Stargoat's Journal: Party of Moral Corruption

There is a party of moral corruption in the United States. It is beginning to prove a greater threat than any the American people have faced in the past. It is the Academy Awards.

A thirty second advertisement during the Academy Awards costs $1,503,100. A bushel of March corn costs as of this morning approximately $2.11. A bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds, with corn having about 1585 calories in a pound. This means that a thirty second advertisement at the Academy Awards is worth approximately 712,300 bushels of corn, or 39,888,800 pounds of corn. This comes out to 63,223,748,000 calories. This advertisement could feed 31,611,874 people in a single day (assuming a 2000 calorie diet), or 86,607 people over the course of a year. There are dozens of commercial advertisements during the Academy Awards.

Now add in the costs of dresses, tuxedos, transportation, hotel rooms, after show parties, and the cost of the production itself. The cost of this single act of celebrating entertainment comes out to more than a billion dollars. If all the money associated with the Academy Awards were instead used for a noble purpose, this act alone could feed all of Mexico's 103 million citizens. If all such award shows were used to feed the hungry, there would not be hunger left in the world.

Amen to that.

[DaytonCIM]

Well said... err-written.

Cool,

[Allen Zadr]

Now imagine how this pales next to congressional lobbying efforts. Worse, these people (Dems and Reps alike) are not pretty.

sadfasdf

[skratchpad]

If all such award shows were used to feed the hungry, there would not be hunger left in the world.

Ignoring:

+ the effect of the purchases on supply and demand
+ the fact that much of the world's impoverished are unreachable due to despotism and warfare (ref: Sudan, North Korea)
+ the cost of logistics planning and then the packaging, shipping, and distributing of such a massive amount of food
+ the impact on the overall economy of the donor nation (assuming, of course, the price of the event matches its commerc

Re:sadfasdf

[Stargoat]

- A great deal of grain is destroyed every year because of lack of supply. The impact would not be as great as it might initially appear. - Supply and demand would lower the cost of processed food on the open market, though admittedly, if Kim Jung Il wants his people to starve, they will. - Is already in place. Additionally, given the subsitution effect, an increase of corn in one area does not necessarily mean that the corn must move from one place to another. Admittedly though, it would require an expan

Re:sadfasdf

[peacefinder]

"+ the fact that much of the world's impoverished are unreachable due to despotism and warfare (ref: Sudan, North Korea)"

So they go to the back of the line. There's plenty to feed who are reachable.

Well, it might buy the corn

[sam_handelman]

But would it transport the corn to the hungry people?

Also, the "market" price of corn is mainly a reflection of the intensity of federal subsidies.

It's not as though 1.5 million $ worth of actual labor power go into that advert - the money isn't really "spent" when it lands in the academy awards coffers. It's just ones and zeroes zipping between computer banks in switzerland at this point. A tiny economic ripple with a huge shadow.

Anyway, sending in huge heaps of American agricultur