(One episode lets COO of Nestlé Toll House Cafés Shawnon Bellah declare of Toll House’s bargain-bin baked goods, “That cookie, it brings families together,” without a hint of embarrassment. In the first minutes, we meet the head of a large and profitable business-usually the CEO or COO, though in some cases, a miserable CFO can also be dragged screaming into the camera’s glare-who walks us through the basics of their business, in a manner that handily doubles as a bald-faced advertisement for the company. The structure of each episode quickly became solidified. “Many hardworking Americans blame wealthy CEOs for being out of touch with what’s going on in their own companies.” (Already a misdirect-being “out of touch” was hardly the primary complaint.) Yet the intro continues, letting you know you’re about to see the story of a true patriot: “But some bosses are willing to take extreme action to make their companies better.” Yes, for these noble souls, even the backbreaking labor of donning a bad wig and hanging out with a reality-TV crew for the better part of a week wasn’t too much to ask. “The economy is going through tough times,” begins the portentous voiceover that kicked off the series’ premiere installment. Developed in the midst of the worst financial recession since the Great Depression, the opening seconds of the pilot were explicit about the show’s aims of resuscitating the reputation of the corporate leaders and Fortune 500 assholes who rode the backs of working people into the ditch of the 2008 collapse. True, it’s based on a British show that was birthed by the idea it’d be fun for a CEO to eavesdrop on what it’s really like to work for them, but the American version is notably different. Unsurprisingly, it seems clear that this was the intent from the very start. It’s class warfare in everything but name. It’s a shameless endorsement of capitalist inequality that may as well end each episode by reminding everyday Americans that they should shut up and be grateful their lives are controlled by such selfless exemplars of virtue. It’s understandable why Yellen and his fellow CEOs would be so thrilled with their time on the series: Undercover Boss is some of the most blatant propaganda on American television. The corporate heads were discussing how happy they were about their experiences on Undercover Boss, the CBS reality show that began in 2010 and has now been going strong for a decade, with the ninth season starting just last month. “I think there was a common thread among all of us,” says Sheldon Yellen, CEO of Belfor, “that we really are just everyday people, wanting to do everyday good.” This quote is from back in 2013, when Yellen, an incredibly wealthy man and reputed former mobster ( Forbes estimated his net worth at $320 million back in 2017) was sitting at a table with other leaders of large American companies.
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