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Originally Posted by SensualPoet
The alternative is a bunch of government bureaucrats in Ottawa paid vast government salaries to hand out tax payer grants to their buddies.
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They do that already. Just not for the arts. Because public funding for cultural stuff is "elite". Why, all that money could go to building fake lakes and "security" fences that don't even last a week and buying the first set of fighter jets one sees for a mere $9 billion, instead of shopping around for lower bids!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SensualPoet
If some naming rights go along with this level of multi-year commitment and corporate energy, I am all for that. Too many corporations just write the cheque and show up for a gala; Scotiabank picks its sponsorships carefully and becomes a true long-term partner.
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While it's nice that they're ponying up the cash and seem to mean their patronage, I have to admit it just bugs me in the same way that PBS' "ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre" does.
Makes it look like they're trying to piggyback on the name of a respected institution in order to try and make people forget about oil spills, or being sued by overseas banks for financial shenanigans, or otherwise sanitizing their image at someone else's expense.
I think I liked it better when patrons sponsored stuff, but let their names be praised in conjunction with funding the ensuing results, and not as part of them.
I suppose the future will be performances of Mozart & Varesco's
Karl Theodor Idomeneo, King of Crete.