mijan | Entries tagged with livejournal

Please forgive the lack of an LJ-cut, but I want to get everyone's attention. I'm sure you know about this by now:
http://news.livejournal.com/102286.html
(Make sure you've read the article on LJ-news before you do anything else.) In response to the new Pepsi advertisements, V-gifts, and logos all over the place, in VIOLATION of LJ's customer contracts, I say we take a stand, and hit Six Apart where it counts.

I just got off the phone with Pepsi Customer Relations. I told them that Pepsi's corporate sponsorship of Six Apart might be a very bad publicity move. I explained that Six Apart had, over the past several months, created a couple of nasty customer service snafus, leading to horrible customer relations. I mentioned how the last time Six Apart and Livejournal irritated us, we did a bit of a census to see how many of us were angry (do you remember "fandom_counts"?), and we raised a count of over 30,000 people in just a few short days. That's power in numbers. As I continued to explain, I said that Six Apart is now violating customer contracts by placing advertisements on Paid Accounts, which is infuriating a lot of customers all over again. The advertisements they're using are Pepsi advertisements, which I'm certain hadn't been Pepsico's intent. I pointed out that I was sure Pepsi wouldn't want its own logo to be used in advertising that violated customer contracts. So, basically, we're getting spammed with Pepsi advertisements, which, if anything, is bad publicity for Pepsi, and could easily lead to people refusing to buy Pepsi products on principle. I didn't say that there was any boycott of any sort being discussed - however, I did say that it was enough to make me stop buyng Pepsi products, and it would probably have the same effect on other people as well. In other words, Pepsi's own advertising campaign could backfire and give them negative publicity if they continue with Six Apart.

Pepsi is a large enough corporation that they don't need the headache of dealing with a corporate cockroach like Six Apart. If Pepsi smells bad publicity, they'll bail. I'm NOT, repeat NOT doing this to hurt Pepsi. (If you call Pepsi, make sure you do it with full awareness that this is not Pepsi's fault.) Go into it attempting to persuade Pepsico to withdraw corporate sponsorship from Six Apart for their own corporate reputation.

So, in short, I suggested that it might bode well for Pepsi to get out of their corporate sponsorship deal with Six Apart as soon as possible.

Here's what I'm asking you to do:

CALL PEPSI. Tell them what's happening with Six Apart. Explain that 6A is violating customer contracts by placing Pepsi advertisements in paid accounts, and that customers of LiveJournal are angry - NOT at Pepsi, but at LiveJournal and Six Apart. Tell them that it will look bad for Pepsi to continue advertising with Six Apart, and that Pepsi should withdraw their corporate sponsorship for their own good. Again, don't be rude to the Pepsi people! They have nothing to do with Six Apart's stupidity, and they probably don't even know about this. Just pass on the information.

I didn't call the customer service line directly because I couldn't find it at first, but I got connected through the vendor's number. I think THIS is the Customer Service line: +1(800)433-2652
Or the basic phone number for the headquarters: +1(914)253-2000 That should connect you to anybody at the Headquarters, and I'd recommend this number most.

Here's the link to a page listing their entire roster of Corporate executives and offices:
http://www.pepsico.com/PEP_Company/OfficersDirectors/index.cfm

Here's their address:
Pepsi Customer Relations

Pepsico, Inc

700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577

(OMG...

evilimp, you and your friends from your college can go directly to the office! DO IT! Seriously, will you???)

Also, for the UK:
PepsiCo United Kingdom
    1600 Arlington Business Park
    Theale, Reading
    Berkshire, RG7 4SA UK

44-118-930-6666

Salman Amin
President

And most importantly... TELL YOUR F-LIST! Feel free to copy/paste all of this information. Pass it on. Flood Pepsi with phone calls. Hit Six Apart where it hurts the most. Six Apart wants to piss off their original source of income - their paying customers - so we'll remove their shiny new source of income. Come on, we're fandom. We can do anything. Who's with me?

Current Mood: devious

I originally posted this as a comment in

emmagrant01's journal, but

fiona_fawkes, told me that it should be a post of its ownand I think she may be right. So, here it is - my essential thoughts on this whole LJ/6A thing, stripped to the bare bones, and thrown to the center of the village green for your amusement, mocking, or even sincere consideration. (Note that I am editing this slightly as I go, as I discuss things with people, and listen to very good opinions and thoughts from fellow fandomers.) You don't have to agree with me. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, ever. However, remember, at the core of all this... the community of fandom is a family to me. We may argue, bicker, spork, cat-fight, bitch-slap, and even throw hissy-fits at each other, but in the end, I still consider you all family. In the end, I want to see the best for all of us. Because in the end... I think we all want the same thing: to write, draw, ship, slash, review, laugh, cry, and wank in peace, as one big creative, perverted community.
Enjoy:

There are so many things to say about the implosion of fandom on LJ, but sometimes, I wonder if everything has already been said, misinterpreted, re-stated, re-hashed, summarized poorly, CAPSLOCKED, diplomaticized (oooh, new word!), and eventually *headdesk-deleted*

There are harsh reactions from people, people who aren't thinking this through, people who are in a panic, people who are defiant, and people who are angry... some at the same things, some at different things, and some at each other.

Some people call it a customer service issue. Some people call it a moral issue. Some people call it censorship, while others call it bad business.

I call it a tangled mess, with so many knots tied by so many different people, all pulling at once, trying to untangle it, and only making the knots tighter.

I love my fandom. I've loved my fandom's LJ home in the past. I wish we'd listen to each other instead of screaming at each other. I wish we'd stand as a unified front instead of some people running off to the Attorney General while others go into lockdown while yet others abandon ship while yet others stand defiantly, saying "I dare you." But, as much as I would love for us to stand fully united, I know it won't happen. Each person is going to reach in their own way, and that's okay. One of the reason I love my fandom (and one of the reason it simultaneously drives me insane) is because we all ARE individuals. What you do... is up to you.

As for me... I already had JF and GJ accounts. It took me three minutes to get a blank IJ account, just to hold the spot. I'm not using them yet; they're just there, in case I need them later. Even if LJ!mijan is gone, it's not the end of the world, because JF!mijan, GJ!mijan, and IJ!mijan are all ready to go. I only friends-locked one post on LJ - the post at the top of my LJ that boldly linked all my fics, including NC-17. One of them was technically 7th year, and showed a 17-year old Harry in the middle of naught-naughty. However, the fic itself isn't locked, and I won't lock it. My art is still available, what little I've posted. I'm not leaving LJ until I decide that my friends are ALL elsewhere, or I get deleted, whichever comes first. However, I'm never giving LJ another cent, which explains why nobody got LJ-gifts for their birthdays from me. I have no love for LJ, I don't trust them as far as I could throw them, and they've repeatedly provem themselves to be complete idiots and asswipes. However, I will use and abuse their privilages until I've bled everything out of them that I want... which means, "until I feel a new home has been established for my slashy little family". As it seems that the community is reassembling over on InsaneJournal, I'll begin posting fic there, but I think I'll post it here, too... just to spite LJ. Why not, indeed? But I certainly won't remove what I've already built here. And what about those who have been removed? If ponderosa and elaboration end up in legal trouble because 6A actually reported them, which I hope never happens, I would be proud to stand beside them and back them up, if they would accept the show of support, because to me fandom is family and family stands by its own.

Aside from that, the best thing I can do is to keep talking to friends, keep reading fic, keep looking at art, be more faithful about reviewing and supporting my fellow fandom contributers, keep writing, keep drawing, and keep fandom going. Be ready to leave if we must, but don't run scared just because boogey-corporation said "boo!" If we leave, we've lost our LJ community anyway, so we might as well stick it out, keep doing what we're doing... just maybe be a *bit* smarter about it. I'll safeguard my real identity, but mijan is here to stay until they drag me out the figurative door and throw me to the curb, and I'll be damned if I'll change who and what I am for anyone, because if I do... I've lost anyway.

Anyone with me?

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: Fandom Land

There are many reasons to be irritated at Six Apart right now. The piss-poor customer relations. The unclear standards. The sudden deletions. The double standards that seem to be impacting fandom more than anyone else. The blanket label of "child pornography" in reference to art depicting Harry Potter at the age of 18 or higher, because Harry Potter is always a child, even though he was 38 at the end of the canon books and has fathered three children of his own. Yeaaaaaaaaaah. So, yes, there are many reasons why Six Apart is currently worthy of extreme bitch-slappery right now.

However, one thing pissed me off more than anything else, and on a deeply personal level. The people of Six Apart want to ban LJ users under the guise of child pornography accusations, on the premise that our fanart is harmful and subversive and horrible. However, somewhere in the middle of this stupid wank-fest, Six Apart is presented with the fact that there are pro-anorexia groups (not support groups for anorexic people trying to recover, but groups that actually treat anorexia like the best fad diet and a positive lifestyle) using LJ communities are their bases of operation. In response,

coffeechica simply states that they think those groups are fine, and that there's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin.

I don't think I have ever, EVER been more DISGUSTED by a blatant display of idiocy than this. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin, right? Oh, my dear, dear

carrie, you know not what you say. Or, at least, I HOPE you don't have a bloody clue as to the filthy can of worms you just opened. I really HOPE you don't know how ignorant and stupid you're being. Because if you actually have a clue as to the real nature of anorexia and other eating disorders, then you are lower than a foul, loathesome, evil little cockroach. Let me tell you a few things about eating disorders, seeing as it seems you can't tell the difference between a diet and a mental illness.

( Welcome to Anorexia 101... )

So,

carrie, is that what you want to support? Is that Six Apart's stand on eating disorders? There's nothing wrong with wanting to be thin, right? Even if young, impressionable teenage and pre-teen girls are reading this stuff and starving themselves when they've barely reached puberty? Even if these girls, after getting sucked in, aren't "good enough anorexics" and kill themselves out of sheer self-loathing? Or if they overdose on diet pills and suffer heart attacks at the age of sixteen?

You say you want to snuff out child pornography to "protect the children". Do you know how many teenage girls develop eating disorders because of the pressures of society? Do you understand that by condoning and publicly stating your approval for these groups, more little girls will probably begin starving themselves? The pressures of society are already there. For many young girls, it might only take the smallest suggestion to tip them over the edge. After that, it's a long, dark slide to the bottom of a horrible fate, and not everybody manages to climb back out.

Maybe you should stop worrying about who Harry shags after he leaves Hogwarts (as an adult, might I add), and start worrying about what will happen when people see your thoughts on horrible things like anorexia. It's not a joke. It's not a fad diet. It's a mental health crisis and a tragedy of society... and you're doing your part to make it worse. Congratuations, I hope you're proud of yourselves.

Current Mood: infuriated
Current Location: State of Fury