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by PragmaticPulp
1203 days ago
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Bad optics, but even if they could break the contract (which presumably includes work/performance already done) and reallocate the funds to save jobs they’d still be laying off about 7,950 people to reach budget parity. |
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Though I think there is something to be said about companies spending money imprudently. It's never just that they're giving McConaughey $10M/year. Often times there's a slew of vanity expenses that aren't justifiable. I'm not saying that's necessarily the case with Salesforce, but companies spend a lot of money on things that have dubious ROI.
For example, GE advertised their smart electric grid technology during the Super Bowl and licensed the Wizard of Oz for it. That's a lot of money for an ad with very dubious ROI. Who is buying smart electric grid technology? A very small handful of companies who are going to have a competitive bidding process and are already going to be aware of their options. What was the point of this commercial? To me, the most likely explanation is executive vanity. They want their friends and peers to be impressed by their company and by extension themselves. If they're working on something invisible and behind the scenes, they aren't going to get the same recognition and acclaim.
Companies sponsor sports stadiums and sometimes you can't even really buy their product. Highmark sponsors the Buffalo Bills stadium, but most people get their insurance via their employer and don't have a choice. Xcel Energy sponsors the NHL stadium of the Minnesota Wild and most of their business is as the monopoly electric/natural-gas transmission provider in the area. Are they trying to convince people "you don't want to live off the grid! Life is better with electricity and heating!" And yes, these companies do have some amount of business that is consumer choice, but given how much of their business has zero consumer decision-making, it seems like their ROI on advertising and sponsorships would be terribly low. Consumers do decide on many things - what soda brand to buy, what smartphone to use, what clothes to wear, what car insurance to get, etc. However, we see companies spending lots of money on things that have really dubious justification - beyond the vanity of executives.
I don't know much about Salesforce and what they're spending money on, but I do think there's a reasonable question of whether McConaughey's $10M is part of a larger trend of imprudent, potentially vanity-driven spending.