
Gerald Ratner's 'crap' comment haunts jewellery chain (1992) - tosh
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/22/gerald-ratner-jewellery-total-crap-1992-archive
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mytailorisrich
It's quite extraordinary that a company's boss would think it was a good idea
to say the following during a public speech at a conference of the Institute
of Directors:

"We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-
plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People
say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total
crap."

But what is also interesting is that his chain was selling very cheap
jewellery and that anyone sensible would indeed have understood and known that
they were selling 'crap'. Nevertheless they were successful until the boss
spilled the beans publicly. He probably thought he was just stating the
obvious that everyone knew in a humorous way... Yet that had a dramatic effect
on the business.

People may go buy crap but they don't want to be told that they do...

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benj111
This is pre internet, when people still had an expectation of privacy. By all
accounts it was a joke he had made many times before.

I find it interesting to compare with say Ryanair. Which in some ways has the
same approach to brutal honesty, and a seemingly similarly abrasive boss.
Ryanair seem to get away with it though, I suspect because we've become more
aware of how the sausage is made.

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mytailorisrich
> when people still had an expectation of privacy.

What expectation of privacy do you have during a public, filmed, speech?

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benj111
There wasn't an expectation that it would have gone up on the internet, shared
with millions, etc, etc, etc.

If I went to a wedding in the 90s I wouldn't have been surprised if it would
have been filmed, I would have been surprised if that video had been widely
shared. Today every man and his dog could potentially be filming and sharing
on facebook.

In short, privacy isnt (or wasn't) a binary choice between being completely
private and wide open to the public, and things tended to trend more to the
private, relative to today.

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mytailorisrich
Hmm, I don't agree with that.

It wasn't a random wedding. It was an important conference, professionally
filmed, and with the press in attendance, and of course what he said was
seized upon by the media as one could have foreseen.

I don't think he expected his speech to remain relatively confidential. I
think he somehow thought what he said was not a big deal.

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benj111
This comment is theoretically readable by billions of people, I'd be most
surprised, even if I made the most outrageous comment, that anything more than
a few down votes would occur.

No its not confidential, but its an after dinner speech. Such things generally
don't make headlines, or even get reported on at all. You're right in that I
don't think he thought it was a big deal, he had tailored the speed to a
certain demographic, but it didn't stay 'private' within that demographic as
he had expected.

