# Amateur Barbarian, I'd offer you a hug but I'm afraid you'd call me a corporate shill for Big Hug **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 24, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834 "2016-08-24T17:59:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/61 "2016-08-28T04:06:57Z")
I agree that people who regularly drink bottled water at home are generally suckers because there are very few places in the country where a reasonably cheap water filtration system won’t do the trick. If you buy bottled water that gets delivered to you then you are almost certainly a sucker. but suckers rarely change their minds because people call them a sucker. They never do it if they get called a sucker the way AB is doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/62 "2016-08-28T19:37:05Z")
I haven’t clicked through to the thread, and Amateur Barbarian is off my radar, but… > [@Azeotrope](#): > > The Barbaric One says that it is indeed a scam, because instead of water in a bottle being sold as “bottled water” it’s being sold as Organic Free-Range Mythical Unicorn Jizz that’ll cure your hangnails, give you perfect pitch, and make you irresistable to the sex partners of your choice, and we brainless drones are falling for it because marketing. I assume some people do fall for it. Otherwise marketing budgets would be smaller or nonexistent. Hyperbole aside, I find such claims to be unremarkable. > [@](#): > > I’ll grant that installing a filtration unit is likely cheaper over the long run than buying bottled water. However, if someone doesn’t have the ready cash for a large one-time purchase but can more easily squeeze $5-10 for bottled water into their weekly budget, that’s their business. If someone can afford it but just doesn’t want to, that’s their business. If they think little purple men from Neptune are telling them water purifiers are the devil… that’s FUBAR, but their business. > > Why the fucking hell are you so bent out of shape over how other people choose to spend their own fucking money? I quoted your point in full, but I’d like to note that a Brita pitcher, with 1 filter included, sells for less than $20 at Amazon. Ah, I’ll spread the love and link to a $10 Walmart model: [Robot or human?](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brita-Slim-Water-Filter-Pitcher-5-Cup/8470932) Filters last about 2 months and can cost less than $5 each. I understand that the profit margin on them is nonetheless enormous. Generally speaking, I don’t see a problem with pushback against big Corp. Ignorance fighting and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/63 "2016-08-28T21:32:19Z")
Ok, I’ve read posts 15, 25 and 68 referenced in the OP and I don’t have a problem with them. Amateur Barbarian has wisely bowed out of this thread. I’ll volunteer to defend his posts until I get bored. Which might be soon! The Cafe Society thread title asks, “Bottled water- Is it really worth it? (Scam or not)”. AB says it’s a scam. I find it hard to understand why such a stance is inappropriate to the thread. Now I suppose if I was taking his POV, I might have added some leaveners and softeners. But most posts here lack that sort of stuff. Again, if the OP doesn’t think that marketing affects behavior, then why are there marketing departments? Also with regards to, “Why the fucking hell are you so bent out of shape over how other people choose to spend their own fucking money?”, the answer is _because the OP asked whether bottled water is a scam._ AB is arguing that it is, along with some colorful hyperbole. So what? Full disclosure. I ordered a pizza that came with a free soda. I asked for water. They handed me a bottle when I would have accepted an empty cup. But whadya going to do? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/64 "2016-08-28T21:39:12Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > The Cafe Society thread title asks, “Bottled water- Is it really worth it? (Scam or not)”. AB says it’s a scam. I find it hard to understand why such a stance is inappropriate to the thread. Now I suppose if I was taking his POV, I might have added some leaveners and softeners. But most posts here lack that sort of stuff. It’s not a matter of his stance but his tone that is offputting. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/65 "2016-08-28T21:55:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It’s not a matter of his stance but his tone that is offputting. To be honest, I got a sense of that after I dove into thread … and after I wrote my post. ☹ :o I’m willing to double down though. There’s nothing wrong with anti-marketing rants in the appropriate thread. Which that was. And marketing isn’t identical to capitalism. In Britain for example there’s a lot of marketing but it isn’t quite so inane as the stuff in the US. Bottled water isn’t a bad case study. I concede that AB might lack a certain perspective on his subject matter. eg: > [@Bottled water- Is it really worth it? (Scam or not)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottled-water-is-it-really-worth-it-scam-or-not/763327/153): > > I’m asking the same question from a different perspective. > > Why do these branded products exist? Why should they? They exploit certain cognitive peculiarities of the human psyche. Some of them are rationalizable (investment in advertising signals that the seller cares about its reputation). But mostly they are an exploit. But exploits are baked into humanity and are unique to one economic system or another. It’s difficult to draw appropriate policy conclusions from this, unless you are yammering for more education. And in that case, a lower key might be appropriate. It is true that market systems encourage a race to the bottom or at least a race to a regulated baseline. Companies without marketing departments trend towards unsustainability. You can’t just pretend that a better system is obvious, because it really isn’t, given even a modest amount of thought. My take is that buying bottled water is a dubious activity and morally suspect in the absence of greenhouse gas fees. Once those are put in place though, buying bottled water becomes a consumer choice like any other. Not that I would expect the industry to be destroyed by rational CO2 pricing. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/66 "2016-08-28T22:04:42Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > But exploits are baked into humanity and are unique to one economic system or another. I meant _not_ unique to one economic system or another. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/67 "2016-08-29T01:30:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Look, he’s not a Professional Barbarian. I assume this is the best he can do with the level of competition he normally faces. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/68 "2016-08-29T16:38:07Z")
[QUOTE=Damuri Ajashi] I agree that people who regularly drink bottled water at home are generally suckers because there are very few places in the country where a reasonably cheap water filtration system won’t do the trick. If you buy bottled water that gets delivered to you then you are almost certainly a sucker. but suckers rarely change their minds because people call them a sucker. They never do it if they get called a sucker the way AB is doing it. [/QUOTE] > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It’s not a matter of his stance but his tone that is offputting. Bingo. \*\* Measure for Measure,\*\* I don’t have a problem with **AB** or anyone else for saying bottled water is a scam, or with anti-marketing rants. The OP of that thread wanted opinions and got 'em, but even with people disagreeing things were civil until **AB** started getting snide. I didn’t pit bottled water haters in general or anyone else on the “it’s a scam” side. A few people thought things were getting too harsh for Cafe Society so I made this pit thread to bitch him out about his tone, plus I like writing pit threads. And I find the whole “I’m a Certified Expert who has read tons of source material… but I’m not going to share my credentials/ sources with _you_” annoying beyond belief, especially here, where you get asked for a cite if you say today is Monday. ---
**Author:** ![TheStake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@TheStake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheStake)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/69 "2016-08-29T16:39:37Z")
I think it’s despicable that he didn’t at least defend himself. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/70 "2016-08-29T17:36:07Z")
Eh, that’s a little strong. At least now I know to mentally file him under “blowhard” and not worry about what he says too much. ---
**Author:** ![TheStake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@TheStake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheStake)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/71 "2016-08-29T17:40:09Z")
Yeah, I guess that is what’s best. It just seems like he is on here a lot, and not defending his words, makes the rest of his posts/comments not valid. I hope I don’t ever need to get pitted, but shall that day come, I would at least defend myself. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/72 "2016-08-29T17:43:38Z")
> [@TheStake](#): > > I think it’s despicable that he didn’t at least defend himself. He is too busy watching TV while drinking bottled water. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/73 "2016-08-30T00:10:47Z")
> [@TheStake](#): > > I hope I don’t ever need to get pitted, but shall that day come, I would at least defend myself. To each their own. Personally, I probably wouldn’t bother. > [@](#): > > I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it. > > George Bernard Shaw Too many pigs. If those few whose opinions I’ve come to respect chime in, I’ll read and digest and maybe adapt. Everyone else…meh. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/74 "2016-09-07T13:05:06Z")
Speaking of **AB’s** tone, check out his, smug, arrogant, obnoxiously coy, CT-like ranting on Big Data in [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=803221) Starting at post 6. ---
**Author:** ![TheStake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@TheStake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheStake)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/75 "2016-09-07T14:40:19Z")
I just read that whole thread, I don’t think he is completely wrong. He is an asshole though. If he talked down to people less and made his points a tad bit more concise I think his words would weigh more. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/76 "2016-09-07T14:51:16Z")
I didn’t say he was completely wrong about it. Frankly, I couldn’t give two shits about “Big Data” or Loyalty Card purchase tracking. But it’s just what you said about him talking down to people and not forging a cogent argument for his points. So condescending and snooty. Besides, his theories on all this make him sound like a conspiracy nut. He uses a lot of words to say and conclude almost nothing… just implying a vague sinister undercurrent to it all. ---
**Author:** ![TheStake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@TheStake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheStake)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/77 "2016-09-07T15:10:18Z")
I got that feeling too. I wouldn’t mind a link to that paper he is writing. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/78 "2016-09-07T15:14:32Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > He is too busy watching TV while drinking bottled water. Fuck off! He doesn’t watch TV, he has Netflix! Commercials are for rubes! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/79 "2016-09-07T15:23:17Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Fuck off! He doesn’t watch TV, he has Netflix! Commercials are for rubes! Are you implying that Netflix is practically the same as TV. Cuz it’s not! Except that it totally is. He’d rather pay the $10/mo for Netflix streaming than watch TV for free and put up with some commercials (which you can fast-forward through if you DVR it, like 98% of the world). And _we’re_ the suckers?\* \*Except I have both Xfinity _and_ Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834/80 "2016-09-07T15:37:35Z")
Wait till he finds out how TPTB track users and posts on these boards. Its how they caught the Unibomber and found out where Osama bin Laden was staying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-barbarian-id-offer-you-a-hug-but-im-afraid-youd-call-me-a-corporate-shill-for-big-hug/763834.md?page=3)