Businesses with a cult of personality-like following

Started by Max Rockatansky, April 25, 2022, 06:26:14 PM

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Scott5114

Quote from: bing101 on April 26, 2022, 12:20:44 PM
Quote from: 1 on April 25, 2022, 06:28:23 PM
Tesla
Both Mac and Linux
Yes I can see how Linux is compared to a cult. But when I first used Linux the vibe I got was tribal over distros such as the Red Hat vs Arch vs debian comparisons. You get sucked into Tribal disputes over who is better.

Linux also isn't a business, so it doesn't really qualify for this thread.

Linux distros are a weird sort of thing, though. I use Fedora because it's the first one I tried that I liked enough to stick with, and that's what I got used to. Whenever I get new people set up on Linux, I use Fedora because I know how it works. My boss uses Ubuntu because it has a bigger install base, so he reasons it's easier to look up help on it. It is a perfectly fine distro, but it does some things arbitrarily different than what I'm used to (some of which are due to the underlying Debian architecture, some of which are just what I consider bizarre choices for default options). Is one really better than the other? Not really.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef


Scott5114

Quote from: thspfc on April 26, 2022, 05:14:59 PM
Anime. Some people don't know where anime stops and real life starts.

Anime is an art medium and not a business.

To qualify for this thread, the sentence "I got fired from [subject] today" needs to make sense.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on April 26, 2022, 09:38:12 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on April 26, 2022, 08:46:44 AM
Wawa
Sheetz

In fact, many places where coffee is involved tends to have their loyal cult followers, further evidenced by the companies mentioned upstream.

The sandwich following at Wawa is pervasive.  I was left so underwhelmed by an adequate sandwich given there was so much hype building up to trying one.  I would have swore that I had committed a mortal sin by voicing my opinion at work given the immediate backlash.

There's a lot of Wawa faithful that will criticize the Wawa hoagie, as they don't cut their own meats, dislike the "fresh backed bread", and the lack of meat on the sandwiches. Wawa did increase the amount of meat after a fairly substantial backlash, but we're still stuck with the rolls and pre-cut meat.

There's a few bakeries that make a majority of the rolls used in delis, pizzerias and reataurants in the greater Philly region that almost generates a cult-like following in itself, and people will gravitate to places that use their favorite rolls.

CoreySamson

H-E-B (I'd say probably the second most fanatical grocery store fanbase after Wegmans; it's pretty much Whataburger-level passion)
Krispy Kreme
Raising Cane's, to some extent (it seems to be becoming the new Chick-Fil-A around here)
Any Pappa's branded restaurants
Dr. Pepper

Honest question: is it better for businesses to have passionate fanbases, or is it not?
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Max Rockatansky

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 26, 2022, 06:49:15 PM
H-E-B (I'd say probably the second most fanatical grocery store fanbase after Wegmans; it's pretty much Whataburger-level passion)
Krispy Kreme
Raising Cane's, to some extent (it seems to be becoming the new Chick-Fil-A around here)
Any Pappa's branded restaurants
Dr. Pepper

Honest question: is it better for businesses to have passionate fanbases, or is it not?

It just leads to the Franchise Wars.  We all know who wins the Franchise Wars:



Be well CoreySamson.

Scott5114

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 26, 2022, 06:49:15 PM
Honest question: is it better for businesses to have passionate fanbases, or is it not?

It kind of depends on what the business does with it. I don't think there's much of a problem if you have a business like Raising Cane's or In-N-Out or whatever that just keeps churning out good product and making its customers happy the same as they've always done. On the other hand, it is a problem when you have a business like Apple that takes advantage of that fanbase by charging inflated prices, removing features, and making their products impossible to repair because they know there are people that will buy anything that has their logo on it.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

abefroman329


Dirt Roads

Where is the voice of Cincinnati? 

LaRosa's (their secret is provolone instead of mozzarella)
Skyline Chili
Kahn's (hot dogs and bratwurst, knockwurst and mettwurst sausages)
but more recently, the better brats/nocks/metts are QCS (Queen City Sausages)
Hudepohl

Max Rockatansky

#58
When Taco Bell took "cult of personality"  seriously:



I would totally follow Chairdog Gidget down the rabbit hole of Taco Communism.

Scott5114

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:05:15 PM
Churches.

Churches aren't–well, they're not supposed to be businesses, although some of them unfortunately really are.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

abefroman329

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 26, 2022, 08:36:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:05:15 PM
Churches.

Churches aren't–well, they're not supposed to be businesses, although some of them unfortunately really are.
Close to 100% of them have lay employees who are paid wages, right?

CoreySamson

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:40:12 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 26, 2022, 08:36:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:05:15 PM
Churches.

Churches aren't–well, they're not supposed to be businesses, although some of them unfortunately really are.
Close to 100% of them have lay employees who are paid wages, right?
But are they selling a product? You wouldn't call a school or a mosque a business, would you? I totally agree with Scott5114 here; lots of churches don't preach or practice Christian principles anymore.
Buc-ee's and QuikTrip fanboy. Clincher of FM roads. Proponent of the TX U-turn.

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Big John

^^ I would call the University of Phoenix a for-profit business.

Rothman

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 26, 2022, 11:00:13 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:40:12 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 26, 2022, 08:36:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:05:15 PM
Churches.

Churches aren't–well, they're not supposed to be businesses, although some of them unfortunately really are.
Close to 100% of them have lay employees who are paid wages, right?
But are they selling a product? You wouldn't call a school or a mosque a business, would you? I totally agree with Scott5114 here; lots of churches don't preach or practice Christian principles anymore.
Well, given lots of churches aren't Christian denominations to begin with...
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

KCRoadFan


webny99

Quote from: KCRoadFan on April 27, 2022, 08:46:10 AM
When I saw this, I thought of IKEA.

Ooh, that's a good one. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet (unless I missed it). Some people are convinced that IKEA is the best because of their rock bottom prices, but I'm not one of them. Sure, the price is great, but you have to build everything yourself and the quality isn't nearly as good as you'd find elsewhere. And chances are, you'll want to replace everything in five years, and 4 or 5 IKEA iterations of whatever you're installing end up being more expensive than one high-quality one that last 20-25 years.

abefroman329

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 26, 2022, 11:00:13 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:40:12 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 26, 2022, 08:36:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:05:15 PM
Churches.

Churches aren't–well, they're not supposed to be businesses, although some of them unfortunately really are.
Close to 100% of them have lay employees who are paid wages, right?
But are they selling a product? You wouldn't call a school or a mosque a business, would you? I totally agree with Scott5114 here; lots of churches don't preach or practice Christian principles anymore.
Of course they're selling a product: Salvation.  In fact, the farther they get from preaching or practicing Christian principles, the more they resemble a business.

abefroman329

Also, granted, it just occurred to me, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned a MLM yet.

kphoger

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 27, 2022, 09:35:50 AM

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 26, 2022, 11:00:13 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:40:12 PM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 26, 2022, 08:36:20 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 26, 2022, 08:05:15 PM
Churches.

Churches aren't–well, they're not supposed to be businesses, although some of them unfortunately really are.

Close to 100% of them have lay employees who are paid wages, right?

But are they selling a product? You wouldn't call a school or a mosque a business, would you? I totally agree with Scott5114 here; lots of churches don't preach or practice Christian principles anymore.

Of course they're selling a product: Salvation.  In fact, the farther they get from preaching or practicing Christian principles, the more they resemble a business.

Actually, I look at this from a different perspective.

My dad's a Christian pastor–well, he was before he retired, anyway–which means I grew up in church.

When I was in fourth grade, our congregation in suburban Chicago went bankrupt and closed, my dad asked for a call to the Kansas District (because both my parents still had family in Johnson County), and we moved to western Kansas.  There, he served two congregations–one in town and one eight miles out in the country;  the country church burned to the ground one Sunday due to old electrical wiring in the walls, and the two congregations merged into one–necessitating the construction of a new, larger sanctuary for the church in town.  While we were there, my parents considered moving but decided against it.

Then, after I had moved out and my one still-alive grandparent was getting up in age, my folks moved to Wichita to be closer to the family in KC.  It was from their Wichita congregation that my father retired.  Then there was an interim pastor, whom the congregation later called to full-time service.  Then there was a mini-scandal, that pastor suddenly left, and my father became the interim until a new full-time pastor was called.

In all of those situations (except the bankruptcy closure, of course), the congregation more-or-less kept plugging along–with choir rehearsal and trustee meetings and Sunday school and morning worship services and everything that makes church church–whether or not everyone particularly liked the pastor himself.  That is to say, the pastor was just one piece of the overall church 'puzzle';  one might complain about the pastor at the dinner table on Thursday evening, but that didn't mean one was ready to pack it up and jump over to a different congregation.  No, the church members were the church, just as much as the pastor was.

This is in contrast to the church environment in which I have been for the last fourteen years, which is more of a congregationalist model.  At my church, when a pastor left for a new city, a lot of the members left as well.  When our current pastor has made leadership decisions that a lot of members didn't agree with, quite a number of them have jumped ship.  And that's something that bothers me.  To me, the idea of leaving a church just because a certain pastor has left the church smacks of 'cult of personality', and it's never sat well with me.

So, in other words, the 'cult of personality' side of church doesn't actually have to do with money, or even doctrine, at all.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

roadman65

Wawa, Sheetz, Bucees, and possibly Quick Chek could be a cult following. :bigass:
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

CoreySamson

Quote from: kphoger on April 27, 2022, 10:29:53 AM

Actually, I look at this from a different perspective.

My dad's a Christian pastor–well, he was before he retired, anyway–which means I grew up in church.

When I was in fourth grade, our congregation in suburban Chicago went bankrupt and closed, my dad asked for a call to the Kansas District (because both my parents still had family in Johnson County), and we moved to western Kansas.  There, he served two congregations–one in town and one eight miles out in the country;  the country church burned to the ground one Sunday due to old electrical wiring in the walls, and the two congregations merged into one–necessitating the construction of a new, larger sanctuary for the church in town.  While we were there, my parents considered moving but decided against it.

Then, after I had moved out and my one still-alive grandparent was getting up in age, my folks moved to Wichita to be closer to the family in KC.  It was from their Wichita congregation that my father retired.  Then there was an interim pastor, whom the congregation later called to full-time service.  Then there was a mini-scandal, that pastor suddenly left, and my father became the interim until a new full-time pastor was called.

In all of those situations (except the bankruptcy closure, of course), the congregation more-or-less kept plugging along–with choir rehearsal and trustee meetings and Sunday school and morning worship services and everything that makes church church–whether or not everyone particularly liked the pastor himself.  That is to say, the pastor was just one piece of the overall church 'puzzle';  one might complain about the pastor at the dinner table on Thursday evening, but that didn't mean one was ready to pack it up and jump over to a different congregation.  No, the church members were the church, just as much as the pastor was.

This is in contrast to the church environment in which I have been for the last fourteen years, which is more of a congregationalist model.  At my church, when a pastor left for a new city, a lot of the members left as well.  When our current pastor has made leadership decisions that a lot of members didn't agree with, quite a number of them have jumped ship.  And that's something that bothers me.  To me, the idea of leaving a church just because a certain pastor has left the church smacks of 'cult of personality', and it's never sat well with me.

So, in other words, the 'cult of personality' side of church doesn't actually have to do with money, or even doctrine, at all.
^^^ Wholeheartedly agree. It seems to me that people constantly shift between churches that are trendy or say what they want to hear rather than stick with one; one that they can grow a tight relationship with. It sort of irritates me when established members of a congregation decide to join another, just as kphoger noted, but it's almost always due to the pastor's teachings or personality, not money or doctrine.

Re. selling salvation:

It makes sense that churches would want to "sell"  salvation. I pray that it doesn't come across to people that way, but Christians actually have a valid reason to spread it. Imagine a friend and I live in Chicago and we were both invited to a party in Seattle by a former friend of both of ours that we want to meet. We both have GPS's telling us how to get to Seattle (assuming we're not roadgeeks). Before the trip there, we talk about the routes we're using to get there. I know that I'm just going to travel I-90 west pretty much the entire way there, but when he speaks up, he says his route is going to be to take I-55 to I-44 to I-40 to I-15, and that he'll make it there. Now I know how much going to the party means to him; therefore, I would tell him that his route leads to Los Angeles and that he would miss the party in Seattle. To not at least tell him that his route leads him to LA wouldn't be very nice at best, deceptive at worst.

I believe Christians believe (or at least should believe) similar things about salvation. If I'd tell a friend that their directions to a party are wrong, shouldn't I also tell them about things that are much more important that I believe they're mistaken on? Of course I could be blatantly mistaken (that's a possibility in any worldview), but in reality there's not much to lose if I'm wrong. Either we end up in Seattle at the party we wanted to go to or we don't. Now, if someone trying to get to the party insists on going their way, I'm not going to stop them, but they might be surprised when they don't reach their destination...
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kphoger

Do political parties count as businesses?  I'm pretty sure that, if a Shetland pony ran on either the Democrat or Republican ticket, then only about 15% of voters would actually vote for the other candidate.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kphoger

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 27, 2022, 11:09:21 AM
Wholeheartedly agree. It seems to me that people constantly shift between churches that are trendy or say what they want to hear rather than stick with one; one that they can grow a tight relationship with. It sort of irritates me when established members of a congregation decide to join another, just as kphoger noted, but it's almost always due to the pastor's teachings or personality, not money or doctrine.

Of course, you just inadvertently distinguished 'teachings' from 'doctrine', which I'm not sure is a good distinction to make.

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 27, 2022, 11:09:21 AM
Re. selling salvation:

... Seattle ...

Wait, are you saying we go to Seattle when we die?  I thought it was Pittsburgh.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

CoreySamson

Quote from: kphoger on April 27, 2022, 11:19:25 AM
Quote from: CoreySamson on April 27, 2022, 11:09:21 AM
Wholeheartedly agree. It seems to me that people constantly shift between churches that are trendy or say what they want to hear rather than stick with one; one that they can grow a tight relationship with. It sort of irritates me when established members of a congregation decide to join another, just as kphoger noted, but it's almost always due to the pastor's teachings or personality, not money or doctrine.

Of course, you just inadvertently distinguished 'teachings' from 'doctrine', which I'm not sure is a good distinction to make.
I've heard of a pastor who deviated from Christian doctrine with his teachings so much that he lost over half of his congregation, so yes I did intentionally distinguish teaching from doctrine. Bad doctrine is of course bad, but bad teachings and good doctrine is just hypocritical, which people notice, and is probably even worse.
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Big John

Quote from: kphoger on April 27, 2022, 11:19:25 AM
Quote from: CoreySamson on April 27, 2022, 11:09:21 AM
Wholeheartedly agree. It seems to me that people constantly shift between churches that are trendy or say what they want to hear rather than stick with one; one that they can grow a tight relationship with. It sort of irritates me when established members of a congregation decide to join another, just as kphoger noted, but it's almost always due to the pastor's teachings or personality, not money or doctrine.

Of course, you just inadvertently distinguished 'teachings' from 'doctrine', which I'm not sure is a good distinction to make.

Quote from: CoreySamson on April 27, 2022, 11:09:21 AM
Re. selling salvation:

... Seattle ...

Wait, are you saying we go to Seattle when we die?  I thought it was Pittsburgh.
Tel, that to Angelo71.



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