Gerald Ratner Opens Up About That Speech

Рет қаралды 21,117

6 жыл бұрын

Gerald Ratner talks about that speech that changed his life. How a joke made his business collapse and caused so much damage to him and his career.
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Пікірлер: 61

@mistermister8 5 жыл бұрын

I've actually still got a that decanter set and pair of 99 pence earrings, and I can confirm they outlasted the M&S Prawn Sandwich.

@londresomar 2 жыл бұрын

Wow

@pippipster6767 11 ай бұрын

Nope … I still have the sandwich.

@gregcym 2 жыл бұрын

I was at a black tie industry dinner a few years ago and he was the guest speaker, I can honestly say he’s hilarious! Has other businesses now and is still successful by all accounts but there must have been some dark times!

@controlstress Жыл бұрын

It’s possible that he didn’t mean to sneer at his customers, that he was being self-deprecating about a couple of his company’s products, his company, and by extension himself. However, it literally doesn’t pay to self-deprecate - all too often it backfires and can even inadvertently cause offence. Never put yourself or what you do down - the even as a joke. It’s a lose-lose because it makes people question your worth and undermines your own self-esteem. Better to be sincerely proud about what you do.

@MarcThomasRufinoman 5 жыл бұрын

I like his honesty 26 years later, even if it was expensive.

@davidwhyberd7612 4 жыл бұрын

It is high time that the "crap" comments stopped. It was such a long time ago. Gerald must be sick of them. He has moved on and become successful again. He is very self deprecating, a superb speaker and naturally funny. Robert di Niro gets really annoyed when people on a film set go up to him and say "Are you looking at me"? Taxi Driver was made in 1974. Gerald's speech in 1991. It's time to call it a day.

@davidwhyberd7612 4 жыл бұрын

He said that he is a much nicer person now and no longer arrogant. He used to be tense all of the time. I think that was a very honest statement. He is a very successful businessman again and good luck to him. He got the idea of the brightly lit shops with the posters from a manager of an H Samuel shop in Sunderland. People were queuing outside, waiting for the shop to open. Their shop in Newcastle was the conventional low lit jewelers. Gerald obviously saw the possibilities. As gaudy as Ratners shops looked, they pulled in a huge amount of customers who wanted reasonably priced jewellery. I buy earrings or bracelets for my nieces as an extra tree gift at Christmas, which are not the main presents. Ratners would have been perfect for that. I would have known that it was not high quality jewellery.

@davidwhyberd7612 4 жыл бұрын

A sherry decanter at £4.99 and earrings at 99p. You do not expect high quality at those prices. He was over confident and put the jokes in the speech as someone on his board advised to put them in. Apparently, his wife advised against it. Anyway, he should have not put in the jokes.

@moaningpheromones 2 жыл бұрын

He got the price wrong. It was 12.95 1:09.

@davidstone9762 Жыл бұрын

Since his jokes were funny and he was ripping no one off at those price points, he seems a decent guy and why punish him for that? Apparently crappy journalism also existed in the 90s.

@Bruce-vq7ni 2 жыл бұрын

He still looks pissed about it 🤣

@Baldy444 17 күн бұрын

I was there on the front line as a 19 year old Assistant Manager in Maidenhead of Ratners at the time. Thoroughly enjoyed the job and respected Gerald. Such a shame it went down because of a joke. The press twisted his words to make people think he felt all his jewellery was c@#p when it was actually good value for money. Very character building for me as i got alot of abuse etc dealing with the fallout

@BestMMORPG2017-games 2 жыл бұрын

He's just being disingenuous here. It's not that people didn't know it was a joke, it's that sneering at the unwashed masses who made him rich turned out to be not such a good idea.

@micahnewman 4 ай бұрын

It seems to me it was the media spin. The British press, especially the tabloids like The Mirror, love tearing people down.

@janstolk486 4 ай бұрын

bud light ,..... hold my beer ! literally !

@jacksmith-mu3ee 3 ай бұрын

Trump . Hold my jordans

@TheMiseryIndex 4 жыл бұрын

Whatever happened to the gym from the 'Trouble at the Top' series?

@anonUK 3 жыл бұрын

He blew the lid on Thatcherite consumerism before it was time.

@MrCmon113 3 ай бұрын

Brilliant businessman and comedian.

@irishgoldstacker8018 3 жыл бұрын

God, for a simple little joke. I watched the part of the speech on another video where he made the joke. I didn't see anything wrong with it. It was obviously a joke. Poor guy.

@criticalem 3 жыл бұрын

You don't get it, he was mocking the lower class in his speech, he still thinks it was a simple little joke

@axeltheking4157 3 жыл бұрын

he kept going with it tho, he said a sandwich would last longer than his earrings

@mkits7350 2 жыл бұрын

You are kidding right? just a joke, yeah at the expense of his customers just to try and gain favour with his peers and the elite in the audience, he bit the hand that fed him to impress them if you cannot see that then you are one of very few people who don't get it, hence why it went the way it did

@ihkeseteeietos5722 2 жыл бұрын

His business collapsing overnight is much more funny than the joke

@Weird.Dreams Жыл бұрын

@@criticalem It's always funny to laugh at the lower classes.

@mkits7350 2 жыл бұрын

its funny to see those that wouldnt shop their in the first place attempting to defend him, the man took advantage of mostly old and underpriviledged communities and then threw them under the bus infront of his rich friends for the sake of a cheap laugh, got what he deserved, still acts like he doesn't get what the issue was so I guess he never learns from a mistake.

@Weird.Dreams Жыл бұрын

Oh do piss off, npc.

@alanaldpal950 4 ай бұрын

How did selling something to a willing buyer become “taking advantage of them”? Piss poor, victim mentality there. That said, of corse it was not wise to denigrate his customers, regardless if it was unintentional or a joke, especially in front of media/reporters that are more than happy or eager to destroy someone

@Thanks_for_posting. 2 жыл бұрын

Legend

@debbiemckeown7626 3 ай бұрын

It was obviously a couple of jokes and the press do what they love to do the most made it front page to cause outrage most people know when they are buying stuff cheap that the quality may not be the greatest.

@TheMiseryIndex 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant sense of humor

@Seamus_Dolan 4 ай бұрын

This guy is classic

@rickyj5547 4 ай бұрын

Watch whatever you say about your products

@visualverbs 4 ай бұрын

Words have weight, and consequences.

@tassie7325 4 ай бұрын

Although he may have been a good salesman that spotted a market to make nice looking jewelry available to low income earners, he still didn't understand his consumers. Non of the buyers were kidding themselves that the jewelry was top class. They were just happy to get something that looked nice at an affordable price. For him to mock his customers on TV for everyone to see, as people willing to buy the 'crap' that he sells was never going to go down well with the consumers. No one likes to be portrayed as mugs buying crap.

@Jorbz150 3 ай бұрын

WHERE DID HE MOCK THE CUSTOMERS???? Why is everyone saying this? By your own admission, they knew it was cheap! He's admitting that he won't try to bullshit anyone that they're a serious luxury store. The person who is trying to bullshit people would do the opposite!

@tassie7325 3 ай бұрын

@@Jorbz150 I don't think that you understand the meaning of 'MOCK'

@Jorbz150 3 ай бұрын

The jokes he made were about his own products, not the customers. You all are just psychoanalyzing it to death because you are used to hearing the most dishonest hacks in the world giving the most over-the-top defense of everything their company does. Those CEOs are the ones trying to dupe people, not the guy who admits his products are cheap. The people who tell their customers they are buying "the best meal in the world" for $2 are the ones who think of their customers as shit. He said this at a public event precisely because he knows his customers are aware that what they are buying cheap goods. If you just reward people for saying positive things you will massively increase the amount of dishonesty in business.

@user-bd9vw2ej4p 9 ай бұрын

But he says it wasn’t meant about his jewellery but literally says it about the gold earrings. Would be better just to admit he was sneering at the lower classes buying his “plated decanters” and own it. You’d hardly have silver plate if you could afford a butler! Can’t admit he was arrogant and made the biggest British retail business blunder in history!!

@Baldy444 17 күн бұрын

The "crap" joke was about the sherry decanter set. The M&S sandwich vs gold earing was a separate joke. I worked there these small 99p gold hoop earrings were thin and Bendy but worked perfectly fine......it was just a joke