Saw this coming. Authors are finally auctioning off naming rights to characters in their novels. It didn’t sound so bad when I emailed Stephen King the idea back in 2000. When I posted about it in January (reLink) it still sounded okay. Kind of. But now that it’s being done, it sounds so… crass . At least this time it’s for a worthwhile cause. Next time I don’t think it will be.

Imagine Tolstoy or Hemingway auctioning off naming rights. Imagine instead of “Frankenstein”, we got “Blaupunkt”. Instead of “Willy Loman” we got local furniture sales success story “Mark Stephens”.

Here’s a new prediction: authors, artists and musicians will get wealthy sponsors just like in olden times. The rich will get the good stuff (including live concerts, which will soon be so expensive the average person can’t attend) and the commoners will get sloppy seconds. Hooray for piracy and the selfish mindset it promotes; it’s the grease that’s helping these gears grind up our culture still further.

Aren’t we all proud of where this is leading us.

via Boing Boing