T. Liam Vederman (Boston, MA)

The Return of the Truckies

In previous columns we chronicled the rise and fall of Truckies.com, a dot.com built to exploit the appeal of the once beloved toy automotive characters. The failure of that venture resulted in mass recriminations among those responsible, as well as their unfortunate investors. In this new millennium, however, a group of intrepid investors has formed with the intention of reviving the Truckies franchise. We recently had occasion to speak with T.R. Uckee about his vision for this new venture.

V: Why are you trying to revive the Truckies brand? Isn't it already a proven non-starter?

T.R. We believe that there is great hidden value in the Truckies brand and that with proper management; the franchise can be grown into an exceeding profitable venture.

V: What possible value could there be in talking toy cars?

T.R: The value comes not so much from the Truckies themselves but from the ownership of the copyrights. You see, what's important in the media industry today is not artists, it is who owns the rights to the performances. Over the past few years laws have changed radically giving more power to the copyright holder. These changes include increasing the length of copyrights to ninety years and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which caused the shutdown of Napster and the closure of fan Web sites relating to 'Star Wars' and such. A new law that will be imposed soon will require that all computers and recording devices be monitored to prevent the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material.

V: These laws seem outrageously restrictive! How can they be imposed?

T.R. It's very simple. The benefit of these statutes to a few media corporations is very large while the negative effect to the vast majority of the population is small. Therefore the few corporations donate money to legislators and the laws get passed. Since each consumer is only hurt a little bit he has no inventive to organize opposition.

V: OK, You own the copyrights. What value do they have?

T.R.: The hidden value that owning the copyrights gives you is that you can plug the Truckie content, the likenesses, characters, storylines, etc., into a vertically distributed system, cross-market them, and maximize their value.

V: What do mean by a vertically integrated distribution system?

T.R. We envision a structure similar to AOL Time Warner in which Truckies content will be delivered via multiple streams, Web, TV, radio, and print media to an eagerly awaiting audience.

V: This plan seems rather ambitious for a product that in the past hasn't even been a narrow stream success.

T.R. It is a matter of necessity. You see, the media marketplace is consolidating at a rapid rate, Five corporations own the vast majority of the media outlets in the United States. These corporations have a competitive advantage because of their horizontal and vertical integration. In the case of AOL Time Warner for example, the main screen of the online service pitches TV shows and recording produced by other entities in the corporate family. It is necessary for all media producers to adopt this corporate structure or suffer dire consequences.

V: What are these dire consequences?

T.R. They will be shut out of the closed loop that the integrated media empires have created. By cross marketing simultaneously across all media outlets the diversified media corporation will be able to create popular culture. It will then be able to supply that popular culture with products from its divisions. For example AOL's online service has various sections geared toward various demographic groups, men, women, teens. In each of those forums, carefully interwoven with the general interest content, are promotions for products in the corporate portfolio. AOL can tell people what they want and then give it to them. No non-affiliated product will ever gain popularity because people will have no way of hearing about it.

V: Will it be possible to remain a small independent media outlet?

T.R. No, just as it was impossible to remain a small ironworks in 1870 after the invention of the Bessemer converter. That invention increased the efficiency of production and led to vastly larger plants and vertical integration. The old operators were put out of business because they could not produce steel at the cost that the modern operations could.

V: What is the success condition of this new Truckies venture?

T.R. People in today's postmodern society define themselves by their affinity to popular culture. When you are meet a new person you judge them on whether they listen to Brittany Spears or Alan Jackson. Once you own the media channels you can define popular culture. And once you control the copyright laws you can prevent anyone from usurping it. And once you have both of those you control the human mind itself! And our goal is grab a few of these minds for ourselves.

V: Readers may judge for themselves on the prospects of the new Truckies enterprise by viewing the Truckies latest Flash movie on vvoid.com.