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Posted June 30, 2009
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Columbus, Ohio
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This iReport is part of an assignment:
Remembering Michael Jackson |
Making a Buck off of Michael's Death
As if it was not shocking enough that one of the greatest entertainers of our time has died an untimely death with what now seems suspicious circumstances, some people are rushing to make money from his dead body before his finger nails and hair have stopped growing.
Is there a difference between OK! magazine posting the photo of Michael strapped to a gurney, (which if the doctor on the scene is to believed, he was dead) or someone printing up a tee shirt to commemorate his life? You decide.
According to a recent Mediaweek.Com article, the British parent of OK! Magazine paid $500,000 for the picture. The OK! editor, Sarah Ivens said the OK! cover will be then different from other tribute covers from other magazines.
Is it a coincidence that OK!'s single copy sales figures are in the toilet this year? Some say this could backfire on OK! as a tasteless ploy to milk Jackson's death, especially if it comes out that he was already dead when the photo was taken, and not "dying" as Ivens claims.
On the other hand sites like Legends Live Forever! http://www.cafepress.com/0michaeljackson are more tasteful and instead are offering fans a way to colletively mourn Jackson instead of pimping out his death.
These sites allows fans to gain momentos to remember their stars.
While the concert promoter, AEG has announced they will be offering refunds or a suitable gift for the return of the tickets, some ticket holders of his upcoming tour that was canceled will not be relinquishing their tickets to AEG, but instead auctioning them off online to Ebay, as they are now considered collectibles.
One U.K. auction house suggested the price for the unused tickets can go as high as $1000 U.S. basing their price on similar tickets for Elvis Presley that were sold for between $600 and $800.
Some say Jackson has already paid the price of fame, but others will still try to milk that to huge profits.
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