As I sit holding a gun on a man in a cheap motel in some unnamed, forgotten roadside community, I start to wonder how much an iPad would cost if you subtracted the cost of marketing. India has already come out with the world’s most affordable car. Now it is home the world’s most affordable tablet computer. In the 1990’s when Nike was taking a lot of heat for their sweatshops in China, the company’s response was that they were a marketing company, not a shoe manufacturer. And as a result, a $20 pair of sneakers cost $100. This is the kind of value/pricing that has resulted in our current economic situation.

America: we don’t make anything, we make everything more expensive.

It amuses me that we rabidly fight against a Value Added Tax, but willingly pay the Marketing Added Cost of everything. Capitalism is based on an informed consumer making a reasoned decision. But our decisions are based entirely on marketing campaigns that drive up the prices of shoes, movies and perscription drugs. It is no coincidence that drug costs got out of control at the same time that the federal government lifted the ban on prescription drug marketing.  Big Pharma spends more on advertising than they do on R&D. I pay my doctor to tell me what I need based on her years of medical training and practice. If all I need is an advertisement to self-diagnose, I’ll take back the last 20 years of medical bills please.

Now, back to the screenplay.