ePlaya

As far as I know camps at burning man are not allowed to use their names off playa for commercial events unless it’s a fundraiser. Anyone who was to purchase a ticket for an unofficial BM camp event run by a profit making organisation would in essence be joining the commodification of burning man. The Mayan Warrior is a much respected camp and art car that is synonymous with Burning Man. How can they be allowed to tour the world using their BM status as a way for commercial promoters to profit?This is just one example of a commercial event planned by high end ticket price promoters in the UK that are using the Mayan Warrior to profit from. It’s not being marketed as a fundraiser. Ticket prices are ridiculous and quite obviously a major money making operation for the promoters. It’s radically exclusive and wrong. They were one of the most respected camps/art cars at the burn but now it seems they have soiled themselves in commodification and trying to take as many unsuspecting people down with them as they can. Should they be allowed back on the playa? Anyone who plans to attend an event like this is in essence joining and collaborating in the commodification and downfall of burning man. Once one is allowed to get away with it then it opens the floodgates for everyone to jump on board. Are the powers that be within BM going to stand by and allow this or will they stand up and take action against it.

I'm ok with this. They're not using Burning Man or any related / peripheral event related subject matter to promote themselves, just the name of their art car. I've seen other camps / art cars do similar things as fund raisers. If the flyer said something like "Your favorite Burning Man art car!" or "As seen on the playa!" I would take issue with it but this is just the name of the car / camp that people enjoy without mentioning TTITD or anything related. I give this a pass.... but this is just one opinion.

ACfromSAC wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:11 am

They're not using Burning Man or any related / peripheral event related subject matter to promote themselves, just the name of their art car. I've seen other camps / art cars do similar things as fund raisers. If the flyer said something like "Your favorite Burning Man art car!" or "As seen on the playa!" I would take issue with it but this is just the name of the car / camp that people enjoy without mentioning TTITD or anything related. I give this a pass.... but this is just one opinion.

The flyer may conform but the event description does not:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boneca-6 ... 6921419498

"the legendary Burning Man art collective Mayan Warrior" with "Burning Man"being a hyperlink to the BM Facebook page...

"Sold out" perhaps in more ways than one....

And tickets for £27.70 – £55.40 (US$35-72) - ouch!

I think it's worth noting that MW has been doing this for years, basically since they first gathered a real crowd at Burning Man. While they weren't the first major art car to go to a festival, they were a staple of EDC for a few years, and have since gone on to do tons of international festivals, and they've even featured their art car sets/videos in MixMag. They film every single party for eventual posting, record everything, and advertise heavily to pimp their car out.

Other large-scale sound systems don't do this, I'm not sure why MW gets a pass from the community, they're one of the less-hated upon large-scale Mutant Vehicles out there.

I also don't necessarily have a problem with this, as I feel like people who build something should have the freedom to use the thing they built as they see fit, although this definitely tows a line in some ways. I'd also not feel comfortable with a blanket rule like "Hey, you can't bring this outside of Burning Man, ever, because it went to Burning Man." Although, the way in which the MW does it is kind of... not cool, in my book.

I think it's worth noting that art cars/MVs are a pretty constant attraction at smaller street fairs and festivals all around the Bay Area. Is it wrong for them to do that? They're ostensibly making money off their appearance, it ain't cheap to move one around.

Ano wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:35 am

Is it wrong for them to do that?

I'd be interested in what the Org has to say about it, especially in light of this new forum. I think the vehicles can go where they want, that's fine. To me it's about the use of the BM name in something that is PURELY commercial. If it were a fund-raiser then I'd have no issue with it either. It's the connection of BM + commercial event that's the problem.
If it's not being clamped down on, then it just invites more camps/cars/artists to do the same. And then one day you end up with the more offensive ones like the Manish Arora crap that I posted about in this forum earlier.

When Marian posted about the "[email protected]" email address, it sounded like this was just about turnkey camps. Does anyone know if that's a general email to be used for incidents like this or the Manish one to highlight mis-use?

Hi HappyZombie. Welcome to ePlaya. Where you been? Literally, Where HAVE you been. This is your first post here. Why don't you jump on over to the greeters thread and introduce yourself. Tell us a small slice of your BM history. Where do you live, camp how many burner events have you attended, etc... Oh, and where did you get this idea?

As far as I know camps at burning man are not allowed to use their names off playa for commercial events unless it’s a fundraiser.

Personally I believe someone's playa name, playa DJ name, playa art car name, playa camp name, playa Instagram identity and all their other social media identities should be entirely different and unconnected to their real, pubic social or other commercial/business identities.

This goes completely against Gen X, Y and Z values.

I met Loren when he was sleeping on sofas and playing shows in living rooms and respect him. But that is an example from the old days when performers did not think about making a forking career of their on-playa and off- careers.

Having a wink and nod of the connection between on-playa/off-playa identities only known among friends is the essence of Burning Man to me.

That's the 12th principle: anonymity (the 11th is consent)

Sadly, I think all my DJ friends (who are not famous, but supplementing their income off playa by DJing) use the same DJ name on playa as off. That should end. The Mayan Warrior could be their MV on playa and the Incan Warbler off. Same with the other MV promoting themselves off playa.

I hear that the people who run the MW are really cool folks...

I don't have a problem with this. They are providing background as to where they have been and established a reputation - I don't think they have to hide their time on the playa.
However, Manish Arora is totally in the wrong on many levels.
I might leave that discussion for another thread...I think it is the inevitable outcome of pampered PnP camps.

I ran into this crazy rule last year. Because my camp was conceptually affiliated with an off-playa nonprofit of the same name, I was forbidden from seeking people on this forum to join our rideshare (and/or camp with us?). I didn't make a list of all the other "violators" in my arguments with the forum moderators at the time, but I suspect this thread will.

Ratty wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:04 am

Oh, and where did you get this idea?

As far as I know camps at burning man are not allowed to use their names off playa for commercial events unless it’s a fundraiser.

Hi,

Just following up on this. The rule comes from the BM Org. I've been in touch with our regional contacts who have confirmed this is the case after speaking with them. They also flagged this event to the Org and discussed it with them. The Org spoke with MW and they have said the event IS a fundraiser (surprised they didn't mention that before, thought it would have been a draw) and MW have now added a footnote to their ads to explain the proceeds will go towards bringing MW back to playa. So the Org is now OK with it and thanked them for raising it.
Another thing I learned in all this. Apparently if a camp does decide to use their BM camp name off-playa for a commercial (not a fundraiser) event that is also OK but it's a one-way ticket. They can then never use that camp name back on playa. So if Distrikt (say) wanted to host a Distrikt-branded set of commercial nights outside of BM they could, but it would mean the end of the name "Distrikt" on the playa.
All kinda makes sense to me - keeping things that are BM-related free of the commercial aspect.