Okay, this is getting out of hand. This is the second time in two weeks that I'm discussing this Hannah Montana phenomenon, and thus I am introducing its own label. (Congratulations, Hannah Montana! You've finally made it!) Apparently, there is a class action lawsuit in the works that is seeking damages from the Miley Cyrus Fan Club. For those who are unaware, Miley Cyrus is the actress who plays the Hannah Montana character and is also the daughter of one of the more unfortunate musical acts the 1990s produced, Billy Ray Cyrus. (He used to wear a mullet!) Now ordinarily, I am all for big class action lawsuits that punish big business crooks who have profited by sticking it to the consumer. But this situation is a bit more complicated, and so I must provide some context to explain my decision as to which side to join.
On the one hand, you have the poor complainants. I sympathize with them because though I am in no way, shape, or form a fan of Miley Cyrus or her alter ego, I, too, have been screwed over by big business in the past. Though I cannot come up with a single instance of this happening, I know for a fact that it has because I have dealt with big business in the past and this is what big business does: screw people over. That's a point to the complainants.
Conversely, in reading through the article, it seems to me that the maximum any of these people lost was the $29.95 yearly price for joining this club. There was never, ever, ever any guarantee that by joining this club members would definitely receive tickets to performances. (At least the lawsuit does not claim this as a guarantee.) If this condition were guaranteed, trust me, membership would have cost considerably more than $29.95 a year. And who is to say that those people who did win the "Hannah Montana Ticket Lottery" but then went on to scalp the tickets for much higher prices were not members. If these people were members, and did end up getting tickets through the membership, then the fan club could potentially justify the claim that members do have an easier chance to win tickets.
Compelling arguments on both sides, I know, and you must certainly be wondering on which side I will come down. Let me state here and now that I join the Miley Cyrus Fan Club. By doing so, and by paying the small fee of $29.95 a year, it seems clear that I will have a greater chance of getting Hannah Montana tickets than if I were not a member. Now of course I have no real interest in seeing this show, and so if I do not win this year, oh well, that's $29.95 down the drain. But if I do win, I hear that there is big money in scalping Hannah Montana tickets.
See how this works?
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