What makes an industry BIG?, Is McD’s BIG hamburger? Elmers BIG glue? Uncle Sam BIG tax?
What does the BIG really mean?
What makes an industry BIG?, Is McD’s BIG hamburger? Elmers BIG glue? Uncle Sam BIG tax?
What does the BIG really mean?
Well, in the case of tobacco, there are only a handful of companies that control almost the entire market. Phillip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, Lorillard, and Liggett. They are Big Tobacco.
Likewise, in accounting firms, the Big 4 are KPMG, Deloitte Touche, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Compared to any other competitors, these ones are in an entirely separate league.
I think a lot of times it has to do with tradition, where certain firms have been in a position of dominance for a long time.
Big X is the industry that wants to take all your money, kill your children (and blame the murder on you), destroy America, eat all Americans, ruin the morals of our youth, and/or assassinate the President, in general. One would, I imagine, use terms like “Big Tobacco” and “Big Oil” to cast aspersions on the characters of the companies/industries/leaders involved.
I think that a group of companies can qualify as “Big X” when a small number of them can control an overwhelming share of the market.
To use my own industry as an example, 90% of the advertising in Japan is controlled by three companies: Dentsu, Asatsu DK and Hakuhodo, which qualify in my opinion as “Big Advertising”. There are hundreds of smaller companies, but most of them either handle tiny niche markets or (like my office) handle subcontracting work from the three giants. Dentsu in particular holds over 50% of the market, routinely producing ads for competing products and often acting as the sole provider of sponsors for large blocks of the weekly TV schedule. This last point becomes worrisome when they use their influence to sway networks toward or away from discussing certain topics. When faced with the possibility of seeing three-fourths of their ad revenue suddenly disappear, most TV producers will agree to bury news stories that cast a product or company in a negative light (even if that company isn’t a sponsor, if they advertise with Dentsu, Dentsu will use its influence to protect its clients). It’s telling that there are no consumer advocacy shows on Japanese network TV.
Whether or not the bribe/’campaign contributions’ are large enough to influence subsequent policy, whether by dint of having the presidential ear or by virtue of the presidential appointment of a representative.