joint press release from Hustler and Girls Gone Wild<\/a>\u00a0quotes Larry Flynt as defending the bailout request as follows, “People are too depressed to be sexually active.\u00a0 This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex.”\u00a0 I should note that neither company is in jeopardy of collapsing.\u00a0 Instead, the press release says, “The $13 billion in industry is in no fear of collapse, but why take chances?”<\/p>\nIt’s an interesting scenario that raises a bigger question – which brands are deserving of bailouts when poor business practices lead to failure on a grand scale?\u00a0 What makes one brand deserving of being saved and another undeserving?<\/p>\n
In other words, what is the value of a brand not just to investors and consumers but to the larger world around it?\u00a0 Ford, Chevrolet and General Motors appear to be vital for the United States to continue operating (at least according to the government) and thus, those companies received a sizeable bailout.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I guess the question is this – is your brand valuable enough to be deserving of a bailout?\u00a0 On the other hand, should any brand be deserving of a bailout?\u00a0 That’s\u00a0a question that hits on branding, marketing, finance, ethics, and much more.\u00a0 What do you think?<\/p>\n
Image: <\/em>Flickr<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week, two of the best known brands in the pornography industry – Hustler and Girls Gone Wild, petitioned the U.S. government for a $5 billion bailout to reposition and rebuild both companies citing a\u00a022% loss in sales and rentals over the course of the prior year due to the increased availability of sexually explicit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1134,1135,340,1136,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-3421","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"tag-brand-assets","8":"tag-brand-bailout","9":"tag-brand-value","10":"tag-business-ethics","11":"tag-corporate-branding","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
Which Brands Deserve a Bailout - Ford, AIG, Hustler?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hustler and Girls Gone Wild ask the U.S. government for a $5 billion bailout.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Which Brands Deserve a Bailout - Ford, AIG, Hustler?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hustler and Girls Gone Wild ask the U.S. government for a $5 billion bailout.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Corporate Eye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/susangunelius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-09T06:48:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-17T18:40:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/larry_flint_hustler_club.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Gunelius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@susangunelius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lucynixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Gunelius\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Gunelius\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/a46ee0d1e91b41488959551cef624759\"},\"headline\":\"Which Brands Deserve a Bailout – Ford, AIG, Hustler?\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-09T06:48:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-17T18:40:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/\"},\"wordCount\":319,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/larry_flint_hustler_club.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"brand assets\",\"brand bailout\",\"brand value\",\"business ethics\",\"corporate branding\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Best Practices\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/which-brands-deserve-a-bailout-ford-aig-hustler\/\",\"name\":\"Which Brands Deserve a Bailout - 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This week, two of the best known brands in the pornography industry – Hustler and Girls Gone Wild, petitioned the U.S. government for a $5 billion bailout to reposition and rebuild both companies citing a\u00a022% loss in sales and rentals over the course of the prior year due to the increased availability of sexually explicit material on the Internet.\u00a0 As far as the two brand champions, Larry Flynt and Joe Francis, are concerned —\u00a0if banks and auto manufacturers could get bailouts, then why not companies that deal in pornography?<\/p>\n