Would You Take Martin Shkreli's Business?

Perp Walk

So the most obvious story in marketing this week was the federal takedown of ex-pharma CEO Martin Shkreli. And while it's a little galling that he wasn't taken down for corporate malfeasance in his day job, but fraud against rich people in his side work, most folks are just happy that he might go away for 20 years, and resigned his post at Turing Pharmaceuticals. Proof of karma, right?

Well, maybe, but I'm not entirely convinced. Shkreli wasn't brought low by his poor public behavior or his ethically compromised behavior. Rather, he was taken down by garden variety criminal behavior (allegedly). His company wasn't punished in the marketplace until the actual handcuffs moment happened. (Oh, and props to the little weasel for being unshaven and in a hoodie when the perp walk happened. Way to look the part.)

But the real point of order here is that we had someone who seemingly did not have any public compunction about being vilified, or fear that he'd be brought low from the attention. Rather, Shkreli seemed to delight in trolling his detractors on social media, and to pour gasoline on the fire with conspicuous consumption decisions like buying a $2 million album, then making sure the world knew about it, and that he also had no immediate plans to listen to it.

Honestly, the entire episode seemed more like a calculated move, like a wrestling heel... but there was no crowd of people paying top dollar to see the villain get his. Instead, there was a kind of fame that seemed to appeal to the CEO, and while you can just brush this aside as the decisions of a lone psychopath, it's harder to claim single exception status in a world with other, well, reality television influenced careers.

Maybe this is just what happens when the top strata of society is made into its own social phenomenon, or what occurs in the all or nothing world that is created with swipe left / swipe right dichotomies. Perhaps it was t'was ever thus, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's pronouncement that the rich are different than you and I from "The Great Gatsby" is just made more obvious in a fragmented channel mix.

Or, perhaps, we're just beyond the ability to publicly shame any more, and the next Shkreli will be along any day now, either in his old consumer category or in another, because outrage is easy to generate and a reaction is what's needed now in marketing and advertising, even if most of the reaction is negative.

As a consultant, it's business that I want no part of, because I don't think it does well for your long-term business. Or your health, conscience, or soul.

But if the choice is stay in business without virtue, or feed your family with compromise?

No one ever said your professional choices would always be easy, or obvious...

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