"Volvo whales"? Unthinkable!
It's no secret that we live in a society driven by envy. What remains a mystery, however, is why the SRG boss has so blatantly ignored this fact.
Column It is well known that we live in an envious society. What remains a mystery, however, is why the SRG boss has so criminally ignored this fact. Care for a little test? Albert Einstein: The image with the outstretched tongue immediately pops up. Vietnam War: Remember that terrible scene when the South Vietnamese police officer puts a gun to the Vietcong's temple? the same thing happens in our heads with brands and status symbols. Rolex - well, you know: expensive, but a bit flashy. St. Moritz - right, but do you have to go there if you don't want to show off? Porsche - which brings us to the subject.
There's a reason why Christoph Blocher drove around in a Volvo station wagon and Martin Ebner in an old BMW 5 Series when he was a CEO. I know a billionaire who has a chauffeur and bodyguard, but they only drive around in an Audi. The Mercedes stays at home in the heated garage, reserved for guests.
And I know a successful lawyer who has wanted a Jaguar for a long time. But he won't buy one until he's retired at the earliest, he says. "If I parked the Jaguar at a client's, my hourly rate would immediately be an issue." When he's not driving his wife's Polo, the man is on the road in a streetcar or cab.
Successful people, even if they are not accountable to anyone but themselves for their private efforts, have it in their genes: Just don't stand out unnecessarily! Just don't give any cause for envy. People tick differently than we would like them to - especially those who can't afford Porsches and Jaguars, but are sometimes in a position to make decisions about the projects of others, the more successful ones: about their hourly rates or fee requests. This regularly happens at the level of those who wash their Opels themselves on Saturday mornings.
And Armin Walpen bursts into the middle of this envious society with his Porsche Cayenne, which is a comfortable and sensible car - especially for someone who owns a vacation home in Goms (and not in St. Moritz). But "Porsche" calls up images that are counterproductive in the context of fee increases. At least for those who - for whatever reason - bring them up.
No headline writer could have done anything with "Volvo-Walpen". But this was an opportunity to put one of Switzerland's most capable media managers in a corner where he definitely doesn't belong. Someone who successfully runs a business with a turnover of 1.5 billion is very well paid with an annual income of around 500,000 francs (including a contribution to the aforementioned Porsche Cayenne), but by no means overpaid, let alone in the "rip-off" category.
But how is it that a clever man like Armin Walpen either ignores or misjudges these envious reflexes and their practical consequences? Has he too often driven up in his BMW and chauffeur, leaving room for the other antlers-bearers hurrying on foot from the parking lot to the meeting point? Or does such behavior have to do with the frequently observed tendency of top managers to partially lose touch with reality?
That would indeed be strange for the leading light of an industry that lives from and with emotions. It's not just since the "Walpen case", which obviously isn't one, that we know this: If you want to take someone down, always look for their weak points in their personal environment, in their relationship offenses, in their expense receipts. Every small controller who wants or needs to get rid of a manager in a hurry knows this. And the headline writers in those publishing houses, in whose underground garages a Porsche Cayenne has long since ceased to attract attention, know this too.
> Karl Lüönd is a journalist and head of the Media Institute of the Swiss Press Association.
There's a reason why Christoph Blocher drove around in a Volvo station wagon and Martin Ebner in an old BMW 5 Series when he was a CEO. I know a billionaire who has a chauffeur and bodyguard, but they only drive around in an Audi. The Mercedes stays at home in the heated garage, reserved for guests.
And I know a successful lawyer who has wanted a Jaguar for a long time. But he won't buy one until he's retired at the earliest, he says. "If I parked the Jaguar at a client's, my hourly rate would immediately be an issue." When he's not driving his wife's Polo, the man is on the road in a streetcar or cab.
Successful people, even if they are not accountable to anyone but themselves for their private efforts, have it in their genes: Just don't stand out unnecessarily! Just don't give any cause for envy. People tick differently than we would like them to - especially those who can't afford Porsches and Jaguars, but are sometimes in a position to make decisions about the projects of others, the more successful ones: about their hourly rates or fee requests. This regularly happens at the level of those who wash their Opels themselves on Saturday mornings.
And Armin Walpen bursts into the middle of this envious society with his Porsche Cayenne, which is a comfortable and sensible car - especially for someone who owns a vacation home in Goms (and not in St. Moritz). But "Porsche" calls up images that are counterproductive in the context of fee increases. At least for those who - for whatever reason - bring them up.
No headline writer could have done anything with "Volvo-Walpen". But this was an opportunity to put one of Switzerland's most capable media managers in a corner where he definitely doesn't belong. Someone who successfully runs a business with a turnover of 1.5 billion is very well paid with an annual income of around 500,000 francs (including a contribution to the aforementioned Porsche Cayenne), but by no means overpaid, let alone in the "rip-off" category.
But how is it that a clever man like Armin Walpen either ignores or misjudges these envious reflexes and their practical consequences? Has he too often driven up in his BMW and chauffeur, leaving room for the other antlers-bearers hurrying on foot from the parking lot to the meeting point? Or does such behavior have to do with the frequently observed tendency of top managers to partially lose touch with reality?
That would indeed be strange for the leading light of an industry that lives from and with emotions. It's not just since the "Walpen case", which obviously isn't one, that we know this: If you want to take someone down, always look for their weak points in their personal environment, in their relationship offenses, in their expense receipts. Every small controller who wants or needs to get rid of a manager in a hurry knows this. And the headline writers in those publishing houses, in whose underground garages a Porsche Cayenne has long since ceased to attract attention, know this too.
> Karl Lüönd is a journalist and head of the Media Institute of the Swiss Press Association.
