Russia's economic crisis, Thai sex and viral marketing
Russian economy hasn't exactly been in top shape even before the Ukrainian Crisis started. The ensuing sanctions and counter-sanctions only deepened the problems, as did the more recent plummeting oil prices. The last few weeks saw the value of the Russian ruble plunge and GDP contract. While things are nowhere as bad as they were when I was growing up, there are reasons to be concerned about what all this will mean in the long run.
Recently, over at spb_ru, gol_kak_sokol posted a tongue-in-cheek example of "the first sigh of crisis". While at Gostinyi Dvor, one of St. Petersburg's most iconic department stores, when he overhead a conversation between two women in their mid-30s.
They stood next to a sales display of some boutique, all dolled up and expensively dressed - you know, like how they wear overcoats instead of fur coats, but the coats are Louis Vuitton. And one says to another: well, that's it, this year, my hubby said we can't go to Thailand, too expensive. Think I'll go take some Thai sex classes instead of Thailand, need to reduce husband's stress, or he'll push me to get a job. And her eyes were wide with terror. That's the start of the crisis, right there. Even the rich men's wives try to "support" their money-losing husbands.
If you are wondering what the heck are "Thai sex classes," it turned out that this is something that's offered by the Moscow-based Sex.RF Training Center, which claims to teach all women all kind of sexual techniques. It opened its second location in St. Petersburg about three years ago.
Some commenters in the original post snarked that this is some kind of viral marketing. And I'm not entirely sure they're wrong. gol_kak_sokol's LJ only has a few posts, and every single one of them is a repost. And his handle does mean "naked like a falcon." On the other hand, the conversation sounds hilariously earnest, and I've ran into this sort of earnesty while getting coffee in some of the wealthier parts of Chicago and the North Shore suburbs.
If it's viral marketing, at least it's clever viral marketing. It's region-specific and it grabs your attention with an issue that concerns a lot of Russians these days. If it's for real... I guess here's another addition to my "rich people say the darnest things" pile.
Recently, over at spb_ru, gol_kak_sokol posted a tongue-in-cheek example of "the first sigh of crisis". While at Gostinyi Dvor, one of St. Petersburg's most iconic department stores, when he overhead a conversation between two women in their mid-30s.
They stood next to a sales display of some boutique, all dolled up and expensively dressed - you know, like how they wear overcoats instead of fur coats, but the coats are Louis Vuitton. And one says to another: well, that's it, this year, my hubby said we can't go to Thailand, too expensive. Think I'll go take some Thai sex classes instead of Thailand, need to reduce husband's stress, or he'll push me to get a job. And her eyes were wide with terror. That's the start of the crisis, right there. Even the rich men's wives try to "support" their money-losing husbands.
If you are wondering what the heck are "Thai sex classes," it turned out that this is something that's offered by the Moscow-based Sex.RF Training Center, which claims to teach all women all kind of sexual techniques. It opened its second location in St. Petersburg about three years ago.
Some commenters in the original post snarked that this is some kind of viral marketing. And I'm not entirely sure they're wrong. gol_kak_sokol's LJ only has a few posts, and every single one of them is a repost. And his handle does mean "naked like a falcon." On the other hand, the conversation sounds hilariously earnest, and I've ran into this sort of earnesty while getting coffee in some of the wealthier parts of Chicago and the North Shore suburbs.
If it's viral marketing, at least it's clever viral marketing. It's region-specific and it grabs your attention with an issue that concerns a lot of Russians these days. If it's for real... I guess here's another addition to my "rich people say the darnest things" pile.