).

It's unfortunate too because as soon as something good comes out, it goes the same way almost invariably.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well i haven't been to the cinema since the last bond film, and the last game i bought was halflife so i guess you have the choice to spend money where you see the value. i'm not big on brand names but within reason i'll spend more for better quality.

    as for homogenisation on a wider scale it's very hard to escape it, one of the few reasons i go on holiday to remote places is to get away from it all. doesn't matter where you go you can't escape coca cola though lol, they even have their logo on the damn jeepneys and 3rd world shanty huts.
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    I think the main reason is the simple phrase: "That's what I know, that's what I trust".
    Many people (including myself in many, many cases) would much rather pick something that they already know, even if it's far from perfect, than something they don't and risk it being even worse, even if it could possibly be better.

    Look at the people who keep voting for the same people, not because they disagree with all others but out of habit, for example. It's the same principle.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well the Hollywood studio system has always been a film factory where the sole aim is to make the most money for as little output as possible. They used to own all the cinemas too, so no-one else got a look in. So don't underestimate these companies ability to make sure that we never actually get to sample any rival products. Would you open a fast food restaurant next to McDonalds?

    I think the internet has taken a huge amount of power away from the companies, and we're seeing the benefits of it in the music industry. Okay, not every indie band with a catchy song is going to be the next Radiohead, but it means that the charts are being dictated more and more by the fans. And so apart from the odd X Factor contestant or charity record, that means a reduction in shitty manufactured bands, and an increase in decent singer-songwriters and bands that if nothing else, at least write their own music. I expect the film and TV industries to go the same way sooner or later too. But for the record, I've barely been to the cinema since I finished my Film degree in 2005. My cinema is one of the ones that only ever shows the usual Hollywood crap.

    But I agree with Ingrid Cold. There's something comforting about knowing you can go into any McDonalds or Burger King in the country and know exactly what you're going to get.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's not a crap topic at all ...it's an important issue.
    When i was a kid my dad was a long distance trucker. School holidays i'd go with him ...all over the UK.
    A simple short journey ...manchester to liverpool ...they had different cafes ...different food.
    eVERY TOWN WAS UNIQUE. look AT IT NOW ...CLONE TOWNS.
    oops caps.
    It is sold to you as more choice. We may well have the choice in the supermarkets to have food from all over the planet but ...you have less life choices. You can't leave school and honestly believe you can open a hardware store ...fish mongers ...green grocers ...all taken i'm afraid by the clone brothers. Your choices have actualy gone.
    Every town has the clone brothers shop fronts ...every town is every other town. All the differences and choices ...gone.
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    Ingrid Cold.
    d...
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Welcome, in short, to Capitalism.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's all down to price. it's cheaper to produce more of the same thing, and people like to spend less money on things they know they like. Take alcohol for example. I remember 5 years ago, the only cider you could get really was Strongbow, Blackthorn, Scrumpy Jack and a few others. Now a load of smaller brewers have appeared and are making much nicer but more expensive cider (and no I don't mean Magners, ergh), same thing with beer. When enough people demand change, change happens, but only if it's profitable.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shall I mention Subway here?

    :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Good Points

    I agree with what you are saying, people need to think more about the choices they are making before that choice disappears.
Sign In or Register to comment.