[HN Gopher] The collapse of companies like SVB is triggering dem...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The collapse of companies like SVB is triggering demand for
       corporate merch
        
       Author : leotravis10
       Score  : 39 points
       Date   : 2023-03-21 21:52 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.modernretail.co)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.modernretail.co)
        
       | flappyeagle wrote:
       | For anyone who is confused or making up theories, cursed
       | corporate swag is a bit of a fashion trend
       | https://www.blackbirdspyplane.com/p/the-dark-allure-of-black...
        
       | colesantiago wrote:
       | I don't think there is a market for merchandise of bankrupt
       | crypto companies collapsing. They will be as worthless as the
       | fake crypto tokens they created.
       | 
       | I would expect though to see more bankrupt crypto companies and
       | this is the only way they will have to sell off their assets.
        
         | rx_tx wrote:
         | Well the article does mention FTX hats and bobbleheads, so the
         | highest profile crypto companies at least do have some
         | "valuable" swag.
        
           | colesantiago wrote:
           | > FTX hats and bobbleheads
           | 
           | hardly a collectors item, probably needs to be thrown away,
           | recycled or burned in shame.
        
             | samtho wrote:
             | People have a morbid fascination and collect infamous
             | mementos all the time.
        
             | [deleted]
        
       | JauntTrooper wrote:
       | I have an Enron-branded calculator.
       | 
       | It's one of those cheap ones companies used to give away at
       | convention booths.
       | 
       | I've always toyed with the idea of re-programming it so that the
       | math comes out all wrong. 2+2=7.
        
         | dpflan wrote:
         | Ha, yes, modding it would make it a more accurate
         | 'fraud'-ulator.
        
         | TylerE wrote:
         | If you want to be really evil make it mostly work right, and
         | only invoke the bogus logic of the 5th bit of the first
         | argument is set or something, so it fires maybe 1/10 Or 1/20
        
       | Krisjohn wrote:
       | Some of this is going into the background of interview videos to
       | back up the claims people make of having worked at places that no
       | longer exist and can't be verified.
        
         | synaesthesisx wrote:
         | This is what's currently happening with Twitter (since they
         | laid off the entirety of HR).
        
         | gnatman wrote:
         | Pretty funny if this is common practice!
        
       | paxys wrote:
       | Unofficial corporate swag is an entire industry in itself on
       | Etsy. I don't understand it, but then when it comes to fashion
       | who ever does?
        
       | kirykl wrote:
       | Can you keep the merch and sell an NFT for it?
        
       | _trampeltier wrote:
       | That's all nothing compared to the SKA/CS cap. They had been
       | already cult before CS colapsed. In the 80s, they had been
       | everywhere. Almost every person in Switzerland had one.
       | 
       | https://bellevue.nzz.ch/mode-beauty/stilkritik-cs-krise-eine...
        
       | te_chris wrote:
       | Ngl, was in SF at the weekend and got a pic outside a branch
       | downtown.
        
       | RyJones wrote:
       | I regret not holding on to my Sun Microsystems merch with both
       | hands.
        
         | zeruch wrote:
         | I still have some of mine (e.g. an original Java varsity
         | jacket). All in storage somewhere. I loved working there in the
         | 90s
        
       | pcurve wrote:
       | Had a friend of friend who worked at Enron.
       | 
       | Years ago, she showed me her Enron Beanie Baby corporate merch.
       | (Oh the irony..)
       | 
       | I wonder if she still has it. It's obscure enough that you can't
       | even find a photograph it online. I guess it might be worth a few
       | bucks these days.
        
       | nickfromseattle wrote:
       | It's true. After the Theranos scandal broke I bought a hat on
       | ebay.
       | 
       | It sits on my desk as a conversation starter.
        
       | user982 wrote:
       | Not how I expected that headline to end.
        
       | tennisflyi wrote:
       | Like you couldn't spin up the merch yourself if you really wanted
       | to. Obviously it wouldn't be authentic.
        
       | zer00eyz wrote:
       | Story time.
       | 
       | In 2001 when the bubble was bursting we had a business deal with
       | one of the trendy dot-com's. Because their office was across the
       | street from us we had a lot of in person meetings, and they
       | always had us come to their far more swanky office. Along with
       | free drinks and food we always left with the pile of merch they
       | shoved into our hands. It got to the point where my self and
       | several co-workers had boxes of their crap at our desk.
       | 
       | They were in a consultant role. They often told management nonuse
       | and made our lives hard on good day and miserable on a bad one.
       | To say we could not stand them would be an understatement.
       | 
       | Then it happened, the news came down that there would be a
       | massive layoff (ahh fucked company was great). I grabbed my perch
       | box, and a coworker and his merch box and dressed as many
       | homeless people as we could, head to toe in their gear and had
       | them sit out side their main office door. Folks were streaming
       | out of their office, boxes in hand with a bunch of homeless
       | people dressed in their march.
       | 
       | That line in the sand between funny and asshole, I laid down and
       | made a sand angel in it that day.
        
         | abuehrle wrote:
         | Because homeless people wearing their company's merch, in your
         | minds, would further degrade the company's image? Or something
         | else? I'm an anonymous internet stranger, but I invite you to
         | think about what you're actually saying, and whether it
         | reflects true views you wish to hold.
        
       | CPLX wrote:
       | About a year ago that guy Carlos Watson from Ozy reached out to
       | me cold and wanted to have coffee. I said sure why not then he
       | cancelled on me short notice. Then a month later that big story
       | came out. Then a day after that I went on their website and
       | bought an Ozy coffee mug, which is sitting on my desk as we
       | speak.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-03-21 23:00 UTC)