Style and Matter, Part 1

Followup to: Good > Evil

So I was watching this episode of Kitchen Nightmares on Hulu after I wrote about it, and it reminded me of the reasons I admire Gordon Ramsay. It also reminded me of Sudafed. 5 times. Not even in various ways, mind you–but the exact same dumbshit commercial 5 times in a row. Now, what do you think was the result?

1. I immediately went out and purchased Sudafed.
2. I immediately went out and purchased the cheaper, generic version conveniently placed next to Sudafed.
3. I left the site in frustration.

If you guessed #3, you’re right of course, but Hulu loses with all 3–because I left, and I’m a lot less likely to return knowing their service is meant to be endured rather than enjoyed. I left thinking, is this really the best they can do? Well, the short answer is yes, since “they” happens to be Hollywood, and their preconceptions are backwards and obsolete, but it got me thinking about The Dip, an awesome book by Seth Godin. It’s about the strategies of quitting and persisting, and gaining the awareness to do each effectively. Seth is a master of concision (the book is about 80 pages long), and provides a good summary in this passage:

The next time you catch yourself being average when you feel like quitting, realize that you have only two good choices: Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.

This got me thinking about other things: an idea I had for a website several months ago, why I quit, and why it was the right decision. I’ll write about that next.