From GeekWire:
With everything from spray paint to stencils to stickers, the Amazon and Jeff Bezos detractors are making a statement in Seattle.
From Capitol Hill to Crown Hill, graffiti targeting the tech giant and the CEO is showing up on sidewalks, the sides of buildings, light poles, bike racks, bridges and even Amazon delivery lockers.
A particularly large set of “F*** Bezos” tags were visible this week on SR 99 — one on the Aurora Bridge that spans Lake Union and another inside the Battery Street Tunnel. Both are just blocks from Amazon’s headquarters in South Lake Union. It’s at least the second time the tunnel has been tagged during the past year with a large anti-Bezos message.
. . . .
On Capitol Hill, perched above the part of the city that Amazon has been rapidly remaking with its headquarters buildings, graffiti targeting Amazon, Bezos, techies, tech bros and brogrammers shows up on practically every corner.
. . . .
But Capitol Hill is emblematic of many of the changes occurring in Seattle as new apartments tower over or ultimately push out old haunts.
And Bezos, the world’s richest person with a net worth of $143 billion, has become the target of many in Seattle who are upset with the Amazon founder and his company’s impact on their city. For better or worse, he has become the face of a tech industry that has rapidly remade the look and feel of Seattle.
. . . .
Amazon has historically been criticized for its limited engagement in local issues and philanthropy but in recent years it has announced housing for homeless families, contributed large sums to the University of Washington’s computer science program, and supported a mass transit initiative. It now employs 45,000 in Seattle.
Link to the rest at GeekWire
PG notes the huge rush of cities both larger and smaller than Seattle that wanted to compete to be the site for Amazon’s second headquarters a few months ago.
PG also notes that in the reality-based world, Amazon is one of a handful of companies that is universally admired around the world.
Everyone wants a piece of you when you’re the guy on top. I’m sure this is in response to Amazon halting their planned new building that would have employed 5,000 local people over the head/homeless tax. I would say the city is almost as liberal as LA at this point. And they love to point the finger at anyone but Apple.
They’ll complain about Amazon until Amazon leaves. That’s what happened when Boeing relocated their HQ. Suddenly everyone was like, “How can they be so disloyal?” The hypocrisy in Seattle is mind boggling. So happy to have left that behind.
It’s easy to be snarky when you aren’t downwind of the target’s septic field. And Amazon isn’t universally loved in Seattle or the rest of the world. Personally, after all the stories I’ve heard about Amazon’s arrogance, I was relieved when Amazon decided that NC wasn’t liberal enough for them and decided to build warehouses elsewhere.
All big successful companies are arrogant.
That’s the only way you get that big and successful.
The trick lies in making sure competence matches arrogance.
As Dizzy Dean used to say, “it ain’t bragging if you can do it.”
At the top circles, mindless hatred is a sign you’ve arrived. 🙂
Spray-painting “F*** Bezos” graffiti on public property is a really low-IQ form of protest. How do the vandals imagine their actions will change the things that they are apparently unhappy with? It doesn’t even make any sense.
@ Felix
Not to mention the threat of transferring out of Seattle to the new second HQ. Now that would be some major political/economic leverage to use in any Seattle-area governmental disputes. 🙂
There is a very loud anti-Amazon/anti-business faction in the Seattle political establishment but they do not seem to represent a majority of the population, judging by the recent catfight over a corporate “head tax”.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/seattle-city-council-votes-repeal-head-tax-companies-amazon-n882576
The same politicians who enacted the law unanimously turned around two weeks later and repealed it when faced with the prospect of a referendum to see if the public actually supported their position.
If nothing else, the whole affair helps explain why Amazon is looking for a new HQ; they no more want to be at the mercy of Seattle local politicians than they wanted to be at the mercy of NY corporate publishers. It is always safest to have fallback contingency plans for dealing with hostile forces.
Any bets they bought the paint on Amazon and used their prime accounts?
Like the scammers, they are a rounding error compared to those that ‘like’ the way Amazon does things.