Tune in today, Saturday November 12th, to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

Are you watching this?

Jake texted me about it, I immediately went to Rotten Tomatoes. The numbers were less than 80, not by a minor amount, so…I wrote it down, but did not put it at the top of the list.

But last night, wanting to start a new show, I pulled up “Endeavour,” which had amazing ratings, and Felice rather quickly said she thought she’d seen it, after all it was on Masterpiece Theatre, and all that English stuff on PBS gets a ton of press.

Now in truth I’ve got a list. Quite lengthy. But it’s on my phone. And my phone was in the other room. And I’m lying on the bed, icing my knees after hiking (works really well if you’ve got tendinitis, do it for 20 minutes, no more, and I recommend frozen peas instead of frozen water) and I really didn’t want to get up. And I was worn out and not in the best mood anyway.

So, I pushed the Netflix button on the Roku. Netflix has the best interface, and they list the shows in terms of popularity and I wasn’t sure I’d find anything I wanted to watch but what came up immediately was “Inside Man.”

But it wasn’t Jake’s recommendation that made me decide to watch it. It was David Tennant, you could see him right there in the picture. And Tennant is an amazing actor, with a snide intensity, who I knew from “Broadchurch” and so much more. Anything with David Tennant is worth checking out.

So I pushed play.

And what I got was a scene on the train that was very intense, but wholly up to date. Male toxicity mixed with technology. I don’t want to give anything away, but I love shows that reflect modern life. We live in the internet world, can we acknowledge it?

And the interaction between the two women when they got off the train was interesting, there was a subtext that I couldn’t quite read, but it was intriguing.

Then the show flipped to a jail in the U.S.

And we were in a room with a guy playing a Senator, a large Black man who was jovial but had committed heinous crimes, and Stanley Tucci.

Stanley Tucci. He’s been getting a lot of ink recently. For those CNN shows about eating in Italy. They’re pretty good, but does Stanley really eat anything, he’s so skinny!

And there’s banter amongst the three and…

Tucci evidences this charisma. Based on intelligence. You don’t see him acting, unlike with Meryl Streep, he seems to be the character.

And he’s not sycophantic, actually he’s a modern day hero, the kind that went out with the war on men, you know, the strong male individual, like Paul Newman, but with a harder edge. A guy’s guy.

But that’s not who Tucci really is. He’s a criminal law professor. An egghead, and teachers are supposed to be wimpy with no soul.

But believe me, Tucci has soul.

Now unlike Tucci I’m anxious having written about the war on males, but it’s a hot topic right now, there’s pushback, and I’m not saying men have been neutered, but I will say that exactly what the media complains about men is oftentimes what women like most about them. They all say they want someone warm and fuzzy, who listens to them, and then they pick the edgy hunk and now…I’ve dug an even deeper hole for myself.

And then the show jumps back to the U.K., and what transpires…is not wholly believable. It just would never go down this way. And I’m wondering whether I can endure this show, my time is valuable, and then…

They go back to the jail.

Tucci is eating up the screen without asking for attention. He’s smart, and distant, and confident in his opinions and actions and you’re just marveling how damn good he is.

But he’s not a traditional movie hunk. He’s got a very short haircut, he’s essentially bald. And he wears glasses. And I don’t know, I’m straight, but I can see a woman going for him, it’s just something he radiates, from inside.

Now Tucci has truly been a member of the firmament since “Big Night,” a movie you couldn’t make today, and if you did almost no one would see it. And despite all the hoopla about the young and the superheroes, he’s a real star.

So, in truth, I’ve only watched one episode of “Inside Man.” But I’m eager to fire up the flat screen again tonight, just to see Tucci.

This is what I live for. Excellence, the edge, and Stanley delivers.

AOL cofounder Steve Case has a new book entitled “The Rise of the Rest” about the startup scene outside Silicon Valley, New York and Boston. We discuss startup culture, the companies Steve has found and invested in, and his personal history and the history of AOL.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-case/id1316200737?i=1000585751583

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/5a369b2f-8304-4058-a7f1-4084978a9b79/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-steve-case

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/steve-case-208399273

“Drake’s Fans Love His Fake Promotional Tour. Vogue, Not So Much. – Vogue’s publisher is suing Drake and collaborator 21 Savage for trademark infringement for making fake copies of the magazine to promote their new album, ‘Her Loss'”: https://on.wsj.com/3tfPqJe

This is why the mainstream media gets no respect. It’s completely out of touch!

And telling us for a month to beware of a red wave that doesn’t seem to be manifesting just shy of midnight on Election Day. They cited polls, analyzed to death, when in truth these mainstream outlets were participating in a circle jerk of their own devise. They listen to each other, but not the public. They’ve got no idea what is going on with the public.

Like “Vogue.”

I bet you didn’t know that Drake and 21 Savage put out a fake issue of “Vogue” to promote their new album “Her Loss.”

You probably also don’t know that the tracks from “Her Loss” have completely displaced those from Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” in the Spotify Top 10. Well, Taylor does have one track at #4, but… If you paid attention to the mainstream media you probably didn’t even know that “Her Loss” had come out! But everybody knows Ms. Swift has put out a new album, because the brain dead media that is losing credibility each and every day just repeats what industry publicists say, skewing the view of the readers, assuming anybody is reading to begin with.

Yes, rather than do traditional publicity for their new collection, Drake and 21 Savage created their own campaign with fake media. Once upon a time the “Harvard Lampoon” owned this sphere, most notoriously with a fake issue of “Time” that appeared on newsstands. What did “Time” do back in the sixties… NOTHING! “Time” realized it was ultimately an homage, if you’re big enough to parody…you must be really big!

And what are Drake and 21 Savage going to say to the press about their new album anyway. It’s all this is our best work yet, let me tell you the pain of making it, these articles are all over the newspapers and I don’t know who they’re for, I certainly don’t read them, THEY’RE PURE HYPE!

So Drake and 21 Savage are being creative, just when we thought every trick had been employed. Their campaign is brilliant. AND they didn’t push it to the usual outlets, it was fan-targeted, and only fans care. Furthermore, it was rare, unique merch. In an era where people collect sneakers, although the market hasn’t been good recently, everybody is looking for a collectible, especially in a virtual world where you own almost nothing physical.

And to give further kudos to Drake and 21 Savage… They didn’t only come up with this parody idea, THEY EXECUTED! Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is the difficult part.

Now that’s a free link to the “Wall Street Journal” article above. And in the first paragraph you will read that Drake and 21 Savage…

“…have released a series of fake media appearances—a fake NPR ‘Tiny Desk’ concert; a fake interview with Howard Stern; a fake musical performance on ‘Saturday Night Live’; a fake Vogue cover—to promote their new album ‘Her Loss.'”

They covered the marketplace.

Come on, “Tiny Desk” is the ultimate in credibility, for public radio listeners, who take their listening seriously, the ones who still read the “New York Times.”

SNL is a laugh, it’s the only place the labels can think to promote their priorities, everything else is meaningless.

As for Howard Stern… Stern is savvy, I mean when you have the biggest rapper extant paying you homage, WHAT COULD BE BETTER! HE MADE IT!

Howard talked about the fake interview, that’s another thing, if you mention someone they comment on it. If SNL is smart, they’ll do a takeoff on the takeoff.

Howard knows it’s an honor, he praised Drake and 21 Savage…

BUT VOGUE?

VOGUE SUED!

Now who actually reads “Vogue”… Well, some fashion conscious women. But its reach is narrowing and it was never that broad to begin with. Drake and 21 Savage were doing “Vogue” a favor. As for “Vogue”‘s argument that someone would be confused and buy the bogus “Vogue” instead of the real one… It could happen, I doubt it, but what would be the loss here anyway, do you think the purchaser would be mad at “Vogue”? OF COURSE NOT!

But that’s not my main point here, not why I’m writing this screed at all, rather it’s that “Vogue” is completely out of touch with today’s world, with internet life. If someone does something you don’t like IGNORE IT! There’s so much in the pipeline, each and every day, that almost nothing gains traction. But if you pour gasoline on the smoldering story it ignites and there’s a conflagration EVERYBODY SEES!

Yes, most people in America never would have known about Drake and 21 Savage’s fake campaign. Which is fine, because they know if you play to everybody you ultimately lose your core. As big as you are, you have to appear inside, you have to appear cool, to try and appeal to those not already clued-in is a complete mistake. That’s what these newspaper articles are all about, trolling for the barely interested, the uninterested. Because in today’s market, fans are rabid, THEY KNOW! I know people don’t like to hear this, they want to believe they can reach newbies, but really the only way to do this is through fans/listeners/readers/watchers. They have to tell others. Everything depends on virality today, EVERYTHING!

See how long the overhyped new release stays in the public conversation. Most stuff disappears immediately, which is really bad, because in music it’s all about longevity these days, being so good and important that people stream your tracks for months, a year. That adds up, not only in numbers, but money!

And albums can stiff overnight these days. A big brouhaha upon release, and after a weekend, maybe a week, but sometimes only a day, they’re history. All that effort, that marketing plan, POOF! GONE!

Because ultimately it comes down to the art, the music, the TV show, the…

So what you want to do is ignite your fans, super-serve them.

And when you hype yourself, that’s the worst, you lose all your dignity. Oh, tell me people don’t care anymore…you’re wrong. If you want longevity, you’ve got to have a modicum of self-respect and credibility. It’s like in the old days, CBS vs. Warner. CBS was known for selling more per album. Because they didn’t give up until they reached every possible customer. Whereas Warner would hold back, not put out another single, let the act lay fallow, so when it came out with new music subsequently the audience wasn’t disdainful, didn’t shrug its shoulders, angry that they’d been beaten over the head for years about an album they bought the first month it came out, the first week, or didn’t really care about to begin with. You’ve got to be in it for the long haul these days.

So…

Drake and 21 Savage put out this fake issue of “Vogue.”

One thing you’ve got to know about Anna Wintour, she’s convinced her doody doesn’t stink. She’s above it all, with her iconic haircut and front row fashion show seating… She’s positively old school, pre-internet, in the internet world you get down on the level of the public, you open your wounds, you say you’re no better than anybody else, reigning above is so last century.

Somebody at “Vogue” probably reached out to the legal team. And the legal team gave them a legal answer. However, the line is blurry when it comes to parody. Anyway, caught off guard, not knowing to wait to cool off, “Vogue” pushed back…AND MADE DRAKE AND 21 SAVAGE’S FAKE CAMPAIGN APPEAR EVERYWHERE!

Yes, fire up the Google Machine. It’s positively EVERYWHERE! GOOGLE SHOWS 3,330,00O results! You can’t avoid the story. And Drake and 21 Savage did nothing to cause this, the story blew up because “Vogue” sued! And now “Vogue”‘s image is going to be hurt. I mean who can come down on the side of the suing corporation, even if it’s right? “Vogue” has no knowledge of the context of the world. Your image is everything. And you don’t want to lose control of it. VOGUE HAS LOST CONTROL, IT’S A LAUGHINGSTOCK!

Oh, believe me, they’re never going to go to trial, collect a dime. As for the fake “Vogue” issues…there’s going to be a run on them tomorrow, they don’t need to be recalled, they’re going to disappear immediately, believe me. So you’ve got a fashion magazine going up against the world’s biggest rapper? THERE’S NO WAY VOGUE CAN WIN IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION, AND THAT’S EVERYTHING!

Now if “Vogue” were smart, it would immediately claim that the lawsuit was fake, say it was a way to get the magazine’s name out, to associate itself with Drake and 21 Savage. And then say that the two will be guest editors for a future issue. It’s a WIN WIN!

But don’t expect this.

Do expect a mea culpa, when the blowback begins. “Vogue” is going to be bombarded by calls from media insiders telling them how wrong they got it and telling them how to get out of the hole. Then again, how many friends does Anna Wintour really have? People like to see her fail. Have you seen “The Devil Wears Prada”?

So the world lives online. Cancel your Facebook account and get on TikTok. Immerse yourself in social media if you want to reach the public. Know the landscape before you play.

And remember the number one rule of internet hate…IGNORE IT! If you don’t like something, don’t say anything, it will almost definitely fade away. Whereas if you push back… This is exactly what your “foe” wants! They’re dying for attention. I’m sure Drake and 21 Savage have been laughing uncontrollably all night! They didn’t foresee this lawsuit, they didn’t foresee this blowing up of what was viral but not as viral as it is now!

The world has changed, and it’s mostly baby boomers who refuse to acknowledge it. They believe if they have an iPhone, they’re in touch. But it’s how you use it! And if you pooh-pooh the usage of it 24/7 by youngsters, the joke is on YOU! That’s where America lives now, ONLINE! And we can delineate all the negatives of this, but really it’s a net positive. No one is alone and out of touch anymore. Go online and you can find like-minded people. You can find laughs. You can feel part of the fabric in an alienated world. But you must PARTICIPATE!

GE is being broken up. Sony no longer owns the TV sphere, Samsung is the big kahuna. As for Cadillac… No one under thirty would own one, under forty, if they even have a driver’s license to begin with. You know what’s really sexy? Not having a car at all! Yes, who wants to drive…you can’t be on the phone, better to be schlepped around!

So “Vogue” has done a disservice not only to itself, but to its brethren legacy media.

As for me… I FIND IT HYSTERICAL!