Bad idea: Michael Jackson memorial tickets will be free, adding to the chaos that was Jacko
While it sounds noble, giving away a very limited number of tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial on Tuesday is a bad business idea that will only make things worse, not better, for his millions of fans.
If you would like to register for free tickets to the memorial, here’s the website:
http://www.staplescenter.com/memorial.php
Your chances of winning a pair of tickets are better than your chances or winning Powerball – unless the entire world decides to register online.
Here’s what MJ’s handlers should have done:
They should have sold tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial, possibly for as little as $100 each. There are more than enough fans, well-heeled and on welfare, who would cough up the money for a chance to be a part of history. MJ’s handlers should have then arranged for exclusive broadcast rights to the entire service (which should be spectacular) and then arranged for a long procession through Southern California so that his many fans could camp out anywhere along Interstate 10 to pay their last respects. Finally, the handlers should make a deluxe DVD set of MJ’s memorial service (with extras and outtakes) and sell it to adoring fans worldwide.
Sound greedy? Perhaps, but consider this:
LAPD will have a monster day on their hands on Tuesday. It is unlikely that the Jacksons will pay a penny for any of the public services needed because of Tuesday’s spectacular show. Given that the State of California is on the verge of insolvency, creating a mob scene with a very limited number of free tickets is not going to sit well with the hundreds of thousands of other fans who did not get in. At least if the tickets were for purchase, most of those angry fans could be calmed by knowing that it was out of their price range.
To further infuriate fans, there will be no way – ever – to see what’s going on unless you are one of the lucky few who won tickets from the online drawing. Creating such anger by not reasonably satisfying public demand is the perfect way to have a riot and other problems on your hands. Denying the public a chance to see the King of Pop one last time is the perfect opportunity for violence that could parallel what happened at Watts or with the Rodney King beating. LAPD has to be worried; the situation on Tuesday looks like a tragedy waiting to happen and there is nothing they can do about it.
Just like Princess Diana’s handlers when she died, MJ’s handlers are truly being inconsiderate of the fans who want – and need – to pay their final respects. Mourners may have been tame and polite in London 12 years ago, but L.A. in 2009 is a different animal. For my own safety, I’m not sure it would be worth going to the service, even if I won tickets online.
But that’s show biz for you. You can’t keep everyone happy, and when you reach the stratosphere, like Michael Jackson has, there’s little need to keep anyone but yourself happy, unless you are forced into something by the long arm of the law.
You have to wonder why Los Angeles officials didn’t try to meet with the Jackson family to try to arrange something different. Or, maybe they did and the Jacksons said they didn’t care and were going to do things however they saw fit.
If I were the city of Los Angeles, I would bill the Jacksons directly for all services rendered that day. But that’s not going to happen. Michael Jackson is still controlling everything from the grave, including his own funeral.
No wonder he’s the King. Of Pop.
While it sounds noble, giving away a very limited number of tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial on Tuesday is a bad business idea that will only make things worse, not better, for his millions of fans.
If you would like to register for free tickets to the memorial, here’s the website:
http://www.staplescenter.com/memorial.php
Your chances of winning a pair of tickets are better than your chances or winning Powerball – unless the entire world decides to register online.
Here’s what MJ’s handlers should have done:
They should have sold tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial, possibly for as little as $100 each. There are more than enough fans, well-heeled and on welfare, who would cough up the money for a chance to be a part of history. MJ’s handlers should have then arranged for exclusive broadcast rights to the entire service (which should be spectacular) and then arranged for a long procession through Southern California so that his many fans could camp out anywhere along Interstate 10 to pay their last respects. Finally, the handlers should make a deluxe DVD set of MJ’s memorial service (with extras and outtakes) and sell it to adoring fans worldwide.
Sound greedy? Perhaps, but consider this:
LAPD will have a monster day on their hands on Tuesday. It is unlikely that the Jacksons will pay a penny for any of the public services needed because of Tuesday’s spectacular show. Given that the State of California is on the verge of insolvency, creating a mob scene with a very limited number of free tickets is not going to sit well with the hundreds of thousands of other fans who did not get in. At least if the tickets were for purchase, most of those angry fans could be calmed by knowing that it was out of their price range.
To further infuriate fans, there will be no way – ever – to see what’s going on unless you are one of the lucky few who won tickets from the online drawing. Creating such anger by not reasonably satisfying public demand is the perfect way to have a riot and other problems on your hands. Denying the public a chance to see the King of Pop one last time is the perfect opportunity for violence that could parallel what happened at Watts or with the Rodney King beating. LAPD has to be worried; the situation on Tuesday looks like a tragedy waiting to happen and there is nothing they can do about it.
Just like Princess Diana’s handlers when she died, MJ’s handlers are truly being inconsiderate of the fans who want – and need – to pay their final respects. Mourners may have been tame and polite in London 12 years ago, but L.A. in 2009 is a different animal. For my own safety, I’m not sure it would be worth going to the service, even if I won tickets online.
But that’s show biz for you. You can’t keep everyone happy, and when you reach the stratosphere, like Michael Jackson has, there’s little need to keep anyone but yourself happy, unless you are forced into something by the long arm of the law.
You have to wonder why Los Angeles officials didn’t try to meet with the Jackson family to try to arrange something different. Or, maybe they did and the Jacksons said they didn’t care and were going to do things however they saw fit.
If I were the city of Los Angeles, I would bill the Jacksons directly for all services rendered that day. But that’s not going to happen. Michael Jackson is still controlling everything from the grave, including his own funeral.
No wonder he’s the King. Of Pop.
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