The “George Santosing of America”

Introduction: The George Santos Story IS America Today

Okay, I will admit it. I am a management consultant and professor “of a certain age.” I have students in my classes who likely make far more in a year as influencers than I do from my “day job” as a tenured professor. And I "get" the new economy, where everyone is a brand and fame - whether from excelling and/or for doing good or for bad behavior - is marketable!

I am of the age to remember when O.J. Simpson was just a star running back and Britney Spears was a Mouseketeer! I lived through the era when the best and highest-rated show on television was a first-of-its-kind program, where a New York City real estate executive, Donald Trump, who had himself rebounded from the edge of financial ruin to being a billionaire and claimed to have mastered “the art of the deal” - picked his new apprentice on - checks notes - “The Apprentice” once every season. I have seen sports stars like Michael Jordan, Greg Norman, and Tom Brady become fashion brands worth billions of dollars, but I have also seen all the Michael Vick and Trevor Bauer jerseys being burned by fans - or put on extreme sale by retailers - when caught up in incredibly salacious scandals. I remember simpler times, when the Kardashians were merely the family of one of O.J.’s “Dream Team” of lawyers, and yes, when Caitlyn Jenner was Bruce Jenner.

Still, even by the standards of late 2023 and early 2024 America, the tale of George Santos is an amazing one! His story, may, in fact, be an all-timer! Now former Congressman George Santos - one of only six Congresspersons to ever be expelled from the House of Representatives - had a meteoric rise from obscurity into the national spotlight. And his story of how he basically completely made up his resume to run for and win a seat in Congress in 2022 has been well-documented - and will likely, no doubt, be turned into movies, television series, true crime podcasts, books, and more in the coming years.

His will be a case study for the history books - both in history and in business. His story is still truly amazing, looking back at his election to the U.S. House of Representatives just over a year ago and then fast-forwarding to his expulsion from the body just a week ago. And yes, the trial(s) of George Santos will be covered endlessly by our 24/7/365 news media and followed closely by many, many people not just in the United States, but globally, all across social media. And yet, in the age in which we live, Santos’ “fame” - or infamy rather - and thus his star power, will only continue to rise. As the famous boxing promoter Don King, who himself overcame being jailed for murder to promote the likes of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and Mike Tyson would famously say - repeatedly: "Only in America..."

Source: Pinterest, https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ed/eb/43/edeb43096a71b0e09525614c34f4f5c6.jpg (Used with permission)

George Santos and Fame/Infamy: “Only in America…”

So, you went off to work his morning. Maybe you commuted for an hour or walked 15 steps to your kitchen table, you got up, got dressed, and got started working - whether slinging hamburgers or slinging words and/or numbers, and maybe, just maybe, if you were lucky, you got to have a donut and/or a good lunch to break up your workday! Maybe you read a good article, watched a couple of funny videos, or shopped for 15 minutes on a “break” during the day (We won’t tell your boss!). But still, you worked - in a somewhat traditional sense!

Well, this article certainly won’t make you feel any better about your own plight by the time you finish it in just a few minutes. In fact, reading it might just make you question what exactly is happening in our society just a bit - and maybe even your own career and existence!

This is because the author of this article was astounded - even by today’s standards - at just what the disgraced, indicted, swindling (allegedly), cross-dressing (well, there are photos) ex-Congressman, who doesn’t even go by his own name (maybe), has been up to in the short time since his colleagues in Congress basically told him to “GET OUT!” just a little over a week ago!

Now, I personally learned of former Congressman Santos’ new “career” from a few items in the media - both on social media…

… and in the “traditional” media (well, YouTube is that today!).

As you can see, Santos chose for his next adventure to capitalize on his notoriety and do what many celebrities, comedians, singers, and wanna-be influencers do - he joined Cameo and began offering his services (at https://www.cameo.com/gads) for personalized greetings with his own special Santos flair!

Source: Cameo, George Santos on Cameo Landing Page (Used with permission)

And obviously, there is - apparently - a thriving market for George Santos’ birthday greetings, Christmas wishes, wedding speeches, roasts, pep talks, etc. out there amongst our fellow Americans today! Yes, demand for your customized Geoge Santos video for you or for a loved one - or hated one as the case may be is strong, very strong! As the following Inside Edition story details, he raised his initial price for a video message from $75 to $500. And yes, if you do the math, that means with up to 140 requests a day at $500 a pop, the disgraced former Congressman can make up to $70,000 each and every day (figures confirmed by other media outlets, including Yahoo News, CBS News, and Vanity Fair) - making more in just a week on the Cameo platform that he did in his entire - albeit brief - Congressional career! You want to talk about something that could happen “Only in America…”

Now for sure, folks have had their fun with Santos’ Cameo videos, from late night comedians like Seth Meyers…

…Jimmy Kimmel…

…and Stephen Colbert…

…to even the “hard news” journalists at CNN!

Still, the bottom line is this. Guess who is going to be getting those Cameo direct deposits straight to his account: George Santos. And guess who will benefit from all the publicity given to his Cameo videos: George Santos. And who will be richer if you read this article and suddenly think that for just $500, having George Santos make a birthday video as a gag for your friend, or to deliver a wedding speech for your cousin, or to tell your parents that you flunked out of college would be a great idea? No, it won’t be me. It will be - you guessed it: George Santos!

Analysis

Wow! The George Santos story is indeed quite a tale! As a management professor and consultant, I’m not going to try to reflect on the deeper societal meaning of all of this. I’ll leave those “deep dives” to the pundits, prognosticators, and my brothers and sisters in the social sciences.

However, I must say, even as one who undeniably believes in the American system of capitalism - and all of the marketing, and all of the advertising, and all of the promotion that makes the system “tick,” this one bothers me! We live in an age where we should never be amazed anymore that someone of ill repute and infamy can make money off of their fame. Heck, many years ago now, O.J. Simpson wrote a book entitled "If I Did It." However, it does deeply disturb me that around 1400 of our fellow Americans each day - a number that is likely only to grow with the publicity this story has generated (and yes, this article will only contribute to that momentum) - who will pay George Santos $500 each to make them a unique video. And you just know that all the publicity around George Santos and his Cameo account, and all the money that he is making from shooting, and sharing these quick videos, will only enable him to make much more money shooting and sharing these short videos. Such is the world of late 2023, and 2024, and 2025…

You know, in almost every class in the business schools of America, the ethics chapter is put off for last. But maybe we really shouldn’t be doing that. Maybe that’s not such a good idea to make ethics the thing that we cover last - or maybe not at all. Maybe we should discuss the morality of making money off of doing bad things, calling people out for the fact that you conned (allegedly) a whole congressional district into voting for you, even though you had falsified 98% of your résumé – even your name! Maybe I am getting old, but there should be some punishment for doing bad things, shouldn’t there?

It seems like today, there are only rewards for those who do bad, scandalous, and/or salacious things - and yes, some truly evil things. Exhibit A in all of this should be George Santos, who by the end of this week, will make more than most Americans do certainly all year, and perhaps even more than what many do over several years. If you’re reading this article, odds are that George Santos’ week just outearned your year in the past week (mine too!).

Now it’s easy to say, “Just stop!” The problem is that all the momentum is on the side of social media - a force that never stops going and growing! In fact, today, one can almost say that in an era where you are your personal brand, if you are not out there on social media, you basically have no brand today! Building your brand on social media today is everything. The weird thing about all of this is George Santos is, in fact, building his personal brand very successfully. In fact, he’s doing it so successfully that at the end of the day, many Americans may end up associating George Santos more with the funny videos he’s making than with the fact he falsified his entire background to run for Congress and then used his role in Congress to scam people out of their hard-earned money.

So, whether you are reading this article while you’re at work, while you’re preparing to go to work, or recovering from a hard day at work, reading it probably doesn’t bring you joy - aside from the comedy clips, of course - and it shouldn’t. What it should do is, hopefully, spark a discussion, among you and those around you, and indeed among all of our fellow citizens, about where we are headed, both politically and as a society.

I do fear, taking a long-term perspective, that this merger of celebrity and politics, started by Donald Trump, but now metastasizing not just on the right, but on the left as well, will not leave our institutions in a good place. The whole notion of public service now boils down, at least for some, and maybe, for many, to how they can parlay their public role into building their personal brand and their following on social media. Now certainly, as many Americans do hope, the long arm of the law may indeed have some surprises waiting for Mr. Santos. But yes, there is that sinking feeling inside the stomach of many of us that he will get away with everything - and even worse - that he will profit off of simply being a “bad dude.“ Tatian’s, and even worse, just to put a not-so-cheery cherry on top of this sundae, young people, and even middle-aged people will be paying attention to what George Santos does now, and going forward. If indeed, he ends up becoming a social media star, a Cameo millionaire, and perhaps even an influencer that brands - well, some brands - would take on (one could imagine an adventurous brand or two reaching out to him to be a spokesperson for a “rogue” brand) - a move that would generate even more money flowing into Santos’ coffers.

Such is the state of America today. It is the land of opportunity when it comes to social media and influence. However, the case of George Santos, something that truly could only happen in America, shows us that there can be – and often is - a downside decidedly and politically to the world of instant fame and the attendant fortune that comes with it. I would hope that the boomlet in George Santos "making bank" from his Cameo videos has given him a lot of money here at the end of his 15 minutes of fame - or infamy, as the case may be. But I fear that will not be the case. I fear that we will be seeing a whole lot more of George Santos - paid Geoge Santos, not free! I mean, you can easily imagine him not just continuing to make tens of thousands of dollars daily making Cameo videos just responding to the payors’ prompts, reading their scripts, and yes, singing their songs. And yes, you can easily see him building on that to become his own “brand” - a reality star to fit our troubled times. The “George Santosing of America” has begun! Something that indeed could happen “Only in America…”

The big question now: Who’s next?

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About David Wyld

David C. Wyld is a Professor of Strategic Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, publisher, executive educator, and experienced expert witness. You can view all of his work at https://authory.com/DavidWyld. You can subscribe to his Medium article feed at: https://davidwyld.medium.com/subscribe.

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