What the hell is going on here - Gibson destruction

Henrytwang

If they are indeed genuine Gibson guitars it goes some way to explain why they have to charge so much for those that they sell.

TeleMaster

Another PR coup for Gibson!

Bluebeard

The guy who posted the video talks about what is going on here:

The original video poster also has a couple of other videos relating to the tearing down of gibsons Memphis plant on his channel.

I know in the fashion industy some brands would rather destroy unsold stock rather than sell it cheap or give it away as poor people owning their product devalues the high end brand/image.

impmann

Best thing for them.

AlexO

Was a little bit disappointed that at the end of the video that it didn't cut to  Mark Agnesi driving it. 

OilCityPickups

Lebarque said:

What a horrendous waste of time, resources, materials, energy etc. in a era when we can't afford to. :0(

If that is a genuine video ... and I'm always a doubter on these things ... then it sickens me beyond disgust. When small manufacturers like myself save every scrap of waste copper wire to be recycled, use lead free solder so that heavy metals don't go back into the environment, cut plastic out of packaging, all stuff that I feel duty bound to do for the environment ... and big manufactures do this sort of crap. It's bad enough it happens with jeans and other fashion items ... but all that wood!!!!

zepp76

That video was sickening, it just proves how stupid some of the human race have become. The waste is beyond measure, all that hardware that could've been recycled. I have always been a fan of Gibson guitars but this has really turned my loyalty upside down.

Musicman20

What on earth do they need a tank for?!?! I mean c'mon...

Gibson really have gone from a super positive 2019 to an absolute mess. PR disaster.

I have two nice Gibsons. My friend loves a nice Thunderbird bass and owns one. We had a chat this weekend and he still can't believe they can't just reissue proper decent Gibson basses for a reasonable sum.

SteveRobinson

Phineas T Barnum: "There is no such thing as bad publicity"

Gibson: "Hold my beer..."
 

FelineGuitars

Gibson made a big deal of using the confiscated rosewood that CITIES took off them to make "Government green " guitars. They could have scored a massive win taking the usable components and making some juniors or melody makers and selling them with at least some kind of eco kudos......Go from a Firebird to a Phoenix sort of thing.
Also would have been a cool way to wave goodbye to Henry's era and usher in the new era under JC.

Kilgore

It's actually a very clever ad for Hiscox.

"Hiscox cases, because you never know what might happen"

MichaelWatts

Yeah, that's pretty offensive... 

Those were musical instruments, shit ones that should never have got onto the production line, but musical instruments nevertheless.

This doesn't really show that much has been learned at Gibson HQ. 

It's not the mistake, it's how you handle it. 

Philly_Q

It's hard to know what to say.  Even if those guitars "had" to be destroyed for commercial reasons, they should reduce them to their component parts, use anything that can be used elsewhere, recycle what can be recycled, responsibly dispose of whatever remains.

It's utterly crass to line up hundreds of perfectly functional guitars and drive over them with a tank.  It seems a bit like the mentality of those grinning idiots who publish photos of themselves with animals they've just shot.

RaymondLin

Bluebeard said:

The guy who posted the video talks about what is going on here:

The original video poster also has a couple of other videos relating to the tearing down of gibsons Memphis plant on his channel.

I know in the fashion industy some brands would rather destroy unsold stock rather than sell it cheap or give it away as poor people owning their product devalues the high end brand/image.

One of my clients is the HR director of Ralph Lauren UK, and in the HQ they sell last season line to the staff for £1 a piece.

Neil

It's normal practise in business to destroy stock, they can then write it off for its true value.

Giving away stuff that may still be on dealers walls for sale is not an option and selling stuff off cheap can devalue the brand.

Burberry destroyed over £28 million of goods last year.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44885983

It's just the way large brand businesses work.

OilCityPickups

Neil said:

It's normal practise in business to destroy stock, they can then write it off for its true value.

Giving away stuff that may still be on dealers walls for sale is not an option and selling stuff off cheap can devalue the brand.

Burberry destroyed over £28 million of goods last year.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44885983

It's just the way large brand businesses work.

Then it's about time they changed. We now live in a world with shrinking resources and popular opinion is not on the side of corporate juggernauts. I have loved every Gibson I've ever bought ... really, I think they have, or certainly used to have a real magic about them ... but personally I will never buy one new again after all the shenanigans of the past few years. There are smaller makes that treat both the customer, and if this is an indication, the environment better.

 

Whitecat

Philly_Q said:

It's hard to know what to say.  Even if those guitars "had" to be destroyed for commercial reasons, they should reduce them to their component parts, use anything that can be used elsewhere, recycle what can be recycled, responsibly dispose of whatever remains.

It's utterly crass to line up hundreds of perfectly functional guitars and drive over them with a tank.  It seems a bit like the mentality of those grinning idiots who publish photos of themselves with animals they've just shot.

The problem with this particular model is that virtually everything in it was proprietary to the point of ridiculousness. The parts were unlikely to be able to reused as guitar parts in anything that would sell. 

I am sure the scrapyard would have separated the metal from the wood etc after the fact for more base-level recycling. 

Anyway, it is crass, but it’s not as uncommon as we want to believe based on how the tax system works... I suspect this video was not meant to get out either. 

RaymondLin

Well, you can't say Gibson not trying something new!

RichardT

"It's just the way large brand businesses work. " Do they all turn the process into a fatuous, embarrassingly inefficient spectator sport? btw, Peavey are currently selling off huge stocks of forgotten warehoused NOS guitar components, necks, bodies etc. dating back to the '70s. Build your own T-60 (barring a few bits of unobtanium).

Corrupt, contemptuous corporate culture.

Whitecat

RichardT said:

"It's just the way large brand businesses work. " Do they all turn the process into a fatuous, embarrassingly inefficient spectator sport? btw, Peavey are currently selling off huge stocks of forgotten warehoused NOS guitar components, necks, bodies etc. dating back to the '70s. Build your own T-60 (barring a few bits of unobtanium).

Corrupt, contemptuous corporate culture.

Welcome to late-stage capitalism. Buy something or we’re all f*cked!