Eight dollar beers? Fuck you! I'll take two, please.

Last night, I went to the Flaming Lips and Matisyahu show at the Nokia Theatre in Dallas.  It's been a long, long time since I've been to a show like that, and going made me remember why.  It's music that I love (well, not Matisyahu, he sucks) but stripped of all its intimacy and emotion.  It's more like going to some Sunday morning TV mega-church rather than a rock show.

But that's rock corporate-ified. It's safe, air-conditioned and smoke-free, three things that don't seem to match when I want, more than anything else, authenticity.  The inauthentic may make MTV, but they rarely last. 

But, that's all beside the point.  The point?  Eight fucking dollars for a damn beer!  After paying 40 bucks for the ticket, they expect that much money from mostly 20-something year-olds, who, predominately aren't making enough money to not care?

And they do it because they can.  They price gouge for the same reason movie theaters do. The consumer, after walking through the door, has left their options at the door.  They pay the outrageous mark-up, have nothing or cheat and run the risk of getting kicked out.

But isn't that what we, as an industry, do for the most part?  Don't we, when faced with the option to build stronger relationships, tend to take advantage, just for some short-term gain?

My eight dollar bud light is no different than spam direct mail overflowing my inbox, or the telemarketer interrupting, or another billboard cluttering the landscape, the RIAA suing kids (who happen to be there customers) for ripping CD's, or any other tactic based on lining pockets rather than what's best for the customers, or at least some sort of reasonable balance between the two.

Too much of the advertising industry has become a pack of con-artists, like the movie theaters or the music industry, charging eight bucks for a beer or a pretzel, because that's what they think they can get, not because it's right or reasonable.

How about we take notice of how well that strategy's working out for them, and realize that we can do better.  Our customer's gain will ultimately lead to our own, so let's try acting with a little responsibility, and fight those who do their best to ruin what's left of our credibility.

As, a side note, after the big show, we went to a little one, featuring a band wearing speedos and kickin' fake German accents.  The Pabst was a dollar, the club was shitty, and we felt completely at home.  I'll take that over air-conditioning, curfews and asshole security any day.