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Time:
20:23 EST/01:23 GMT | News Source:
Engadget |
Posted By: Andre Da Costa |
Oh, how the mighty have fallen: Ben Curtis, famous just a few years ago as "Steven the Dell Dude," is now a waiter / bartender at Tortilla Flats in New York. Although the Steven ads were hugely popular and generated tons of buzz (and revenue) for Dell, the company eventually dropped the campaign after Ben got arrested for buying pot in 2003 -- shocking no one who actually watched the commercials, but apparently not the message Dell wanted to send the parents fronting the cash for all those machines.
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#1 By
2960 (72.196.195.185)
at
11/9/2007 12:40:48 AM
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It's amazing to me just how far we will let Political Correctness go to destroy a person in this country...
TL
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#2 By
32313 (208.131.186.18)
at
11/9/2007 7:11:07 AM
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Microsoft and Dell owe Ben a debt of gratitude for selling so many machines with Windows ME.
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#3 By
2960 (72.196.195.185)
at
11/9/2007 7:43:12 AM
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LOL!
What bites about this is Dell used this guy and his personna, knowing DAMNED well what it meant the whole time, and when it got a bit too real for them they stabbed him in the back. All for the sake of political correctness.
If they wanted to be so damned politcally correct they should have never used the series to begin with.
TL
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#4 By
52115 (66.181.69.250)
at
11/9/2007 7:56:39 AM
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Yeah, no kidding. Hire a "Jeff Spicoli" and then get shocked by what happened..
With the money the Dell Dude got for the commercials, he was just trying to buy some "awesome buds" compared to what he normally received..
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#5 By
23275 (216.231.166.194)
at
11/9/2007 9:33:03 AM
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Man... that is bad.
I thought that kid was funny. Seemed like a nice young man.
All kids make mistakes and Dell could have and should have helped him and stood by him. Instead they used him and dumped him. Back in the day [in my case that is a couple of decades before "the day" even started], there was one thing that was more different than most other things today... no one "rode" young people. You let them be young and when they acted young, you smiled - remembering when you were young and knew less. Point is, you didn't over react to the slightest little thing and kids eased into adulthood - knowing it was going to be much harder than being, well... a kid. Simply stated, when a young person acts like young people do - the adults do not - they act like adults and they keep their composure. The more wild they get, the more calm the adult becomes.... or should.
Today, it seems, people jump and they ride kids - expectations are insane - leaving too little time for young people to be young. When this young man got into trouble, they should have stayed right there with him and helped him out and helped him understand how harmful any drug can be - even those we call medicine.
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#6 By
1896 (68.153.171.248)
at
11/9/2007 9:49:30 AM
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Wow! I cannot beleive it! For once we all agree; this is amazing!
Btw Iketchum, as sad as it is nowadays we live in a jungle; corporations exploit everybody, young, old and whoever is in the middle.
Few years ago a person made a statement that I never forgot, and I still apply:
"When your business is growing and profits are at an all time high go to the bank and obtain a line of credit; get approved for as much as you can and keep it there to be used if and when you could need.
Do not go to the bank when you need it because they will drop you off."
Very sad but very true.
This post was edited by Fritzly on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 09:50.
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#7 By
2960 (72.196.195.185)
at
11/9/2007 3:22:02 PM
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Lloyd,
Your post reminds me of those infuriating stories you read of 8 year old girls getting permanently thrown out of school because their Mom packed a plastic knife in with their lunch, and you have to listen to the school buearocrats continually quote their "No Tolerance" policies as the supporting reason.
"No Tolerance" is exactly what got us into this position.
TL
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#8 By
20505 (216.102.144.11)
at
11/10/2007 12:01:51 AM
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Just a thought.
In LA the home to the rich, not so rich and mostly quasi-famous, these washed out and wanna be stars wait tables. This guy's no different. Schlepping for a living.
Believe it or not I prefer dumpy deli waitresses to these hard working men and women that read the daily specials "with feeling".
Amazing thing; the really good restaurants don't hire them unless they're schtooping the maitre d'.
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#9 By
23275 (71.12.191.230)
at
11/10/2007 10:31:44 PM
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#7, So true, TL.
Shoot, we literally used to carry weapons to and from school We all hunted on our way to school and on our way home. No one and I mean no one - not once, ever handled a weapon with anything other than great care and respect. We loaded and re-loaded our own ammunition, and that alone was a right of passage - a boy was never seen as a man until he could load his own and hunt for his food. The classrooms had gun racks in the back and boys would set their rifles and shotguns in them when they came to school. I used to set traps, too and check them on the way home. If you harvested game and depending upon what it was, it was a valid excuse to miss a day. Food was more important than lessons. Of course it was a different time, but the fact remains, we all "carried" and no one was getting shot, or injured in any way. I think a lot started to change when kids were placed under so much pressure that they never have a chance to learn to cope with it. It is a fact, guns do not kill. Society and people do.
Kids need room to grow. They have to be allowed to be kids and adults have to accept that being "grown" is something we don't get good at until we're at least middle aged. Any guy here 45+ will tell you the same - I swear, if we don't start easing up on these kids out here and let them have a little room, we're going to continue to see them end up in trouble. When I hire a new young engineer, we give them at least two years to build some skill and confidence before we even begin to task them. If we dump on them right away they just get lost and never gain the experience and confidence they need. I guess what I am saying is that we have to cut one another some slack.
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#10 By
23275 (71.12.191.230)
at
11/10/2007 10:31:56 PM
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de-dupe
This post was edited by lketchum on Saturday, November 10, 2007 at 22:34.
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#11 By
89249 (189.164.101.201)
at
11/12/2007 8:29:25 AM
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It wasn't policital correctness that ruined him. He had a job that put him in the public spotlight marketing computers to children and teenagers for a major company. He was utterly stupid to put that job in jeopardy by performing anything illegal. Again, let me restate, he did something illegal. It had nothing to do with policital correctness. It had everything to do with a guy who didn't think twice about his job as a spokesperson before doing something that would get him fired.
Don't get my wronng I have a big problem with the insanity that is policital correctness. But lets not use it as an excuse for some idiot making poor life decisions in relation to his occupation.
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#12 By
54556 (67.131.75.3)
at
11/12/2007 10:30:51 AM
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I agree MrHumpty. It also had nothing to do with exploitation. A company was simply forced to respond to protect its image; well within its rights and appropriate to protect its shareholder's interests. I can't help but image that Steven the Dell dude was amply compensated before he blew it. I'd also be amazed if there were not conditions in his contract concerning inappropriate or illegal acts on his part.
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