Gibson... again...

[Tommy V]

in order to write them off as a loss, they have to be destroyed, and there has to be proof of their destruction.. the videos were the required proof of destruction.

no publicity stunts.. no russian collusion.. no ancient aliens.. and no grassy knoll.. although, any those would have made for a better conspiracy theory.

 

[Charlzm]

Gibson. Huh. Never had one, never wanted one. This video hasn't moved the needle.

 

[foolforthecity]

Oh, Gibson is getting some truly awesome press lately... The reactions to that employee made video are going to be the proverbial nail in the coffin of their corporate image.

It will mean nothing. An insignificant belch at best. The video is already on its way deep into the quagmire of Internet ADHD and will be old history a week from now.

 

[giacomobass]

Was that an official Gibson video?

No. It was shot by an employee or contractor in charge of the now dismantled Memphis facility who subsequently posted it on his personal YouTube channel. If I understood what he says in the phone interview (in the second video in this thread), the company made him film the destruction of those guitars for internal documentation purposes, but no one asked him to sign an NDA.

 

[giacomobass]

Obviously somebody in Gibson thought doing what they did would make for “good story” with the press.

I don't believe that video was ever meant to be published. To think it would have a positive effect on the corporate image would have been a huge misjudgment.

 

[giacomobass]

It will mean nothing. An insignificant belch at best. The video is already on its way deep into the quagmire of Internet ADHD and will be old history a week from now.

I'll mark your words.

 

[foolforthecity]

I'll mark your words.

You do that. I’ll be waiting.

 

[Yango]

You know what would have been a classy move? Contact their current list of Gibson owners, and say “hey, if you want, we’ll give you a free guitar, absolutely no warranty or guarantee. All you pay is the shipping. Do you want one?”

Their customers would be ecstatic, and would be praising Gibson to the Heavens, and it would cost them almost nothing to do—a bit of time, and someone to prepare the guitars for shipping, that’s it.

Instead, they get “who are these friggin’ morons at Gibson???” Bad press all around.

 

[40Hz]

I don't believe that video was ever meant to be published. To think it would have a positive effect on the corporate image would have been a huge misjudgment.

Yeah. I got the feeling somebody might have had an agenda with that one. But after me publicly and wrongly lambasting Mark Agnesi for the last one, and then Gibson letting him take days worth of personal heat for it without saying a word in his defense, I don't know what to expect from one of my favorite brands anymore.

Gibson really needs to do a better job getting out in front of these things

 

[JimmyM]

Yeah. I got the feeling somebody might have had an agenda for that one. But after me publicly and wrongly lambasting Mark Agnesi for that last one, and then Gibson letting him take days worth of personal heat for it without saying a word, I don't know what to expect from one of my favorite brands anymore.

Gibson really needs to do a better job getting out in front of these things

They're trying, but everyone ignores what they're saying about them and just cries that nobody gave them a free guitar.

 

[lz4005]

You know what would have been a classy move? Contact their current list of Gibson owners, and say “hey, if you want, we’ll give you a free guitar, absolutely no warranty or guarantee. All you pay is the shipping. Do you want one?”

Their customers would be ecstatic, and would be praising Gibson to the Heavens, and it would cost them almost nothing to do—a bit of time, and someone to prepare the guitars for shipping, that’s it.

Instead, they get “who are these friggin’ morons at Gibson???” Bad press all around.

You clearly don't understand the reputation of the Firebird X among guitar players.

 

[Nevada Pete]

Those guitars were written off. Not a bad idea to have evidence the items were destroyed. Personally I thought the video was hilarious and some of you guys need to lighten up. From the press release it seems to be some part of the electronics didn't meet ROHS. Without ROHS, you can't sell the items here or ship them anywhere else. Can't give them away either because they'd all end up on reverb as "new".

Okay, the guitars were regulated into destruction. Now it makes sense. Thanks.

 

[giacomobass]

in order to write them off as a loss, they have to be destroyed, and there has to be proof of their destruction.. the videos were the required proof of destruction.

Yes, that's how I understood it, too.

 

[ajkula66]

They're trying, but everyone ignores what they're saying about them and just cries that nobody gave them a free guitar.

I've been playing Gibson guitars since 1980 and I wouldn't take one of those for free.

 

[40Hz]

They're trying, but everyone ignores what they're saying about them and just cries that nobody gave them a free guitar.

That part I don’t get. Why people think they don’t have a reason or the perfect right as a business to trash their unsalable inventory is beyond my grasp.

My thing is I just thought it was a childish move to line em up and run em over. Doesn’t give me warm fuzzies about some of the mindset over there. Smacked a little too closely of something I could easily see Henry J doing. That kind of flamboyant crap was more his style.

But that’s me. Crabby sometimes.

 

[ajkula66]

That part I don’t get.

Smacked a little too closely of something I could easily see Henry J doing. That kind of flamboyant crap was more his style.

Au contraire, Henry J. didn't destroy anything which is one of the reason why the brand name sunk. I've seen at least a few Gibsons from this millennium that should've ended up under the crusher.

 

[gln1955]

That part I don’t get. Why people think they don’t have a reason or the perfect right as a bus to trash unsalable inventory is beyond my grasp.

My thing is I just thought it was a childish move to line em up and run em over. Doesn’t give me warm fuzzies about some of the mindset over there. Smacked a little too closely of something I could easily see Henry J doing. That kind of flamboyant crap was more his style.

But that’s me. Crabby sometimes.

That and not anticipating that someone present would think posting a video of hundreds of new guitars being smashed would be really cool. Seems like they are out of tounch with the Youtube, Facebook, etc culture.

 

[turcmic]

in order to write them off as a loss, they have to be destroyed, and there has to be proof of their destruction.. the videos were the required proof of destruction.

no publicity stunts.. no russian collusion.. no ancient aliens.. and no grassy knoll.. although, any those would have made for a better conspiracy theory.

Not accurate. There is no need to destroy inventory (and to film the destruction) to write them off. The books have to show the value of the inventory on the balance sheet, period, not the actual physical presence in the shop.

There are much better ways to get rid of inventory than using an excavator. BTW, I totally agree with you : there’s no conspiracy theory here. Just plain and stupid move by careless employees or sub-contractors.

 

[giacomobass]

That and not anticipating that someone present would think posting a video of hundreds of new guitars being smashed would be really cool. Seems like they are out of tounch with the Youtube, Facebook, etc culture.

Check the interview. He's not some teenage YouTuber who thought posting such a video would have been "cool".

 

[Alkali Ike]

“hey, if you want, we’ll give you a free guitar, absolutely no warranty or guarantee. All you pay is the shipping. Do you want one?”

Followed by dozens of videos and social media commentary bashing these stupid worthless "instruments" that Gibson gave away.