Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Airheads for Africa


As a "response" to male students at Norges Handelshøyskole (Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) posing for shirtless pictures in a calendar in 2006, a selection of female NHH students opted to pose in the nude (or at least nude-esque) in a similar calendar, with the proceedings being donated to charity (Africa - schoolkids in Malawi or something similar). They call themselves the Business Bunnies, and they're enthusiastic about losing the clothes for a good cause. Charming, I'm sure.

Now; I know nothing about these students' academic achievements (both this batch of female students as well as the preceding bunch of male students who opted to name themselves the "NHH Hunx"). What I DO know, is that these are students at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration - the top economic institution in this country. They're being educated in how to run businesses, raise start-up capital, and administrating a business venture in such a way as to maximize profits without ending up in jail. The point of this calender was to raise money for charity. The best these NHH students could come up with was to take off their clothes and pose for pictures, hoping to get paid for the calenders. Worst of all, the calendea ain't exactly the best-selling item around, according to VG.

Heaven help us all if these are the best and the brightest in their class at NHH.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

its sad.
i dont know what else to say.

Anonymous said...

So 30000NOK (~4500$) = total failure. Maybe we should ask the children in malawi?

Wilhelm said...

Well; first of all I quoted VG about the expressed lack of success. As far as your equality, I can't seem to remember uttering that 30 kNOK equated to total failure either, so reading comprehension might not be your strong suit?

Second; would you agree that people with a background in economics should be able to raise 60 kNOK by other means than taking their clothes off?

Third, could it be that getting ink and pics in the media might be a partial motivation for this endeavour?

Fourth; did you catch a cold when you stood there in a hot pink ski outfit with your butt hanging out?

Anonymous said...

I just want to say that no other student-organisation in Norway gathers more money for charity than NHH Aid. 770 000 NOK in 2007. (figures from 2008 aren't ready yet) The calendar is only one of several projects.

Wilhelm said...

I just want to say that no other student-organisation in Norway gathers more money for charity than NHH Aid. 770 000 NOK in 2007. (figures from 2008 aren't ready yet)

Outstanding. Much props.

Would I be correct in assuming that the other ventures - which apparently bring in much more money - are more in line with conventional business strategies? And is it safe to assume that the other - more profitable - projects are less designed towards getting media attention for the participants?

Anders said...

The nude calender thingy is so old, so dumb and so not right for charity. Airheads on the calender and airheads that buys it.

But still, cudos to NNH Aid for bringing in a lot of cash to a good cause (assuming the rest is raised in a more tasteful way).

Anonymous said...

Have you seen the calendar? If you have, I think you would agree it's not a nude calendar. Maybe you could call it that for 50 years ago, but not today. It's not a nude calendar and it wasn't meant to be one.

This whole ting is blown out of proportion by the media and no one in NHH Aid expected this. It was a answere to a challenge since the guys at NHH made a similar calendar in 2006.

And by the way, isn't getting the medias attention what all charity-organisations try to do to gather as much money as possible?

Wilhelm said...

Have you seen the calendar?

Only saw the images at VG and BT online. I don't really see myself spending any money on any type of product where the main selling point is a lack of fabric on the featured models.

If you have, I think you would agree it's not a nude calendar.

I believe I referred to the pics as "nude-esque" when not quoting text from VG - sure.

It's not a nude calendar and it wasn't meant to be one.

Veering into semantics territory here....... If they did not have any clothes on for some of the pictures - which at least one of the participants states according to VG - they were naked, right?


It was a answere to a challenge since the guys at NHH made a similar calendar in 2006.

..and this makes the calendar a good idea how exactly? Specifically, it makes the calendar more of a PR jippo than an attempt to maximize money for the charity.

But come on; NHH students seriously didn't expect media coverage for this product? Scantily clad or buck nekkid female students is not a topic that tabloid media is likely to cover?

Sir or Madam; I'm offended. ;-)

And by the way, isn't getting the medias attention what all charity-organisations try to do to gather as much money as possible?

I think we both know that there's such a thing as bad publicity.

Wilhelm said...

Airheads on the calender and airheads that buys it.

...are you suggesting that the there is a positive correlation between the purchase of this calendar, raincoats, and driving around in white vans for no good reason, Anders?

Anders said...

If you have, I think you would agree it's not a nude calendar.

I haven't, but I've seen the pictures on VG and read this quote there: "Det var litt pinlig når vi først tok av oss klærne og ble tatt bilder av, men så gikk det greit, sier student Johanne Amundsen (19) fra NHH Aid til VG Nett"

No, I guess it's not full frontal nude or pornographic, but still takes off enough clothes so the models(?) feel uncomfortable. Also, the photos on VG is not very professional looking (talking about the craftmanship/art, not the models), which makes the whole thing seem even tackier.

And by the way, isn't getting the medias attention what all charity-organisations try to do to gather as much money as possible?

It's also ethics and taste in charity. (Semi-)nude is not a great idea. For one thing, it ruins the school's image since the charity organization have the NHH name in it.

Anders said...

...are you suggesting that the there is a positive correlation between the purchase of this calendar, raincoats, and driving around in white vans for no good reason, Anders?

I haven't done the statistics yet, but I do believe you're on to something.
LOL

Anonymous said...

"I don't really see myself spending any money on any type of product where the main selling point is a lack of fabric on the featured models."

Since you have a blogg, i assume you are much on the internet and download stuff like that instead of buying it.

"I believe I referred to the pics as "nude-esque" when not quoting text from VG - sure."

Ok. My mistake.

"Veering into semantics territory here....... If they did not have any clothes on for some of the pictures - which at least one of the participants states according to VG - they were naked, right?"

I can't find where that is stated, but if it is, VG got their facts wrong. Why would they be naked if they are covering up the area anyway?

"..and this makes the calendar a good idea how exactly?"

As far as I'm concerned a calendar is a good idea when you can raise 30 000 NOK for charity with so little effort.

"Specifically, it makes the calendar more of a PR jippo than an attempt to maximize money for the charity."

I belived they maximized money for charity considering the little amount of work the put in.

"But come on; NHH students seriously didn't expect media coverage for this product? Scantily clad or buck nekkid female students is not a topic that tabloid media is likely to cover?"

How desperate is VG? It's a student calender sold to students at a school with only about 2500 students! I know Norway is a small nation with not too much to report, but come on.

"I think we both know that there's such a thing as bad publicity."

Yes, never stated otherwice. The media has much power and when they choose to run a story like this (which is embarrassing for VG) and with this angle of the case, students behind this calendar don't have much to defend themselves with.

Apologize for any bad English.

Anders said...

Since you have a blogg, i assume you are much on the internet and download stuff like that instead of buying it.

Ouch...
Anonymous, that's a real insult in disguise. I like it! :-D

Wilhelm said...

Since you have a blogg, i assume you are much on the internet and download stuff like that instead of buying it.

Wow; that's one hell of an assumption. Is that really the most likely interpretation of what I wrote? According to you, having a blog is equivalent to condoning piracy and illegal downloading of nudity? Would you like to try that again?

As far as I'm concerned a calendar is a good idea when you can raise 30 000 NOK for charity with so little effort.

Interesting. So irrespective of the contents of the calendar you think it'd be a good idea if it could raise 30 kNOK for a charitable cause?

I belived they maximized money for charity considering the little amount of work the put in.

If so, that's depressing. How many students were involved in this? Multiply that by the time spent by the participants in various stages of planning, excecution and production, and you actually get a lot of hours. Compare the time spent on this project with the time spent per student on the other projects which allegedly brought in a total of 770 kNOK in 2007. Is it still the most efficient way of raising capital? Looks to me like you might be in a position to figure this out.

How desperate is VG? It's a student calender sold to students at a school with only about 2500 students! I know Norway is a small nation with not too much to report, but come on.

Now you're dodging the question. You know that tabloids like VG and Dagbladet put anything even remotely like nudity way up front. And it's not from lack of news to report - otherwise you'd see the same things in other papers like Aftenposten, Dagens Næringsliv, etc.

And no offense, but if you compare the following two statements made by you and still think the calendar was the best way of raising 30 kNOK for charity, then maybe you need some extra tutoring (provided you're an NHH student and actually has inside info of course):

I belived they maximized money for charity considering the little amount of work the put in. .....It's a student calender sold to students at a school with only about 2500 students!

So; if a closed community manufactures a non-essential product which is only for sale within that same community, that's the most efficient way of using time and resources for raising 30 kNOK? You're telling me that you expected to see black ink to the tune of 30 kNOK from selling a calendar internally at NHH? Come on, as you say...

Now; the targeted profit was 60 kNOK according to VG. While I don't have a background in economics, I have a vague understanding that aside from the hours spent on this (which need to be taken into consideration since you were kind enough to offer it up as an argument), there are costs associated with the printing etc. I'm assuming that you didn't use a professional photographer or that you at least used a third-tier one who did this work pro bono as self-promotional investment. This still means that for this project to see black ink to the tune of 60 kNOK, you need to raise well in excess of this amount, even excluding the hours invested.

Alternatively, 60 kNOK is less than 25 NOK per student at the school. If half of the students at the school paid 50 NOK, you'd have black ink in excess of your ideal profit. If the objective was to raise 60 kNOK exclusively from the school's students with a minimum effort as you say, then surely this would have been more efficient? 30 kNOK corresponds to 25% of the students paying less than 50 NOK each.

For example.

Unless the self-promotion bit was a bigger part of this project than what you're letting on, that is....

Yes, never stated otherwice. The media has much power and when they choose to run a story like this (which is embarrassing for VG) and with this angle of the case, students behind this calendar don't have much to defend themselves with.

Except for the fact that a) it was a tacky and ill-conceived idea, and b) they should have anticipated a response.

Have you even considered the irony of economy majors at a prestigious school having to resort to this to raise the money?

Wilhelm said...

Ouch...
Anonymous, that's a real insult in disguise. I like it! :-D


I know you do............