This? Is why you need writers.

[greenie_breizh]

First... AN family doctor? AN??? My English-as-a-Second-Language heart HURTS.

So yeah, this is actually from the AMPTP campaign to turn public opinion against the writers. I first read about it on wga_supporters, and by far the best response to the post is the one meyerlemon came up with:

The average working WGA writer
makes more than an[sic] Family Doctor
...that's why the AMPTP supports health care reform.

Way to turn it around, and in a very true way, unfortunately. It's not that the writers are privileged little bastards for trying to protect whatever few benefits they might have - it's that the majority of America should be on strike right now complaining about the way workers are treated in that country. What the writers are asking for is ridiculous in the grand scheme of things. And the fact that they might still be better off than other professions? Just says there's something frankly fucked up about the way America rewards its workers.


EDIT: About the ad itself - I don't know any of the numbers, but something important to keep in mind, especially when dealing with an industry such as Hollywood where inequalities are intensified: averages are easy to use but can be misleading. If you have one person earning $100 and another one earning $1,000,000 per year, the average earning per year of that group will be $50050, which... doesn't exactly represent very well the reality of the dude earning $100/year.

Comments

[queenspanky.livejournal.com]

Isn't that ad just begging to make someone mention the stars' inflated salaries? I mean, something like, 'the average television star makes more than the average hospital'? Or producers, for that matter. 'the average producer makes more than Ecuador's gross national product'. Do they really want to start making this about money? Wow, that's a stupid move. Really really stupid.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I know, when you think about the billions of dollars that are involved from the producers' standpoint, it's very close to offensive that they'd even go there and accuse the writers to make too much money. (The guy who posted about the original ad then created his own for the producers (http://community.livejournal.com/wga_supporters/166443.html), which is pretty much the idea you had. :)

But the unfortunate part is that it's the kind of campaign that might be successful because that's the preconception people have, y'know? And unfortunately it always seems easier to pit working class people against each other than get them to fight together against the people who own the whole fucking country and make sure they don't get paid a fair amount for their work. Argh.

[arcadiane.livejournal.com]

… an.
Isn't it weird to make that kind of mistake? You can barely pronounce it that way o.O;

Well anyway, that's just a ridiculous campaign. Still, I'm afraid it might work for some people.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I know, it's... just incredibly stupid. Like MOUNTAINS of incredibly stupid. Especially when you're fighting against WRITERS who surely are going to pick up on that sort of stuff. Clearly the AMPTP needs new PR people. How could they let that one slip?

I think it will definitely work for some people. Between the fact that 1) not everybody thinks of the issues surrounding the use of an average, 2) that reinforces the preconceptions most people have that writers make more money than they do so they should stop whining and go back to work and 3) it usually works better to pit workers against each other than ask them to think about all the ways in which the current system is screwing them over. :/ In conclusion: not feeling too optimistic.

[moimoietmoi.livejournal.com]

AN?! Omg, the abomination!