Who Has Longer Staying Power Between 2 Canadian Icons: Justin Bieber or BlackBerry?
An article in Bloomberg Businessweek, cited by tech Web site C/Net, recounted that then newbie Canadian singer Justin Bieber offered himself to a local firm Research in Motion (RIM) to be its brand ambassador, but the phonemaker rejected the upstart.
Bieber then was willing to be paid only $200,000 and 20 phones, but it was a no go for RIM which made the then very popular phone BlackBerry.
The incident reportedly happened a few years ago, citing as a source Vincent Washington, senior development manager at RIM until 2011, who pitched the idea of Justin being brand ambassador, but company officials rejected the idea.
Mr Washington recalled, quoted by C/Net, "They basically threw us out of the room. They said, 'This kid is a fad. He's not going to last.' I said at the meeting: 'This kid might outlive RIM." Everyone laughed."
Mr Washington's words appear to be prophetic since RIM, now known simply as BlackBerry, is no longer number one on the mobile phone totem pole, both in terms of popularity and sales. In fact, the company had to write off almost $1 billion a few months ago because of very weak sales of its new smartphones.
YouTube/Chris Umiastowski
While it appears that Justin would outlive BlackBerry, however, with the way he has been handling his career and personal life, Bieber may follow the company that once thumbed him down and be the one to drive the nail on his career's coffin.
Recent examples of Justin's bad boy behaviour include being thrown out of a brother in Brazil, kicking off stage the Argentinean flag and spray painting the walls of a hotel in Australia with graffiti. However, he recently redeemed himself by visiting a female Aussie fan who figured in a car crash that almost took her life and even performed an impromptu gig for her.
YouTube/TMZ
But just before he left Australia, Bieber again figured in another controversy when he was detained at Brisbane airport because one of his entourage, identified as Terrence Reche Smalls, 23, was caught with marijuana, while Justin used inappropriate language at one of the female officers who asked him to remove his hat and sunglasses.
At the rate Justin is misbehaving, his career may fall down faster than his pants, which is always captured on video also on the way down.
YouTube/Hollywood Life