Penny wise

[supergee]

Many years ago Piels Beer, a New York brewery, started an advertising campaign with the comedy team of Bob & Ray portraying the fictional Piel Brothers, Bert & Harry. People loved it; sales shot straight up, and then straight down. It seems that shortly before the ad campaign, a Piels executive had noticed that the company could save money by cutting out a step in the brewing process that all the other companies were doing. Unfortunately, it seems that the step they removed kept the beer from tasting even more like urine.

This sort of corporate anorexia persists. Wal-Mart has cut its staff so much that they're not keeping their shelves well stocked, and it's hurting sales. In that same proud tradition The Chicago Sun-Times has decided it doesn't need photographers.