America 1982-Chapter 264 - 4: The Real Commodity of BT Television

Thirty-nine-year-old Sean Lei dragged his somewhat bloated and overweight body to sit opposite Tommy, and the first thing he said after sitting down was:

"When Mr. Rick Russo got up to leave, I saw him make a gesture like he was wiping sweat, looking like he was in a bit of a hurry. Unlike him, I prefer to wipe my sweat first."

As he spoke, he amicably sized up Tommy with his somewhat murky eyes and said gently, "Usually when I deal with people, I hint subtly that I am severely overweight, so my heart and blood vessels have problems; I can’t be startled. This tactic works quite well; they treat me more gently and give me some... I see you’re not likely to be that kind of person, Mr. Hawk. After saying so much, you haven’t even prepared to hand me a tissue to wipe my sweat... I’m just joking."

Having said that, he took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead where there was actually no sweat.

"Rick was just not expecting our conversation about the programming direction to be so... comprehensive, covering entertainment, popular science, and humanitarian concerns. He always thought I was just an investor playing around with money for fun, so he was somewhat surprised to hear my specific thoughts on the program. That’s all," Tommy said with a smile, looking at the obese middle-aged man across from him:

"So, Sean, how many pounds do you weigh? Are you sure your heart and blood vessels have issues? Did you have a pre-employment health checkup?"

"Regarding my weight, are you asking about now or when I was working?" Sean asked as he put away his handkerchief, countering Tommy’s question.

Tommy was slightly startled and asked with some confusion, "Is there a difference?"

"There’s a bit of a difference. Right now, I’m around one hundred seventy pounds, which makes me moderately obese. But when I go out to deal with others, I wear clothes that make me look fatter, telling them I’m nearly two hundred pounds, definitely severely obese. In most people’s eyes, the fatter you are, the more harmless you seem, and you also appear more honest. Some meaner folks even think the fatter a person is, the slower their brain reacts. I like to be considered honest or slow-witted by them; it’s not a bad thing," Sean winked at Tommy and said, "Who would dislike a harmless, good-tempered fat guy?"

Tommy nodded in agreement:

"I have a friend named Jim who said something similar to you. That guy can actually get abs at any time, but he likes to keep himself looking like he has a belly. The most ridiculous part is that belly, along with his ugly face, apparently wins him quite a lot of female favor. In his words, when he’s all muscled up and wearing an Armani suit, combined with that ugly face, the girls think of him as a poor guy trying to trick them due to his lack of money. In reality, when he first started gaining weight, he was in a pitiable state, having neither the appearance of wealth befitting the weight nor the robustness he had when he maintained his abs, yet just by donning an Armani suit for show, girls believed he was a successful man, not lowly white trash."

"He’s just poor, not incompetent. Women aren’t idiots; a capable man wears the same clothes very differently from a useless one, even if they’re equally fat," Sean Lei said with a grin.

"Public relations is the same. You need to first be competent, and then appear likable, then others are willing to give you the opportunity to interact with them."

"When Mark told me he found a suitable Vice President of Public Relations for me, I had my doubts because he hadn’t been headhunting for long. Then I saw your profile; you’ve worked in PR for newspapers, magazines, television, and even served as the Public Relations Manager for Washington state’s Attorney General’s election campaign. Your last job was as the Vice President of Public Relations for Playboy Adult Television, overseeing media and public opinion. You successfully helped Playboy Adult Television overcome a major crisis, but after resolving the crisis, you resigned." Tommy picked up a cigar from the table, offered one to the other man, and started to share what he knew with a smile.

Sean accepted the cigar with thanks and then sniffed at it close to his nose: "Actually, there’s a follow-up. A year after I resigned, Playboy Adult Television also ceased operations, pretty much the same as closing up shop for good. So that can only count as a half-perfect PR stunt, a perfect example of failure. I’m not sure whether to consider it a stain or a highlight in my PR career."

"Do you mind talking about your last PR stunt at the previous job? It sounds intriguing." Tommy casual snipped off the cigar cap and engaged in light chat, "I’m curious about employees solving problems for the boss and then leaving the company."

Sean didn’t take the cigar cutter Tommy offered. Instead, he bit off the cap with his teeth roughly and swiftly and took the lighter to roast the cigar, saying:

"That’s a long enough story."

"No problem. You’ll get paid to tell a story here; you won’t be considered idle," Tommy said, looking straight at Sean with a smile.

"Playboy launched its adult television network in 1980, but the network wasn’t very appealing because it didn’t seem much different from the magazine. If viewers bought an issue of the magazine, there was certainly no need to pay extra for the TV channel. The same women, only now from photos to videos, written interviews became TV interviews... it was just a videotape version of Playboy. The ratings were so low that supposedly every time the boss Hugh Hefner had a meeting at the headquarters, he made the head of the television network shut up, not allowing any reporting of the ratings to prevent him from having a heart attack and dying at the conference table. He had to be encouraged and comforted by at least four bunny girls before he dared to open the TV data."