Raw Thoughts

If you watch Gene Simmons Family Jewels (you can’t all deny it, somebody’s watching after all), recently Gene’s son said if the grim reaper came for his father, he would negotiate. What a great line, and Gene can appear as some sort of capitalist caricature sometimes, but he knows how to sell.

But Gene is getting older; he even got married. Peter Criss gave an interview where he said he’s not looking forward to turning 66 this year. Maybe the successful lives of these guys make it bittersweet to approach retirement age. Maybe they should take it easy, you know, take a relaxing cruise. Okay, they’re on a cruise – the Kiss Kruise out of Miami. October 13-17, 2011. Giving Performances and holding meet and greets. All the way to Nassau, Bahamas and back. And thousands of people paid to go along with them. If Kiss can think it, they can find a way to make a few bucks off it. And there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s their brand after all.

So what about that brand? I know of marketing experts and advertisers that have no shortage of opinions and differences on the best way to care for a brand. Kiss probably doesn’t follow much of that advice. They put their name on anything, much like Disney did mid-century (even Disney has a cruise now). If you have something great, selling it is not a sin. Getting it, that’s the hard part, isn’t it?

In the meantime, if you’re old enough to remember this, well, you just missed the Kiss Kruise. Raw Talent Guitar Salutes Kiss!