Regarding the Xiaoguo incident, from a business perspective, I can’t help but say a few words.
I’m not arguing about the nature of those 8 words, nor am I arguing about whether it was malicious. Just as the artist involved and the company acknowledge, we’ll discuss it on the premise of “doing something wrong.”
What’s disheartening is that when an artist from a company makes a mistake, from the public to the authorities, we don’t see anyone caring about the survival of this private enterprise.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had such doubts. When the education and training industry was being rectified, and when Ant Financial was being rectified, I was as puzzled as I am now:
Does anyone care how much effort and hard work it took for a company to start its business in 2014 and become a leader in this industry?
I watched an interview with Xiaoguo’s founder, Ye Feng, a while ago, and he said:
“In 2016, we did “Tucao Conference” while losing money; in 2019, we also did “Roast Conference Season 2” while losing money; this year, we’re doing “Comedy Conference” while losing money.”
He was full of confidence:
“The first two have been proven, they are successful, they must be done and cannot be avoided; and “Comedy Conference” is also something we cannot avoid, we must do it. The first recording ended on April 10th, we all breathed a sigh of relief, this should work.”
Now it seems that whether we can see this show as scheduled is unknown.
Confiscating all revenue from the two performances instead of profits, imposing a top-level fine of 10 times the total revenue instead of profits, an indefinite suspension of performances in Beijing, a suspension of performances in Shanghai, and some other stand-up comedy organizations have also issued notices of cancellation of performances due to various reasons…
All signs indicate that this may not only be the company’s demise, but may even “the industry will be gone.”
So, besides the company itself, does anyone care? Especially those key figures who may affect the direction of the event: the whistleblower, the critic, the enforcer, the manager.
From 2020 to 2022, the offline box office of the entire stand-up comedy industry increased by 20 times, from the initial 20 million to 480 million. Does anyone care how much tax this company has created in the past? How many jobs have been provided? How many people have been provided with a platform to realize their life dreams?
Does anyone care how much happiness this company has provided during the pandemic, how much it has dispelled sadness? How many anxious souls have been comforted?
I read an interview report before, and the opening paragraph was written like this:
“In this era, having Li Dan is a fortune.
Although during the pandemic, you often see him popping up in multiple live streaming rooms on Douyin and Kuaishou, which can be annoying, and although he’s becoming more like a businessman, in this era where comedy shows are popular but joy is increasingly scarce, he still insists on using unconventional ways to make us laugh, bringing fresh and interesting ideas to stand-up comedy, and I’m very grateful to him.”
I believe that not many people will care what impact such a private enterprise will bring if it collapses. Because it’s too micro, not at all grand, unrelated to national righteousness, and unrelated to heroic glory. It may just make people lose a little confidence in investing in the cultural industry, may make us lose a few good programs that can bring happiness to hundreds of millions of people, and may make those grassroots Guangzhi who have struggled feel some frustration.
A company is like a big tree. When nothing goes wrong, its main trunk supports a large number of small branches. But if you cut its roots, the small branches will wither. It also loses its value of providing shade and beauty.
At least, those key figures who may affect the direction of the event, we can’t see that they have such a perspective.
You can love the country, you can correct the mistake of “insulting others”, you can stop an excessive joke, you can have all kinds of grand debates. You can also punish, you can rectify, you can reflect on an industry. However, it shouldn’t destroy a group of entrepreneurs’ nearly 10 years of hard work, shouldn’t deny the value that a continuously developing enterprise brings to this society, and shouldn’t end the dreams and prospects of a group of hardworking people.
This is the most basic thing.
This reminds me of the New Oriental incident. When something went wrong in the education and training industry, New Oriental fell into trouble, and no institution or department came out to help it. The extra desks could only be donated by themselves, and the business transformation could only be explored by themselves. Then some people commented and questioned. If it hadn’t found a way out in live streaming, New Oriental would have been another story long ago.
One incident after another makes private enterprises like they are bearing a “laughable fruit” – the voices from above have been calling out the importance of private enterprises, calling out that private enterprises are their own people, calling out that they should protect private enterprises. But when it comes to the ground, when they encounter difficulties, we see that everyone steps on it, and no one will help it.
For example, Xiaoguo, it has already set up a content review mechanism, has already submitted the content for review in advance, and the artist played a few lines freely during the performance. The organization did not find and correct it in time, which is indeed responsible, but why can’t this matter be handled from the perspective of helping this company?
In the final analysis, no one cares about the survival of a private enterprise.
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