Many aspects of life in America seem to be suffering from some form of rot. You can see it almost anywhere you look — promising Hollywood movies are getting shelved for no real reason, planes seem to be on the verge of falling out of the sky whenever they take off and the new Major League Baseball (MLB) jerseys are of a comically low quality. These may feel like distinctly unrelated phenomena after a first read, but there is a common thread that links them all together. Much of this cultural degradation has been caused by executives of big companies such as Warner Brothers, Boeing and Fanatics — these executives are not particularly concerned with quality and seem far more worried about their company’s bottom line. While it is obviously an executive’s job to worry about their company’s profits, this concern should never come at the expense of creating an inferior product.
In November of last year, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced it would not be moving forward with the development of the film “Coyote vs. Acme.” The move allowed the studio to claim a $30 million tax break as it has struggled to deal with large debts in recent years. This is not the first time that WBD and its CEO David Zaslav made such a decision — the studio also elected to shelve other films, such as “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt.” All three of the films had completed shooting by the time WBD announced they would be shelved. Everyone who worked on those films has to accept that the public will never see the fruition of their work because a multibillion dollar studio wanted a tax break. Zaslav has been head of WBD since 2006 and his plans have been described as a way to “focus on making as much money as cheaply as possible.” He removed educational programs from Discovery and replaced them with reality TV shows, which are notoriously cheap to create and produce. This cycle of cost-cutting, which is especially apparent in the shift from educational to reality shows, only serves to make the average American consumer more docile and willing to accept less from our creative enterprises.
Perhaps no large American company has been under as much scrutiny recently as the aerospace giant Boeing. In January, a door blew out on a Boeing 737 operated by Alaska Air, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing. Last weekend, an engine cover fell off and hit the wing flap of a jet of the same model, this one operated by Southwest Airlines. In the wake of the crisis at Boeing, CEO Dave Calhoun announced he would be departing the company at the end of 2024, but not before receiving $45 million. Boeing has weathered a number of storms caused by several high-profile incidents in recent years, in large part due to its “cozy” relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For too long, Boeing has been able to skirt regulations and oversight from the FAA. A recent report concluded that “the FAA has enabled Boeing to cut corners and is continuing to enable this behavior.” Perhaps cutting these corners is saving Boeing some money, but it is endangering the lives of people who fly on their planes. This seems to be perfectly okay to those in charge of the company.
Additionally, many baseball fans and players have noticed the new MLB jerseys are slightly different compared to those of previous seasons — the new jerseys are produced by Fanatics and designed by Nike, and they have been plagued with problems. They look significantly worse than their predecessors. Many teams have shirts and pants in different shades of gray and players are sweating through the jerseys. Deliveries of alternate uniforms for teams have even been delayed. Despite the obvious drop in quality, Fanatics founder Michael Rubin believes the criticisms leveled against his company have been unfair. It is hard to see how the low quality is anyone’s fault other than his company’s. Fanatics is the entity that is actually in charge of creating the uniforms, but Rubin has refused to take any sort of accountability for creating a product that is obviously substandard. One MLB player said “they’re not bad jerseys. Just, in my opinion, they’re not big-league jerseys.” If players feel that way about the product Fanatics has put out, it is pretty clear that Rubin’s company has a serious problem on its hands, no matter how much he protests to the contrary.
Many pundits, especially in conservative media, have labeled “woke culture” and “diversity, equity and inclusion” as things that are ruining American culture. Perhaps they are right that American culture is declining, but they have completely misdiagnosed the symptoms. For too long, executives of huge corporations have prioritized their profits over creating goods and services that make this country a better place. You can see their work everywhere, from the movie theater to passenger safety or the baseball diamond. When it is clear that something can be better, we must demand that it should be.
Theodore Brita is a senior majoring in political science.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.