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The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

arstechnica.com

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Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#21

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

fallous wrote: post #3
iamkonstantin wrote: post #2

It’s also kind of ironic - is Apple the first corporation to succeed in applying the “corporate cult” strategy to consumers at such a scale?

Not really. In the corporate realm there was the well-known phrase "no one ever got fired by buying IBM." Such was the aura of IBM at the time.

And it was deliberately created - based on the concept of the "IBM way", staffed by (mostly) men who dressed a certain way and had certain attitudes, which distilled the essence of conformist corporate America.

There was even a company song book.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/tripp...

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#23

Post by bsenftner »

nonameiguess wrote: post #20
iamkonstantin wrote: post #2

It’s also kind of ironic - is Apple the first corporation to succeed in applying the “corporate cult” strategy to consumers at such a scale?

From watching Severance, the closest parallel to me for a company I ever actually worked for is Disney. Disneyland performer was one of my first jobs, and the orientation is a lot like Lumon's. Video history of the company's reach and achievements. Tremendence reverence for the founder. Disneyland has a statue of Walt holding hands with Mickey at the junction between Main Street and Fantasyland and Main Street itself…

Having worked on Disney Animation productions, you ought to meet these life long fanatics that actually manage to become Disney animators - their ultimate fantasy is realized, and then after a year or three the glow has dimmed, their figurines decorating their office acquire dust, and they become nonanimated, heads down, and just work, without the glow anymore. Disney corporate is rough.

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#24

Post by goldmaner »

comrade_dang wrote: post #13

The worst example of corporate cult I ever experienced was in Goldman Sachs. You were expected to know every partner's and every higher up's biography. It was absolutely insane.

Agree! Other strange things:

multiple people on team showcasing their bottle of anti-depressants on their office table, like a prize

everyone looks miserable, more than any other company i have seen

people unable to talk about their personal lives because they had none. "what did you I do this weekend? Not sure, just recuperating from last week."

No mission statement except money

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#25

Post by ghaff »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #21
fallous wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. In the corporate realm there was the well-known phrase "no one ever got fired by buying IBM." Such was the aura of IBM at the time.

And it was deliberately created - based on the concept of the "IBM way", staffed by (mostly) men who dressed a certain way and had certain attitudes, which distilled the essence of conformist corporate America. There was even a company song book. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/tripp...

In the computer industry, everyone (more or less) dressed in suits--though not necessarily white shirts--at industry trade shows. Then, one year at one of the big conferences, the IBM squad showed up in polo shirts and most companies more or less collectively decided that if IBM wasn't wearing suits any longer, they didn't have to either. This was around the time of "casual Fridays" and a general growth of casual business attire in companies more broadly.

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#26

Post by graemep »

yurishimo wrote: post #12
graemep wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At global scale, to such effect, probably. There are many businesses with cult following: sports "teams", car brands, etc. I know many people who buy the same marque of car for decades. There are huge numbers of people who are supporters of companies like Manchester United,which is a listed company again: https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/manu - and for many it is part of their identity.

Is that really a problem if the companies are providing a service that consumers are happy with? Cars I think is actually a great example. Toyota (and Honda, though to a lesser extent) have a reputation for a reason. If they screw up too much, that goodwill is eroded. Volkswagen is perhaps the poster child for corporate fuckup-ery. Humans are at the end of the day all creatures of habit. This applies equally to purch…

That is a huge and complex matter for debate.

IMO it is one of many things that undermines the notion that we live in an economy that has efficient markets and is genuinely competitive.

> When applied to expensive consumer goods, brand loyalty makes sense. Why would I want to spend a year’s salary on an unproven product?

Except that the brands know this and know they can drop quality and it can take many years for it to damage sales, so strong brand loyalty actually undermines the incentives to sell a good product.

> . Toyota (and Honda, though to a lesser extent) have a reputation for a reason.

yes, and they probably deserve it, on the other hand every car brand has loyal customers, and so do many other brands, including lifestyle branding for cheap (but high margin!) products.

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#27

Post by SubGenius »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #22

These kinds of shows remind me a lot of The Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan - I am not a number!) which was very much ahead of its time.

There's an Iron Maiden song inspired by that show and features a voice clip from it. It's called The Prisoner.

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#28

Post by crazygringo »

thrance wrote: post #16
iamkonstantin wrote: post #2

It’s also kind of ironic - is Apple the first corporation to succeed in applying the “corporate cult” strategy to consumers at such a scale?

There's a case to be made for cigarette companies as well. People were known to never change who they bought their poison from, despite all of them providing the exact same product.

They're not the exact same product.

Different brands and versions of cigarettes can taste very different. And of course they look very different too. Different lengths as well.

There are certainly brand connotations as well, but once you find the cigarette you like best, why would you change? It's not like a dozen new competitors with better flavor are coming out each year. You stick with the one you like best because it continues to be the one you like best. Zero cult explanation needed.

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#29

Post by fmbb »

dbspin wrote: post #7
defrost wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scale changes as population grows and usage deepens. At "Apple scale"? You can make that case, sure. But the first? IBM was a cult to it's customers back in the day " Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM ", etc. Other earlier brands had their dedicated followers.

That was B2B - it was a golf course brag for executives. Customers camping outside Apple stores was something different. That's personal identity defined by not merely consumption, but parasocial relationship to a brand.

Isn’t that just because apple was the first computer brand people liked?

Surely there were other product launches people queued for before?

People queue for films and sneakers and consoles and graphics cards and cars. I’m sure freaks queue for CPU architecture launches.

Re: The Severance writer and cast on corporate cults, sci-fi, and more

#30

Post by JKCalhoun »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #22

These kinds of shows remind me a lot of The Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan - I am not a number!) which was very much ahead of its time.

I think that's an apt comparison. And, perhaps like The Prisoner, there may not really ben an "answer" that is revealed in the end.

I somewhat worry that the show is all atmosphere, no story. Like, is the writer really winging it at this point? We've certainly seen enough shows where that was the case. Premise with no payoff.

But perhaps I should just give up looking for various threads to be tied up — even stop looking for clear metaphors and just enjoy the ... vibe?

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