A Nickle For Your Corpse: Why Michael Jackson’s Death Is Sad A Boon For Hustlenomics

Michael Jackson was a phenomenal talent, beloved by many, who lived both a mercurial and Howard Hughes-esque existence. He made a ton of money. People were drawn to him to the point of absurdity. People would pay anything for a piece of him. This concerned his own church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, so much that they accused him of becoming an idol that people worshipped.

They were probably right to a certain extent. Some celebrities become like Gods among men and women. Michael Jackson was a pop deity.

Now he will be a dead pop deity for the low, low price of $19.99.

More after the jump.

Prepare yourself for the on-coming “Michael Jackson Is Dead” Hustlenomics Olympics. Right now there is probably a T-shirt factory somewhere in Asia pumping out MJ Forever T-shirts as we speak. Somewhere your neighborhood hustleman is putting in an order for a series of Velvet Michael paintings and about 500 bootleg copies of Invincible. Someone is pitching to QVC their handmade Michael Jackson kitchen knives collection. The only thing more valuable to a hustleman than a living MJ is a dead one. Someone is working on a news documentary. VH-1, MTV and BET are working on their tribute specials. Someone WILL pitch a reality show to a surviving member of the Jackson clan. All the Michael merch you owned as a kid will go up in price on eBay …

Prepare to see a $500 limited edition copy of Moonwalker for sale. Let the games (sadly) begin.

daniellebelton
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23 responses to “A Nickle For Your Corpse: Why Michael Jackson’s Death Is Sad A Boon For Hustlenomics”

  1. Nayo Avatar
    Nayo

    "A nickel for your corpse’…really. you chose that as the title. I guess you did’nt rest your snark after all. I’m out, good luck with your hustlin for paypal $$$$$

    Reply
  2. Danielle Belton Avatar
    Danielle Belton

    @ NayoIt was meant as a diss for people who sell bootleg crap. Not a diss on Michael Jackson.

    Reply
  3. Troy Avatar
    Troy

    I actually own "Moonwalker" on VHS. There is a couple of times I thought about tossing it out, but I just couldn’t do it. No thanks, Ebay. My childhood memories are more important.

    Reply
  4. d Avatar
    d

    I can only imagine the media circus that will surround his funeral. This may surpass the coverage of Princess Diana’s funeral. As long as I don’t his face on a tote bag, I won’t have to hurt anyone.

    Reply
  5. BuenaventuraAvenue Avatar
    BuenaventuraAvenue

    I thought I wouldn’t be able to laugh about anything MJ related for months but this did it for me:"Someone is pitching to QVC their handmade Michael Jackson kitchen knives collection."Thanks, Snob. It won’t bring him back, but by God, that cracked me up.

    Reply
  6. kaikou Avatar
    kaikou

    I thought about this soon after I hear that he "died". It’s one of the worst parts of this. It happene to Elvis, Marilyn, and Whitney, it’s bound to happen to him.

    Reply
  7. dukedraven Avatar
    dukedraven

    Last night, I was thinking how the Elvis estate made tens of millions after his death, far more than when he was alive. In fact, Elvis was nearly broke when he died. Expect to see Michael Jackson impersonators making a mint in Vegas for years to come and the marketing to go in high gear.

    Reply
  8. JannyD Avatar
    JannyD

    I hate myself for having had this thougt- But I was thinking maybe Janet and the brothers should get a bunch of famous people who had been inspired by MJ- Usher, CBreezy and others to perform at his concerts in English sold out tours as a tribute tours. With the nostalgia and the guilt that many people are feeling over his life and death they would make loads of money.Like I said this is a low mercenary thought but it did cross my mind.

    Reply
  9. swiv Avatar
    swiv

    so you’re saying all of those gaudy ass obama t shirts are going by the way side in favor of gaudy MJ shirts?

    Reply
  10. OneChele Avatar
    OneChele

    Someone was in the parking lot of Wal-Mart hustling some white gloves that said R.I.P. in rhinestones on the back. I was trying to click a pic so ya’ll could see this ish. Who was up with the BeDazzler at 4:00am? I hate to see his life reduced to a tacky glove sold out of a minivan in the Wally-World parking lot… deep sigh. SMH

    Reply
  11. Adaobi Avatar
    Adaobi

    Except for some bootlegged copies, Moonwalker isn’t out on DVD and I’m willing to bet they’ll start cranking out copies in about a week. And yes I’ll most likely buy it. (I’m going to take the VHS copy from my Mom’s house too, if she hasn’t tossed it)

    Reply
  12. Lisa J Avatar
    Lisa J

    Today as I was at Union Station and I saw a man selling MJ shirts already! So you are right as always Snob. The hustlenomics is already starting.

    Reply
  13. cdf Avatar
    cdf

    This WILL get drawn out for a hot while…good point@JannyD

    Reply
  14. Wenzel Dashington Avatar
    Wenzel Dashington

    MJ may not have been solvent at his death yesterday. But, today iTunes sales have picked up. According to experts who have studied Elvis, Michael Jackson’s likeness, name and music are valued at $100 million. The tour was a drop in the pan. He was "worth more" dead. I hope they investigate this case really well.

    Reply
  15. Wenzel Dashington Avatar
    Wenzel Dashington

    ^^^I was wrong. From the APBy some estimates, Jackson’s estate could be worth more than $1 billion. Besides the master recordings of his own music, Jackson owned half of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a jewel estimated to be worth $2 billion by itself. The 750,000-song catalog includes music by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers.

    Reply
  16. funkystarkitty50 Avatar
    funkystarkitty50

    I guess people have to profit from this somehow. Why pimp a dead person for your own personal gain. I guess making a quick dollar rules over good taste. I loved Mike as did many others, but I don’t want to see him on every tacky souvenir, on every street corner. But, of course it’s happening anyway. Very sad, indeed.

    Reply
  17. Court Avatar
    Court

    Well I knew it was just a matter of time, but how quickly that time flew… why oh why am I watching a reporter for MSNBC interviewing people selling MJ tribute tshirts at 1 in the morning post death up in Harlem. Could you just wait a day dammit?

    Reply
  18. JJ Avatar
    JJ

    For the things that are "Legally" merchandised I don’t feel so bad about it. Jackson had a lot of debt..the upsurge in legitimate sales almost guarantee that his estate will be profitable and the vultures who are trying to get their hands on his catalog of music will have to settle for lump some payments.With that said this is inevitable.We live in a capitalistic society and nothing is more profitable than a dead pop star. Sad but true.

    Reply
  19. mswoodenshoes Avatar
    mswoodenshoes

    @ dukedraven,I will always have much respect for Pricilla Presley and how she handled Elvis’ estate. She was very careful about how his image was used. And every cent that was made went/goes to his daughter Lisa Marie. I hope somebody has the wherewithall to do that with Michael’s estate and to ensure that the income earned goes to his children, not his broke ass, washed up siblings. And I certainly hope that it doesn’t turn into a circus like it has with MLK’s estate and his heirs.

    Reply
  20. D7ana Avatar
    D7ana

    I enjoyed your articles here – this one about the pimping of a dead rock star and the one about the over-saturation of MJ death in the news. I agree that these reactions have less to do with genuine mourning and more to do with profiteering and sensationalism.Michael Jackson’s musical and artistic legacy will survive. I wish his children better health and peace that their father lacked.

    Reply
  21. junior Avatar
    junior

    WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL AN ALLWAYS WILLL U WILL NEVER BE FORGOTEN U WERE THE BEST, U ALLWAYSS BRANG US 2GETHER, EVEN WHEN U ARE DEAD YOUR BRINGIN US 2GETHER!!!!! RIP MICHAEL JACKSON WE LUV U!!!

    Reply
  22. shehzan Avatar
    shehzan

    This was not the thing which people demand for ti the question link was to justify is he boon or bane but this showed the dietyness of that passed away person.AND why people are hiding the fact or about his CONVERSION TO ISLAM

    Reply
  23. MR J Avatar
    MR J

    great blog there.

    Reply

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