Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Real Uncle Sam?

I am sitting (yes, sitting) at Sam's Club, the epicenter of commercialization and corporate success, waiting for tires to be installed on my car. It's quite possibly America's truest symbol of personal excess but not in the Beverly Hills sort of excess. The whole concept is based on numbers, weight and size. It's the excess of sheer volume. Everything in large quantities and cheap. Well, almost everything. As soon as they offer large quantities of cheap consulting, I'll start to worry.

I stand corrected. I just got handed a pamphlet and I guess they do. Apparently they also read minds for free.

It's not that I have a problem with commercialization, it pays my bills and saves me money. Which is why I am at Sam's.

I am in the business of commercializing ideas, products and thoughts. Sort of. Most call it marketing. Marketing creates action and motivation. It creates the "want" in all of us. You want to buy what we're selling you. It's sounds dirty but it really is a necessity. Without it, we would be much less aware. Let me explain.

We would be content but not satisfied. Things would be ok but not great. We wouldn't have words like luxury, gourmet or exquisite in our vocabulary. It enables old ideas to get a makeover and new ideas to get created. Commercialization plays a huge role in research and development. It is the engine that builds, creates, engineers or improves ideas. It really can be a beautiful thing.

And besides, what's the point in creating something if you can't sell it. I am pretty sure Sam Walton believed that. Oh, and make sure it's cheap too. That helps.