Within hours of the death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, people flocked to the stores, buying up every bit of Earnhardt merchandise they could get their hands on. Why? Many were devout Earnhardt fans, no doubt. Yet in the throngs who had come to buy mementos of their fallen hero, there were those who were seeking to cash in on the grief of the fans, buying up the merchandise and reselling it later.
Sure enough, Earnhardt memorabilia surfaced for sale in the days and weeks that followed. Online auction sites such as Ebay had record numbers of merchandise for sale. Even now as this article is being written, two weeks after Earnhardt's death, the site is displaying nearly fifty thousand items for sale. Most of what I saw were die-cast cars and Number Three Beanie Babies, but some reported seeing stuff go for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars, with reserve prices still not met.
The home shopping networks got in on the act too. While weeping crocodile tears, hosts peddled Earnhardt stuff at 900 to 1,000 dollars apiece. His widow, already dealing with the grief of his passing, had to file a lawsuit in order to stop autopsy photos from being published. Someone up in Pennsylvania stole a Coca Cola vending machine with Earnhart's likeness displayed on it. Our dear friends the tabloids were there to give us a look at the "AGONY OF EARNHARDT'S WIDOW." That sure was nice of them. Forget sex; death sells.
It's sickening, really. Take a family that is dealing with grief, and prey upon them, exploiting their misery for the gain of another. Prey upon devoted fans, who are also feeling grief, and take advantage of them as well.
The need for acceptance, love, safety, youth, sex, power-let's face it: if it exists, then you can bet on capitalism finding a way to exploit it. Sadly, this is also true for death.
Name: Jeff Name: the great OZ Name: cantankerous WW2 vet Name: zacman
Name: Shaun
Year: senior citizen
Major: english
Comments:
I'm willing to bet that the "Great Oz" is the same jackass who posted in Jeff's Earnhardt memorial article. God knows they've both got simple enough minds. Anyway, in response...it doesn't matter who people look up to, no one has a right to exploit a dead person's fan base. Sure it happens, and sure there are people who will do it, but it's no excuse.
Comments:
The previous post is the most mindless I have ever read on this site. You should be ashamed of yourself. It's quite clear to me that you have never even watched, let alone attended a Winston Cup Race. People really looked up to Dale Earnhardt (spell his name right, he's dead) because he was doing what they had dreamed of doing. Not only that, he was a human being, a son, a father, and a husband, someone capable of love. If that isn't a hero, I don't know what is. Your attitude makes me want to vomit.
Comments:
so what he was just a race car driver. i wish I had gone out and bought some of that merchandise to sell on e-bay myself. anyone, who is retarded enough to look up to false heros like race car drivers and most sports heros would surely pay 500$ for a t-shirt that may have been worn by earnhart pre-mordem. Some people just have too small of a mind.
Comments:
you damn commie! errrrrgh! (falls down stairs)
Comments:
and don't forget to check out nifty as shit productions new line of post mortem fun: princess di dashboard cozies, the complete vhs and dvd line of the natalie woods/frank sinatra sitcom 'different *strokes*', and the new dale earnhardt memorial cd, in which we take sad-sounding songs, change a couple of words and edit sounds of race cars over the music. word.