themortalitybook.tumblr.com

SALE OF A DEAD MAN

click this.

themortalitybook.tumblr.com

(the) mortalitybook click this #8

SALE OF A DEAD MAN Did you know Marilyn Monroe is on Twitter?

NO, REALLY, SHE IS. You can follow her here: https://twitter.com/#!/MarilynMonroe

See that blue check mark?

You know what that means– the account is verified.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!

themortalitybook.tumblr.com

If you do some hunting, you’ll find Authentic Brands Group behind all of this. They bought Marilyn Monroe’s identity for about $25 million this past year.

YES, THIS IS LEGAL. The “right of publicity,” which keeps people from doing this when you’re alive, goes away after you die. And now there’s a Twitter operating under Marilyn’s name, currently promoting the NBC show Smash while Authentic Brands Group signs marketing deals with companies like Dolce & Gabanna. Michael Jackson and Elvis are just two other examples of dead celebrities still tweeting away.

Entire business models have been created to make money off of this

principle. CMG Worldwide of Indiana’s sole purpose is to buy and sell dead people’s faces.

So what happens if CMG Worldwide buys you? How much would you

cost? What if you became a brand?

WHAT KIND OF MAKEUP WOULD YOU SELL?

Perhaps there are areas of progress where we should slow down a little and consider the world we’re building.

@ @ @

themortalitybook.tumblr.com

scroll further Authentic Brands Group’s site: http://www.authenticbrandsgroup.com/ CMG Worldwide’s site: http://www.cmgworldwide.com/ Who owns Einstein’s face? http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/who-owns-einsteins-face/237911/ images The screenshots used here are used in accordance with U.S. copyright law for fair use, as its purpose is to identify the Twitter profile in question for the purpose of the reader’s comprehension and to make a commentary on it. Neither I do not own any of the contents of the images in this “click this.”