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The Economics of “Yuck”

For those who spend any part of their day thinking about the flip side of advocacy: badvocacy (i.e., when people detract against brands, issues or causes), or just enjoy deep thoughts (though not the Jack Handey kind from SNL-days-gone-by)… then you’ll want to read this bigger picture article in today’s New York Times when you get a chance.  How this is related to the Wife-Carrying World Championships in Sonkajarvi, Finland (pictured above) I’ll get to in a minute.  But I realize I’ve possibly set the bar too high on this one…

“Economists Dissect The ‘Yuck’ Factor” is about how repugnance–at least, how our national culture and the times we live in define what is and what isn’t perceived to be repugnant, how it’s different by country, and how it changes over time–affects decisions about what can be bought and sold.  Take a minute to read it if your first reaction is huh?

In plain English the article is about moral outrage and the trade-offs people are willing, or unwilling as the case may be, to make.  The PR corollary is the snowballing backlash that’s fueled when something crosses the line.  It can be quotidian, such as a YouTube video of a cable technician asleep on a customer’s couch from having tried to get through to headquarters.  It can be nationalistic, such as the refusal to serve “French” fries in the Congressional dining room.  It can be life-and-death, when a disastrous accident occurs for a company and loved ones don’t get the information they need.  Whatever form it takes, the resulting badvocacy from moral outrage moves fast, far and wide.  Reputation recovery is often a steep uphill climb.

At a time when companies are increasingly “putting their values out there” by making how they behave, not just what they do, a more public part of how they communicate and compete,  the article is a timely reminder.  Values are not necessarily universal and are subject to change over time with public sentiment, depending on which way the pendulum swings.  We’re entering new territory here — a very positive development in my view but bringing with it new uncertainties too.  This makes Leslie Gaines Ross’ new book 12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation a must read.

So where does that leave us with respect to the sport of Wife Carrying?  Repugnant or righteous?  Yessiree or yuck?  On this score, I’m happy to put my own values out there: for me neither the reward nor the quest.  In my household anyway, the economics are clearcut.