Guess what? The “Fearless Girl” statue erected on Wall Street illegally in March is actually an ad for $2.4 trillion State Street Global

I have 2 little girls. I have a wife. I want the best for all three of them and for women generally, but this a classic case of PC culture gone corporate.

That the “fearless girl” statue was erected by a giant global bank using it to sell its ETF, and that the bull statue was created to symbolize America’s strength by a Sicilian-American immigrant who became a citizen is striking. Oh, and the artist spent $350,000 of his own money to make the sculpture. “Fearless girl”? Commissioned by the bank of course, emblazoned with the ticker symbol of the ETF.

(From This GregFallis.com)

Let me apologize here, because I have to do some history — and for reasons I’ve never understood, some folks actively dislike history. It’s necessary though. So here we go. Back in 1987 there was a global stock market crash. Doesn’t matter why (at least not for this discussion), but stock markets everywhere — everywhere — tanked. Arturo Di Modica, a Sicilian immigrant who became a naturalized citizen of the U.S., responded by creating Charging Bull — a bronze sculpture of a…well, a charging bull. It took him two years to make it. The thing weighs more than 7000 pounds, and cost Di Modica some US$350,000 of his own money. He said he wanted the bull to represent “the strength and power of the American people”. He had it trucked into the Financial District and set it up, completely without permission. It’s maybe the only significant work of guerrilla capitalist art in existence.

People loved it. The assholes who ran the New York Stock Exchange, for some reason, didn’t. They called the police, and pretty soon the statue was removed and impounded. A fuss was raised, the city agreed to temporarily install it, and the public was pleased. It’s been almost thirty years, and Charging Bull is still owned by Di Modica, still on temporary loan to the city, still one of the most recognizable symbols of New York City…

…And it was commissioned to be presented on the first anniversary of State Street Global’s “Gender Diversity Index” fund, which has the following NASDAQ ticker symbol: SHE. And finally, along with Fearless Girl is a bronze plaque that reads:

Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference.

Note it’s not She makes a difference, it’s SHE makes a difference. It’s not referring to the girl; it’s referring to the NASDAQ symbol. It’s not a work of guerrilla art; it’s an extremely clever advertising scheme…

Click here for the article.

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/