Bezos buys naming rights for Seattle arena (Climate Pledge Arena)

uncannymanny

uncannymanny

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It’s a little silly, but I’m surprised at the reaction of someone using their money for possible good, however slim. Is the world better off with “Pacific Bank Arena” or whatever? It doesn’t cost anyone but Bezos money.
 
InstaFace

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Is there a more noble use of the naming rights opportunity, that was just sitting around waiting for the right nonprofit foundation to put money into it?

Like, if he'd just decided to call it Amazon Arena, nobody would bat an eye. But he's trying to use that same money to do something better than that. Why the hard eyerolls? Is it just because it's awkward and a non-traditional way to go about naming?
 
DJnVa

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InstaFace said:
Is there a more noble use of the naming rights opportunity, that was just sitting around waiting for the right nonprofit foundation to put money into it?

Like, if he'd just decided to call it Amazon Arena, nobody would bat an eye. But he's trying to use that same money to do something better than that. Why the hard eyerolls? Is it just because it's awkward and a non-traditional way to go about naming?
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Because it will accomplish nothing.
 
Bozo Texino

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InstaFace said:
Is there a more noble use of the naming rights opportunity, that was just sitting around waiting for the right nonprofit foundation to put money into it?

Like, if he'd just decided to call it Amazon Arena, nobody would bat an eye. But he's trying to use that same money to do something better than that. Why the hard eyerolls? Is it just because it's awkward and a non-traditional way to go about naming?
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Because Amazon - Prime, specifically - has been pretty goddamned awful for the environment.

Nobody is criticizing a carbon neutral arena - it's a great accomplishment I hope to see more of. We're criticizing Bezos patting himself on the back.
 
Oil Can Dan

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Bozo Texino said:
Because Amazon - Prime, specifically - has been pretty goddamned awful for the environment.

Nobody is criticizing a carbon neutral arena - it's a great accomplishment I hope to see more of. We're criticizing Bezos patting himself on the back.
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So what should he have done differently in order to not receive this criticism from you?
 
InstaFace

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DJnVa said:
Because it will accomplish nothing.
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Believing this would required believing that the entire non-digital marketing industry is also a farce, wouldn't it? Most brand-building activities (plus outdoor ads, newspaper and print, etc) can't be directly attributed to sales or consumer choice. You might be right, but there's a pretty big industry making money on the assumption that this sort of thing does accomplish something.

And yeah, extending the public transportation system to there would probably be a smart complementary move. I assume they're working on that, or at least, they ought to be.

edit: to be less of an uncalled-for asshole about it.
 
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FL4WL3SS

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Bozo Texino said:
Work better to address his company's carbon emissions and name the arena whatever he wants?
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There is an entire internal team that is invested in sustainable packaging and improving the footprint of online shopping and shipping. They recognize it's a problem and are spending money to fix it.

I've been very critical of this myself, but know for a fact that they are trying to fix it.
 
Toe Nash

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Domer said:
The only smart aspect of this is that your event tickets are valid as a transit pass
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That's great, but there won't be light rail to the arena until 2035 and there's thousands of parking spots in garages around.

That's the case with any arena and this one is better than most, but it's a huge blind spot for "climate awareness". Bezos would do better for the climate by hiring shuttles to run from key points to games. Maybe he will.
 
DJnVa

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InstaFace said:
You might be right, but there's a pretty big industry making money on the assumption that this sort of thing does accomplish something.
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Let's be clear---an environmentally friendly arena is awesome. The naming rights thing is stupid.

But as to what I quoted, I will admit it's Friday and I'm kind of half-assing it here--the fact that someone is willing to spend a lot of money on something does not, in of itself, mean it's worthwhile.
 
uncannymanny

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I’m curious: are there any studies of the detriment of something like Prime as compared to millions of people driving to stores to purchase the same goods, and those same retailers’ impact via trucking and shipping as well?
 
jercra

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uncannymanny said:
I’m curious: are there any studies of the detriment of something like Prime as compared to millions of people driving to stores to purchase the same goods, and those same retailers’ impact via trucking and shipping as well?
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Shhh... You'll ruin the narrative. Trucks don't bring things to target and Walmart and Costco where hundreds of thousands of cars handle the last mile. They're all carbon nuetral or have at least announced their plans to be so very soon. Oh, no, actually none of them have even addressed it.

Amazon is 100% committed to beating the Paris accord's requirements of being carbon nuetral by10 years. They're invested in and developing tens of thousands of electric delivery vehicles. They're trying harder than any company remotely their size to pay attention to the environment. I'll never understand the hate.

So Bezos, who doesn't need to spend the money at all, decides to spend millions on naming rights with his own money to raise awareness of climate change, run the only carbon nuetral arena in the country, not use any single use plastics, lose money on vending and gain nothing for himself and he's the asshole? If it was Prime arena there wouldn't even be a thread about it.
 
uncannymanny

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jercra said:
Shhh... You'll ruin the narrative. Trucks don't bring things to target and Walmart and Costco where hundreds of thousands of cars handle the last mile. They're all carbon nuetral or have at least announced their plans to be so very soon. Oh, no, actually none of them have even addressed it.
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I didn’t really ask rhetorically, but I (Prime junkie) do have this conversation almost monthly with my partner (environmental educator). I have my suspicions, which is why I asked, but I really would love data if it exists.

So Bezos, who doesn't need to spend the money at all, decides to spend millions on naming rights with his own money to raise awareness of climate change, run the only carbon nuetral arena in the country, not use any single use plastics, lose money on vending and gain nothing for himself and he's the asshole? If it was Prime arena there wouldn't even be a thread about it.
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100% this for sure, though. It’s not like he named it “The Amazon Prime Parquet at Climate Pledge Arena”.
 
FL4WL3SS

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jercra said:
Shhh... You'll ruin the narrative. Trucks don't bring things to target and Walmart and Costco where hundreds of thousands of cars handle the last mile. They're all carbon nuetral or have at least announced their plans to be so very soon. Oh, no, actually none of them have even addressed it.

Amazon is 100% committed to beating the Paris accord's requirements of being carbon nuetral by10 years. They're invested in and developing tens of thousands of electric delivery vehicles. They're trying harder than any company remotely their size to pay attention to the environment. I'll never understand the hate.

So Bezos, who doesn't need to spend the money at all, decides to spend millions on naming rights with his own money to raise awareness of climate change, run the only carbon nuetral arena in the country, not use any single use plastics, lose money on vending and gain nothing for himself and he's the asshole? If it was Prime arena there wouldn't even be a thread about it.
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Boom goes the dynamite
 
wade boggs chicken dinner

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uncannymanny said:
I’m curious: are there any studies of the detriment of something like Prime as compared to millions of people driving to stores to purchase the same goods, and those same retailers’ impact via trucking and shipping as well?
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Here's an article on it. You be the judge. https://therising.co/2019/07/19/amazon-prime-is-convenient-but-its-terrible-for-the-environment/

(I suspect that when you add the packaging, Amazon is terrible for the environment. And that's not even including returns. But I'm just guessing here.)
 
uncannymanny

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Not a very scientific or stats based look at this with lots of dubious (or should I say “dubbious”?) arguments with flimsy evidence (less than 6 stops? How many delivery vehicles does that actually cover?). The focus is Prime Day specifically and Amazon no longer offers overnight shipping.

The only real study in this link seems to suggest a positive impact. I don’t really think much of this article either way.
 
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